Page 224 of The Dryad Storm

Chapter Two

Black Witch Rising

Elloren Guryev

Shadow wasteland

Silence descends in the cramped cavern, only Fallon’s occasional feral snarl breaking through the silver torchlight guttering over our bound forms.

My heart thuds, the sound of my pulse whooshing through my ears as I strain against my bindings.

I sense Yvan drawing nearer with what must be portal-speed, the painful stretch of our bond relaxing, his fire increasingly roaring through me along with that of my entire horde, assuring me that they are on their way.

But sweat breaks out over my skin. The Shadowed twinning spell striving to fully connect my rootlines with Fallon’s has taken on a parasitical life of its own, my gut clenching against the feel of my magic being siphoned out of me and into Fallon, the Shadow mist slithering around our lines winding tighter and tighter...

... then pulling excruciatingly tight.

I scream against my Shadow gag at the same moment Fallon lets out a throaty growl, every one of my muscles tensed bowstring tight as Yvan and my horde’s Wyvernfire is punched back, cold invades my rootlines, and my power starts to funnel more intensely toward Fallon.

I tense every rootline, struggling to hold my magic back from the evil linkage. I manage to tenuously slow its flow, but the effort is torturous, like knives being dragged along my rootlines.

Another surge of Yvan’s fire hits me, searing through our mating mark and bond before streaking through my arms to my hands and concentrating there as if Yvan istrying to send his might into my palms.

Wood, I agonize.If I had one single sliver of livingwood.

I’m trembling now, my power like a roaring tide battering against a dam that’s about to break and send every last ounce of my magic straight into Fallon, my mating mark and palms burning hotter and hotter...

A memory of something Yvan said suddenly connects—

The bite opens up a full sharing of fire power.

The revelation of what Yvan is trying to convey strikes home with the force of stars colliding, my heart striking into a rib-battering rhythm.

I don’t need living wood to get free, I breathlessly consider, a brutal ruthlessness descending.I have access toIcaralfire.

I draw in a harsh breath, pull on Yvan’s power... and draw his Icaral inferno toward my palms.

The scene around me tints to flickering violet, a hotter scald overtaking my palms.

Snarling against my gag, I splay my fingers open, tense every line and roar out the inferno of Icaral fire.

Heat blasts from my palms in an explosion of violet flame, every Shadow vine restraining me igniting.

Fallon shrieks as my gag and other bindings sizzle away, freeing me.

My gaze jerks to her as I sit up, a new jolt of panic spearing through me as I realize her bindings are burning to ash as well, the guards outside shouting and pounding on the rune-sealed iron door.

The split-second realization hits.They can’t get in. Only Vogel can...

I spring to my feet at the same moment that Fallon does, her movements unnaturally quick, her whole being seeming transformed into an animalistic state by the Shadow coursing through her lines. Her glowing gray eyes lock with mine, her lips pulling back in a bloodcurdling hiss.

Before I can attack, she lunges and knocks me to the ground.

My back collides with stone, the breath knocked from my lungs as Fallon’s hands close around my throat. I’m unable to breathe, Fallon’s grip clenching so tight that I fear her fingers will puncture my skin, her ice spearing into my lines. My eyes bulge as I struggle to both pull in air and draw more of Yvan’s fire into my palms. Thrashing against Fallon’s hold, I punch her to no avail and she hisses and bears down. Dark stars explode through my vision, and I begin to black out,Yvan’s fire power taking on a feral, lashing force as it burns through wave upon wave of ice.

Seizing on my final shred of consciousness, I reach up, grasp Fallon’s shoulder, and blast Wyvernfire straight into her.

Fallon screams, her hands flying off my throat as she erupts into violet flames.

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