Page 67 of The Lost Guard's Healer

The towering Dark King reaches out to me, his arm glowing with inky black light. I flinch and dart away with a flash of golden light that snaps his hand back.

“Insolent child,” Thanek growls like an avalanche of rocks coming for me.

Rourk strikes out from behind as Thanek throws a wave of magic at me. I block the darkness with a shield of golden light and get pushed back, my boots scraping across the roof. My mind blurs and swells, as though I had just lost consciousness for a second. I blink back my focus to see Thanek swinging his sword at Rourk.

I rush forward and channel a sphere of light in my hand. The light cuts through the air and crashes into Thanek’s back, causing him to stumble and catch himself. Something heavy thuds into my mind, making me dizzy with nausea.

It’s my magic connecting with him. And his magic connecting with me. It slams into me each time. But there is something different with my magic. It feels fuller. More vibrant. More powerful. Whatever is happening to me in Thanek’s presence, it’s connecting me to my magic more than I’ve ever felt before.

Thanek knocks Rourk back with a heavy sword strike and he spins to me, thrusting a gauntleted hand out. Black vines spiral out from his hand and encircle me, meaning to pin my arms to my side. But I cry out and slash at the vines with a sword of light that blinks into existence. I hadn’t even known I could do that.

Thanek darts back and forth as Rourk and I try to land blows, circling him and looking for an opening. I have to fight through the immense fear coursing through me and battle on as best I can, knowing any second may be my last. I just have to trust in my magic, and in Rourk. My arms swell with blinding golden light as I throw out magical blasts and block the black magic coming at me.

When Thanek’s enormous sword swings at me, I leap up and push off a step of light to jump away from the blade. As I fall, I throw out a golden spike which plunges into Thanek’s chest. The light disperses in a flash, leaving no visible damage, but it was enough to knock him back and give Rourk an opening. Rourk ducks low and stabs his spear into Thanek’s side, but the blade bounces off the armor. Thanek throws out a backhand and sends Rourk spiraling through the air. A fear-filled scream bursts from me as Rourk hits the roof and rolls to a stop.

The Dark King turns to me and slowly approaches, forcing me to step back.

“You should not be fighting me,” Thanek says. “You are meant to be here, with me. By my side.”

A heavy chill shivers my shoulders. “W-what do you mean?”

“You already know.” He holds out his hand.

Dark fear roils with the adrenaline coursing through me. But my mind becomes clear, like a flame igniting to reveal something hidden.

This power. His power. It is the same as mine. I can almost see his thoughts drifting to me through the air. Flashes of the truth. I have the same magical power as Thanek, because I come from the same family line.

I am… descended from him.

My face twists into a tortured grimace. “No!” I yell, shivering, on the verge of tears. “No. This is not…”

“It is,” Thanek says, his deep voice low and almost soothing. “Galene.” He draws out my name like a long echo. “Come to me.”

He reaches out again, his gauntleted hand swirling with ebbing darkness. I feel myself falling into that deeply welcoming darkness. Like reaching home after a long journey.

No.

I snap out of the trance and a dome of golden light bursts over me. Thanek jerks back, and I can feel the torrent of anger rising through him.

“Stay away!” I yell and throw a golden spear at him.

He knocks it away with his sword. Behind him, Rourk is struggling to get to his feet, his shirt stained with blood.

Thanek comes for me again with a grasping hand. I leap over the body of a Kingdom Guard and clear the distance between us.

He’s trying to get to me. He means to take my power. To take… me.

Yes, it’s clearer now. Thanek wants to take me and use me as a vessel for his new life. Waves of feelings and images hit me as I throw out my magic to keep him back. I think the more I connect to my magic, and the more my power connects with his, the clearer everything becomes.

I am the last female of Irina Dashna’s lineage and power. And my father has been plotting to sacrifice me to the Dark King, to restore him to full power. It’s all suddenly in my mind, in an instant. My father faking the letter from the Kingdom. Forcing Rourk into my life. Arranging to have me here, in the Kingdom, on this night. To be here with Thanek at this time.

There was no stopping this moment from happening.

His power is fueled by mine, as mine is by his. That’s why I’m stronger now in his presence.

I keep Thanek back with spears of light while I try to get closer to Rourk. He’s on his feet now and has picked up a new sword from a fallen guard.

“Rourk!” I call out to him. “He needs me alive. He needs his family alive. To return to power. Without those of us with light power, he is helpless.”

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