Page 86 of Princess of Air

“Back off!”

The entire mass bursts into flames, and searing heat washes over me. “Gods, Nina!”

She brushes the ashy remains of the plant off herself. “Where’s Rylan?”

I cough and whisk the smoke up and away from us. “He’s probably already made it to the end.”

“Not if I can help it.” Flames flicker across her outstretched fingertips before she closes her eyes. A fireball darts away from us. Nina’s eyes remain tightly shut, her forehead wrinkled in concentration.

“Nina?”

She doesn’t respond, her eyes shifting under their lids, her body rigid from head to toe. What is she doing? I rise above the maze again. A flame races through the maze as if it can navigate it better than us. It weaves and searches, slithering through like a snake, leaving a blaze in its wake. It speeds toward Rylan as he approaches the end and leaps over the wall to block him.

“Nina!” I shout. “Enough!”

Black plumes of smoke billow from the destroyed playing field as fire spreads from the path Nina’s phantom fireball took through the maze. The crash of flames in Rylan’s path sent sparks over the wall and into my side. Soon, the entire arena will be ablaze.

I drop back down to my sister. “Nina, put it out.”

Her eyes finally open, practically glowing as they fix on me. She’s a stranger to me—lost to her lust for power. I’m not going to get anywhere with her. The gusts I’m pulling from around the arena are only fanning the flames. I wave my arm in an arc over my head to contain the entire field in a dome. It’s a huge shield. My heart races with the effort as flames lick the dome and mold against its arch.

Nina looks at me, and her jaw drops. “Do you seek out opportunities to prove you’re better than me?”

“That’s not what…” Shallow breaths don’t allow me to get the thought out. This isn’t about beating her. This is about the safety of the people in the stands. Doesn’t she feel the size of the inferno? “Nina,” I wheeze, “put it out.”

“You don’t even want this!” Heat builds at the base of the dome. I feel it licking around the edges as if they were my ankles. “You don’t need this! But you won’t let me have it either?”

Flames eat at the shield, hardened though it may be, picking off bits as I gasp. Our elements feel as if they belong together, even though they’re struggling against each other now. Something in the air reaches out to the fire—not to extinguish it, but as if to soothe it.

My legs wobble, and I drop to my knees.

“And gods help me now if I do win!” Nina goes on with her tirade. “There won’t be a soul in the kingdom who doesn’t believe you could easily restrain me.”

Easily? I can hardly breathe. Doesn’t she feel the struggle raging around us? It’s a miracle the shield is standing at all. I dig my fingers into the ground and drop my head as I try to pull in enough oxygen to respond, the pressure against the shield rising.

“You’re practically unconscious, and I can’t get past you. I’ll never…” She lets out a frantic sob before she screams out. My shield is weakened from its own attempts to befriend the flames that assault it. As Nina screams, the pressure reaches excruciating levels.

Then the shield breaks.

Flames burst forth on the momentum they were pushing with. Without my shield surrounding the field, I only feel the temperature change out there, faint at this distance.

My arms give way underneath me, and I collapse onto the ground as the inferno around us roars. Smoke fills the air, choking me. Screams ring out from the crowd.

Nina gasps and drops to me. “Ara! Are you all right?” She wraps me in an embrace. “I’m sorry, darling. I’m so sorry.” She swings her arm out, and flames extinguish in a radius around us, but not everywhere. The fire has gotten too big.

It takes all my remaining strength, but I get us up over the blazing field. Nina’s arms fall slack as she takes in the view. Mother and Marcus work to keep flames away from the stands as people evacuate, waterspouts pushing back the blaze. Rylan sees we’re out of the way and drops the ground out of most of the arena to bury and smother the inferno. It can’t be done too close to the perimeter, though.

“I didn’t mean to…” Nina shudders.

“Put it out.” It’s all I can do to whisper the words.

She reaches out with shaky hands, but the fire only recedes a little as tears streak her cheeks. “I can’t.”

“Those flames are you. Feel them, take a deep breath, and put them to sleep.”

She closes her eyes and trembles, slowing her breathing.

A loud crack resounds. Screams ring out. Both of us snap our attention in the direction the sounds come from—fires have reached a section of the stands. Nina cries out, and some of the flames pull back. The pilings underneath smolder and crack as a torrent of water finishes the job, but the stands sway slightly. They’re too unstable now.

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