Page 42

Aldric grabs Prim’s hand. Leif hoists Mal into his arms, the boy writhing and screaming for his new sister.

Even panicked, Leif’s soldier’s training kicks in. He darts left while Aldric goes right, splitting targets to make it harder for the creature to follow them. They both race for the tree line.

Elan stumbles as the ground bucks and heaves under my assault, but she runs anyway. She drags Stark with her, her wail competing with the grinding of stone against stone.

We discussed the plan days ago. In an emergency, everyone grabs someone and scatters, then we meet up at the next town.

Simple and clean. Except Mira kneels in the mud, clawing at her face. Esme stands in front of her. I can’t figure out whether she’s affected. And that creature is way too close to both of them.

My blood sings with joy as I tunnel further and find the bones of the hillside, the massive stones buried under soil and root. I rip the bedrock free with a harsh rending noise. The earth under Mira and Esme shifts, sliding them away from the monster in a way that doesn’t require me to put my magic into the dead ground around it.

The women and the thing I want to destroy are ten paces apart.

I can work with that.

A mudslide smashes through three trees on its way down, trunks exploding into splinters, branches whipping through the air. It hits the ground twenty feet away.

The impact sends shock waves through my legs.

It isn’t enough to banish the creature or snap its hold on Esme.

This next landslide I summon is larger, the magic pouring through me eagerly, like it aches for this as much as I do. I don’t aim. Don’t care where it goes. I just want destruction. Want the world torn apart because I can’t rip through the one thing that needs obliterating.

The boulder crashes through the forest like a falling god. Trees snap. Fissures form, spitting hot water. A long scream pierces the darkness. Animal or human, I’m not sure which.

Another. Another. Another.

This is power. This is what I’m made for. I’m destruction in human form, unleashed upon the universe until there’s nothing left.

The creature’s attention transfers from Esme to me and the magic I wield. A new sensation coils through the air, almost like I can feel this monster’s emotions. Curious. Startled. Like it’s thinking.

Fuck! That’s worse than if it had attacked. So much worse.

Because it means this thing isn’t mindless. It can adapt, react, and learn.

I don’t dare stop now.

I pry another boulder loose. The rock is as big as a wagon and craters the ground until the hillside bleeds mud. With all my power, I hurl it at the creature.

The creature drifts away from the immediate wreckage with that same patient inevitability it approached us with.

A sliver of horror penetrates my delight over the ruined landscape, dying animals, and demolished fields, but the destruction continues crooning to me.

This feels good.

This feels right.

Like scratching an itch that’s driven me insane for weeks. Like a bloated river punching a hole in a dam, the pressure releases violently.

“Mama!” The shriek cuts through the shattering of the earth. Stark must have broken free from Elan. He’s charging back, his fat legs pumping, his face red with tears and terror and desperation. “Mama! Mama!”

The child’s fear pierces my joy.

Everything collapses. Boulders hit the ground. The ground quits heaving. Trees creak and sway overhead as the rain pounds through the branches. I pant, choking on the scent of churned earth.

The creature turns toward Stark. It considers him with that same awful patience it bestowed on me.

Then it dismisses Stark and swivels toward Esme again. Her eyes lock on the toddler, who’s racing in from the dark. She never notices that the monster seems drawn to her like iron to a lodestone. Her hands clutch her temples, but I can’t see anything wrong beyond the tortured twist of her eyelids.