Page 124 of Secrets of Graves and Gold

I gasp a breath. “I’m okay. Just—they’re fighting back with their sorcery. I haven’t been able to completely sweep away their magic yet.”

Clenching my hands at my sides, I whip my own power forward with more force.

An invisible pressure jabs at me from multiple angles. I have the sense of someone at the other end of that magic lashing out, not knowing where their opponent is but tracing my assault on their spell back to me.

I can do this. I have to be able to do this.

Scourge sorcery is limited by the sacrifices of their supporters. Riven sorcery can do anything.

As long as the person using it pays the price.

My teeth set on edge. A growl seeps through them as I push my will forward.

Tear down the magic that’s cloaking this field. Wash it away as if in a vast torrent.

I won’t be shaken. I won’t be stopped.

Julita’s voice quavers through my thoughts. Ivy, are you sure this isn’t too much? There’s so many of them working against you…

I tune her out too, narrowing my concentration even farther.

The concealing fog seems to lurch against my onslaught. It shifts and weaves, strands darting free from my attempt to dissolve it.

Alek stirs in front of me and belts out a name. “Ster. Torstem Dymasek of Florian—a scourge sorcerer, dead.” Another. “Wendos Hubarek of Nikodi—a scourge sorcerer, dead. How many of you are going to join them today?”

Whatever strategy he’s attempting, it might be worthwhile. A tremor passes through the magic pressing in on me, loosening its impact.

With a renewed surge of determination, I thrash the concealing fog with my own power.

Alek keeps hollering names—other people he suspects from his research were scourge sorcerers who’ve also died? The shouts around me merge into a warbling roar.

Just a little more. Strip away their defenses. Stop them. Stop them?—

A new swell of magic crashes over us.

The thicker force punches me in the gut. I hiss and stumble, and my control slips.

The wave of magic I was casting out of me sweeps across the whole camp, toppling men and women, smashing wagon wheels, snapping horses’ leads, sending the animals running.

And there are more enemies—more coming. Voices everywhere, flashing swords. I have to crush them all before they?—

My magic flings to the side before I’ve fully processed those thoughts. It slams into a cluster of blue-uniformed figures on horseback who’re racing down the road.

Bodies fly from their steeds. Someone cries out at the stomp of a misplaced hoof.

Yes, destroy them all. Destroy everyone who?—

I clap my hand to the side of my head.

No. Those were the soldiers we wanted to fight the traitors with us, not more attackers.

My power leaps at them again, sending one of the horses staggering to its knees. I hurl myself backward, my mind reeling, my mouth gone ashy dry.

I have to stop. I have to stop… before I can’t.

The world has morphed into a chaotic whirl of color and shape. I wrench myself around and somehow end up on my hands and knees.

Fabric tears. Wood crunches. Someone screams.

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