Page 44 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

“It’s me,” I whispered, sending a tingle of my magic down his spine. “Just me.”

A breath later, the Dragon settled into flight, no longer trying to throw me from him. I could see my Earth storm gathered in the middle of the valley. It whirled like a tornado now, Fayzien at its eye. He had no Water to aid him, so he held it back with his spells, firing slips of magic around him in a battle I knew he could not win. I reached out to the tornado, attempting to call it to further action—to neutralize Fayzien until I got there by filling his lungs with debris. But I received no response. The Nameless Valley sucked the life from my storm. The Earth seemed to only operate under the original intention I spelled it with.

I’d lost the advantage Jana told me to hold, but I didn’t care. He was close—so close. I nudged the Dragon with my knees, as one would a horse, and he barreled towards the storm.

I gently pressed down on his spinal spikes, steering straight for the storm’s center.C’mon, Terra. For them.

I stood on the Dragon’s back, careful to keep my balance, and drew Ezren’s blades from the harness he’d fastened to me. Right before I was above Fayzien, I leaped, landing in front of him, one knee to the ground. The Dragon flew off, roaring into the sky without any apparent direction. The Earth dropped, satisfied with the completion of its mission, the falling dirt forming a battle ring around us.

Moonlight gleamed off the blades out in front of me. Fayzien was covered in Earth, looking worse for wear, and my lips parted, the corner of my mouth tugging up in reaction to his struggle.

He looked at me with an unmasked hate. “You foul bitch,” he spat at my feet.

I had dreamt of this moment many times since I’d seen him last. Now, none of my fantasies came to me—none of the fear and shame from minutes before. Only a coldness settled deep into my bones.

I twirled my blades in my hands, which to Fayzien may have looked like show but was meant to test the weight of my swords. They felt more natural now, given my new strength. He whispered, a spell of sorts, and two swords of his own appeared. I called to the Earth, searching for a root or a rock to trip him. But like I’d felt earlier, if life existed on that plain, it did not respond to me. Neither of us would have our elements, then. Blades it would be.

Fayzien lunged at me, like he knew I tried to draw upon my power and failed. I blocked his blow with ease. He struck fast but with less strength than I had faced against Leuffen or Ezren. Likely, he was drained from spelling.

I was not.

I quickened my pace, letting my blades fly, knowing I could afford the effort to tire him.

And he did. I knocked one of his blades from his hand with my left, and my right blade grazed his leg. He yelled out, and I sent my heel into his manhood. He bent over, crouching, as I approached him, my sword gleaming in triumph from his blood. I shook with a fury fueled by the memories of the last few weeks and the smugness on his face when he spoke about Gia.

Not Gia.

He stood as soon as I reached him, unhurt by my strike to his groin. When he did, a silver rope appeared in his hand, shimmering with magic. I dropped my left scim and placed both hands on the emerald hilt of my right blade, figuring I’d need double the strength to fight his enchanted whip. Fayzien raisedhis arm and sent the silver rope towards me. It collided with my blade in a loud snap that sung through my bones. He attempted to tighten the whip around my weapon to disarm me, but I yanked, and he skidded my way. I sent my heel to him once more, this time into the bleeding wound I had left on his thigh. He yelped at this, stumbling, but used the momentum to loosen his whip and swing it around while he spun towards me. The weapon connected with my back and sent me a good ten feet to his right.

My ribs crunched beneath me as I landed with a thud on the ground. I grunted, gritting my teeth against the stabbing pain radiating into my abdomen. Heat pricked my eyes, threatening to impair my vision, and I choked down a cry. I pushed myself onto all fours, spitting blood and forcing air back into my lungs. It was all I could do to keep hold of my blade when the enchanted whip cracked on my backside once more.

I groaned and Fayzien pulled back his weapon, laughing through his huffs. “Well,” he breathed, “this is a demeaning position if I’ve ever seen one.”

I spat another mouthful of blood and looked back at him. The fire burned inside me—hot, hot, hotter than I’d felt before. “I am going to kill you,” I growled.

“No one will be killing anyone today, sweet Terra. I have no interest in your rebel friends, and it is time we go home. But first, I’m going to have my fill of fun.” He winked and raised his whip once more, this time aiming it at my head.

I rolled onto my back, raising Ezren’s emerald-gilded blade to protect my face as I sent my power through the weapon. It was a frantic move—I threw whatever magic I’d built up into it in desperation—in hopes it would strengthen my sword.

The emerald on the hilt glowed, a soft shimmer at first, and then blinding us in a moment of what looked like… Ezren’s light. Power flooded from the blade to my veins in an ecstasy I hadnever known—and likely wouldn’t come to understand for some time. It connected at once with Fayzien’s whip, and instead of the contact reverberating through me, I felt the ease of a clean cut. At once, the severed rope shriveled up, dissipating in the air.

I had no time to gape at my small victory or to wonder where the strange and foreign magic came from. My muscles felt an urgency my mind did not. In a fluid motion, I removed a throwing knife strapped on my thigh and flung it, sinking it into Fayzien’s shoulder. I prowled to him as he fell to his knees, clutching at the blade. Before he could remove it, I clenched my hand around his neck, squeezing with enough strength to hurt, but not kill. Fayzien’s eyes opened wide to mine, and his hands went to his throat, attempting to loosen my grip.

“I have never ended a life, but for this, I will carry no guilt. You will hurt no one else, you violating, murderous piece offilth,” I whispered, willing the tears to stay behind my eyes as I raised my blade.

“Wait,” he gasped laboriously. “Gia—if you kill me, she, she dies,” he croaked. And if all he wanted was hesitation from me, that’s what he got. He took the advantage and sent his fist deep into my abdomen, the blow connecting to the ribs I’d already cracked. I released him, doubling over, screaming at the sharp pressure.

I tried to rise to my full height, but pain lanced my core. My arms formed a protective cocoon around my midsection as I huddled there.

I am going to lose.

Instead of trying to land a killing blow, he took a step back from me, conjuring another weapon. He had no time, because the Dragon descended from behind me. And Ezren’s neck coiled back in a deep breath, before he let out a lethal strike of fire, incinerating Fayzien in an instant.

The blue-eyed man was gone, leaving nothing behind but a smoking pile of ash.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

DESERT RAIN

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