Page 81 of Fallen Heirs

“Don’t lose that. Certainly don’t allow what Constantine has put you through to make it so.”

That was something I’d been struggling with since I’d gone through all of that, my need for vengeance and the grief I’d felt over my mom’s death threatening to lead the way and twist things irreparably, to push me to take a dangerous hardline approach and doing whatever it took to find that fucker and put him down. I’d neared the point of crossing a line I couldn’t come back from, that I would never forgive myself for.

But with help from my men and also seeing how close I’d come, it had managed to pull me back from heading further down that path.

It had brought me back to myself before I’d turned into somebody I couldn’t recognize.

“I won’t,” I assured him.

“Very good.”

We passed through the last of the forest consisting of the twisted black trees, and we came out to an area of desolate space, cracked black ground all over like a desert of ash really. There, a few feet away, were three poles positioned about thirty feet apart, each with silver light emanated from them, licking high into the air. They looked like a cross between candelabras and torches.

Watching me studying them, Saryan told me, “The last few days we’ve been able to discern how to switch from your angelic power to dark magic annihilation seamlessly, however, you’ve been hesitant when it comes to the actual annihilation part. You haven’t wanted to hurt me, so you’ve held back. This is a solution to that.” He gestured at the flames. “My magic. The strongest dark magic in existence. It’s been extracted from my being so you targeting it cannot harm me.”

“Hasn’t that left you weakened?”

“I’m going to trust you with a secret that very few are aware of. All the while I’m within the Dark Fae Realm, my power and strength can regenerate.”

“That’s incredible.”

“There is a limit, however. My magic cannot regenerate from nothing, so if it was all extinguished, there would be nothing to be done.”

“Hence why my ability is still such a threat to you.”

“Not just to me. My magic powers the Realm. Although Orpheus could technically take my place, at his young age, he’s not yet beyond it draining him. As I have done here, extracting my magic from my being, I can do that to prevent it from being lost upon my untimely death, and it was always my intention to leave it behind for Orpheus to keep it running through the kingdom until he could manage it himself. Obviously, I cannot do that if it’s annihilated by yourspecial ability.”

I’d definitely understood the fear that others had of me and of what I could do since word had spread, but I hadn’t realized this aspect of it. I’d seen it more from an individual basis, of people worrying they’d lose their magic because of me, if I was wielded against my will to stand against this faction or that. But now hearing that an entire kingdom could fall because of it, that it would destroy an entire population and thereby even disturb the balance of the supernatural world as a result… it was a heady thing.

Seeing my distress, Saryan told me, “We must focus on your training here and now. The failsafe experiments are progressing as we speak.”

“Okay,” I said, nodding fervently and trying to relegate my focus to the immediate.

He gestured at the silver magic on the far left. “I want you to attempt to merelyinfectthis one with your ability, rather thanusing a continuous stream. When we stream our magic, it takes a great deal of sustained effort. It risks tiring us too quickly. Moreover, it’s also time-consuming to eliminate a target that way. Given that our target is Constantine Vale, it’s a problem. His vampiric speed enables him to escape a streaming standoff like this once he realizes he is outmatched or in danger of losing the standoff. It’s only his arrogance that has led to him engaging in such a thing at all, but after his recent failings and defeats, it’s doubtful he will put himself in that position again. He knows now what you are capable of and he’ll be mindful of that and use that knowledge to his advantage and your disadvantage.”

“Understood,” I said, taking his words in.

I stepped forward and took position a few feet from the target.

“Be clear and decisive in your intent,” he instructed me.

I sucked in a centering breath and mustered my focus.

Then I turned my left palm up and called my power. With my right, I manipulated the golden fire into a sphere, twisting my hand and growing it larger, embedding my will into it, sparks forming all around the circumference, then beginning to spread to the rest of it too until the flames were gone and replaced entirely with floating sparks making up the sphere.

And then I sent it sailing toward my target in the distance.

The moment it hit, the sphere exploded, its sparks raining down all over the silver fire, infiltrating it in the process and infecting the heart of it too.

It began to flicker unstably.

The vibrancy of the flames muted.

And then they began to snuff out as the infection set in.

In moments, all that remained were tiny sparks.

“Impressive,” Saryan commended. “All you’ll need with this plan of attack is access to a portion of his magic for the infection to latch onto.”

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