Page 107 of The Dryad Storm

A spiraling cyclone of violet wind blasts from my branch and hits Vogel, blowing him into the air. Extreme shock sears through his power as he slams to the ground, the fulsome sense of the Forests rising within me surging, my power now not just my own...

... my power a communalalliance.

Ourpower.

True Dryad power.

“Shield me!”I cry out in Dryadin.

A vision of leagues of huge, purple pine trees lancing the clouds like spearsflashes through my mind as a line of fiery purple Dyoi and Zhilaan power blasts from my branch with such force that I skid backward over the stone ledge, the purple flame flying up before me in a translucent, shielding half orb.

Vogel rights himself, hisses, and hurls out lines of forking Shadow lightning from his Wand, the silver gray lightning rapidly branching into the shape of a prone, fire-spitting tree as it lances toward me.

The lightning tree knifes into my orb shield, and pain spikes through my branch arm. Alarm streaks through me as my shield contracts inward from the spearing blow, skidding me farther back, but my orb shield holds. Barely. Its purple glow crackling with gray sparks.

A chilling look of reappraisal overtakes Vogel’s expression. He growls out another spell, gray fire overtaking his irises as he snaps out a larger, sharper Shadow tree.

“Tree of fire!”I snarl in Dryadin as I thrust my branch forward, drawing on not only Dyoi and Zhilaan Forest power, but an edge of Yvan’s Wyvernfire, as well as a line of my horde’s fire. A battle cry erupts from my throat as multihued fire explodes from my branch and passes harmlessly through my shield before swiftly branching out into an attacking tree of flame, my body shuddering from the rush of Dryad and Wyvern power.

Our trees collide. Vogel’s Shadow tree bursts into silver sparks as my tree of flame shoots toward his cloaked form only to be fully absorbed by the Shadow Wand, Vogel’s eyes taking on a wicked, multihued glow that quickly morphs back to silvery gray.

Confusion rocks through me.

How did he just draw in all that fire?He practicallyatethe fire.

Vogel thrusts his Wand toward the sky, and his army appears, rows of soldiers on multi-eyed dragons rising from just beyond the ledge’s precipitous drop. With a jolt, I meet the cruel eyes of Damion Bane, and he smiles, my thoughts immediately skidding to Aislinn.

I blanch and take a step back, the brewing storm of Void magic too powerful for me to best, countless Shadow-corrupted wands rising along with the Shadow Wand...

I turn and break into a run toward my allies, heartbeat galloping, pulling my shield with me as I go.

Yvan and my other allies’ power is slamming against the dome-shield in bright bursts of color as I sprint toward it, Trystan’s blue lightning crackling through Yvan’sviolet fire along with my Errilor Ravens’ streaks of Dark aura.

I glance over my shoulder just as a greatBOOMof Shadow power slams against the back of my shield, skidding me forward and shattering my shield’s molten surface in a raying flash of color that morphs to gray as my shield disappears.

Fear leaping, I hasten my pace as Vogel and his forces close in, broken dragons shrieking and winging toward me, the Mages drawing up another cataclysmic amount of Shadow power.

“Get back!”I cry out to my allies as I reach the Dyoi Forest’s dome-shield and pull my rootlineswide opento Dyoi, Zhilaan, and Wyvern power while leveling my branch at the shield, bent on elemental strike, the full might of the Dyoi Forest and a potent trace of Zhilaan magic rising within me.“Break through Vogel’s Shadow net!”I cry out in Dryadin as my allies open a small entrance in our shield.

A sizzling tang of energy hits my back, and animalistic desperation sizzles through me as I’m flooded by the split-second foresight of a Shadow storm about to slam into me just as a column of purple energy bolts from my branch. My power collides with Vogel’s Shadow netting, blasting a small hole clear through it.

I throw myself headfirst into the passageway.

Yvan’s protective fire aura instantly roars around and through me as his strong hands grip hold of my upper arms and he yanks me fully through the opening with ferocious purpose, my power empathy instantly overtaken by the awareness of Trystan, Vothe, Sage, and my other allies blasting their combined power over the shield’s hole to seal it, Ra’Ven and Vestylle’s shield-amplifying Varg power flowing over the sealed hole, leaving no gaps this time.

Vogel and his forces’ full assault of Shadow slams into our shield, and the shield’s entire, cloud-high side contracts inward like a sheet of molasses.

Yvan’s fire envelopes me as he pulls me close, my vision spitting stars as I gasp for breath, both of us down on our knees. I feel as if my rootlines are close to collapsing in on themselves, my lines severely depleted from releasing so much magic at once.

Yvan brings his lips to mine at the same moment I grab desperate hold of him, knotting my fingers in his hair and drawing him even closer as emotion surges through our bond, both of us clear that, for me, his kiss is the surest route to both his power and the Zhilaan Forest’s. His lips are Wyvern-warm and urgently firm, a hot line of our love for each other searing through us as he blasts not only his power into me, but the elemental strength of his kindred Zhilaan Forest and our entire horde via our Wyvernbond, lighting up my lines like a fiery beacon as both his andthe Dyoi Forest’s strength floods through them.

My power slowly restoring, I break the kiss and meet Yvan’s impassioned gaze before I force myself to my feet, rage surging through me as I lunge back toward the shield, not able to see Vogel through his forces’ whipping storm, but able to sense his lurking power.

“You will not take this Forest!”I snarl at Vogel. “I will regain my power, and I will come for you!”

“Elloren,” Yvan cautions as he moves in behind me.

“He doesn’t hold enough power to get to me,” I bite out. “Isn’t that right,Marcus?”

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