Page 34 of Found In Destruction

“Come on, Desmond! Shake him off!” Ares shouted from the apron of the ring.

Sometimes you need to catch your opponent off guard,Bash mindlinked me from across the room. He faded into the seat next to me.Desmond was expecting Oisín to use his magic against him, not go for a physical attack. Just because immortals heal, doesn’t mean we don’t feel pain.

That was all too true, and I learned that the hard way from my dragon escapade on Mount Olympus. The more pain I felt, the more disoriented and chaotic my magic became.

Desmond flung Oisín off, sending him flying across the ring. In midair, he morphed into a crow, flying to a safe landing. He went back to his regular form before writhing on the ground. His screams echoed through the entire training facility, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. They gathered around the ring to watch.

I’m assuming Desmond used his emotional manipulation?I asked Bash. Ares was cheering, jumping up and down like a lunatic.

Yeah, probably. This isn’t an evenly matched fight. Desmond is powerful, but your brother’s magic is ancient and refined over thousands of years. Des has to hit him where it hurts and this kind of magic is Oisín’s weakness.

O looked awful, and I hated seeing him in pain. The unspoken rule during a spar was to not interfere unless it was warranted. My brother wasn’t tapping out, so I kept my distance on the sidelines and focused on what I could learn instead of his pain. After breaking free from Desmond’s magic, he threw a fireball that encapsulated his opponent. He levitated him high off the ground, so everyone in the room had a front row seat to watch him struggle to find a way out.

Have your brother teach you that trick. The fire is burning the oxygen inside the bubble, and Desmond only has so much time until he runs out of air.

Hells bells, my brother was ruthless. Desmond somehow busted out, falling to the floor with a thud. He glanced at me, and I schooled my expression to look bored. It probably wasn’t as good as when he did it, but I didn’t want him thinking I was worried. He obviously didn’t care anyway.

Oisín ended the fight when he somehow set Desmond on fire from the inside out. I had never seen Desmond tap out from a spar before this. He moved to the seat on my other side.

“Still the most powerful ginger on the compound, baby!” Oisín sang as he victory-danced across the ring, shimming his shoulder as he walked backward. “Who’s next?!”

“Me!” I volunteered, not wanting to sit next to Desmond anymore.

“Sibling rivalry! Nice.” Judas sat in my vacant seat. “This is going to be a show.”

“Okay, baby sis, what are the rules? I’m not going to take it easy on you.”

Little G, I’ll be here if you need backup, even though you probably won’t.Ares grinned at me as he flexed his biceps, and I giggled.

“Stop letting these second rate wannabes distract you.”

“Tap out to stop.” It was the only rule we had.

“Alright, give me your worst,” he crouched, circling me in the ring. His green, feline eyes had an unhinged gleam that unnerved me, but I focused. Brother or not, he wouldn’t hesitate to whoop my ass.

My red wings sprung from my back, carrying me into the air until I was close to the domed ceiling.Catch your opponent off guard…Oisín would expect me to use my fire–it was becoming a Morningstar signature between Lucifer, O, and me. Instead, I conjured ice cold water, flooding him in a torrential downpour. Swooping through the air, I morphed into a giant black bird and picked him up, dropping him into a bubble of water I conjured. I caught him so off guard that he couldn’t free himself before I froze him.

That lasted for about ten seconds before the ice shattered around us, shards flying all over the training arena.

“You’re getting better every day, but not quite good enough,” he groused.

A burning, neon magical light slithered up my legs, binding me from head to toe and rendering me immobile. O levitated me into the air, feet up. The blood rushed to my head, making me feel queasy.Fuck, I think he found a weakness.

“Sis, you don’t look good.” His gruff voice rang out through the training arena, no doubt from a magical enhancement. I’d have to ask him how to do that eventually.

Think, Diana…

You need to bust through the bindings somehow. Change your size!Bash’s distressed voice bounced through my mind.

I inhaled, praying that I didn’t vomit, and morphed into a mouse, the smallest animal I could recall. The binding broke and had a moment of relief…until I saw a ginger cat with bright green eyes chasing after me. I scurried through the arena, diving under Bash’s chair and casting a barrier spell to regroup.

A mouse?He mused.You set yourself up for this cat and mouse game, Birdie.

Ha, ha, ha,I snarked back.

Oisín pawed at the barrier, trying to rip it to shreds. My magic would only hold so long. If a cat chased a mouse, what chased a cat? Before I could second guess myself, I faded to the other side of the wrestling ring and morphed into a small dragon, about the size of an SUV. This time, I was slick black, with shiny scales. He morphed back to his human form, then faded after me, until we were feet apart. Before he made his next move, I unleashed a blaze of violet fire. It bent around him, leaving him completely unaffected.

I growled in frustration, switching tactics. If I could invade someone’s mind using Bash’s powers…couldn’t I trick him into giving up using Desmond’s? I swiped a taloned paw at Desmond,teleporting him over and sitting him on my back. His shock rendered him speechless, working in my favor. I dug deep in an effort to connect to his magic. He let me in, but tapping into his powers was insanely hard. My expertise wasn’t in emotional manipulation, and by the time I finally had some semblance of control over Desmond’s power, Oisín leveled me with a magical paralytic spell. My body immediately morphed back to its regular form, unable to hold the morph while magically impotent. Talking was difficult too, and I felt like a lead weight weighed my body down.

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