Page 15 of Living Legend

Elise shouted my name as I watched the blue sparks dissolve into nothing. Before I could realize what was happening, a blazing cobalt rope slithered around my ankle and yanked me to the ground. I felt the cold mud hit my back as I was pulled forward. I was able to lift my head up slightly to see a beautiful girl with long, wavy, hair the color of midnight standing on top of a flat roof. Her fuchsia dress swung around her ankles. She had no expression on her dark-skinned face but nodded to two men beside her. They let out their own magic, spewing it from their palms.

I tried to grab onto anything as the magic dragged me along the ground, my hands scraping along grass and crumbled rocks. I looked to my left to Elise clapping her hands together, sending a wave of black over a small crowd of Enchanters barreling towards her. Those hands were suddenly bound by a teal rope; she frantically pulled and tugged at it, eventually being hurled to the ground.

Reese shot another arrow, striking two Enchanters in one shot. Another arrow flew towards the female who had me in her grasp. She turned her hand towards the arrow and in seconds, it turned to dust. The male Enchanter next to her whipped out a yellow rope that bound Reese’s ankles, and he fell, only to be covered in ropes of magic.

Nicholas looked down at me as we locked eyes, and I could feel the rope heating through my leggings into my skin. This female wanted me to feel pain from beginning to end. I saw the ivy from the side of the building snake itself around Nicholas’s ankles and tighten as it pulled them together, throwing him face down. Branches wrapped around his wrists, making him lose hold of his sword, which tumbled off the roof onto the dirt below.

Weapons to a mind fight, indeed.

I had to stop this.

I dug my heels into the ground hard, making solid impact into the muddy ground. I closed my eyes, letting the black veil wash over me, collecting my feelings.

Discomfort. Anger. Rage.

I slid my hand to the ground, small rocks and shards of wood slicing through my hand. I felt the ground begin to shake, black smoke seeping out from small holes. The smoke grew thick, and I turned my hand towards those who wanted us dead. Each smoke stream coiled around itself, tightening into a thick cord, bobbing and weaving out of the dirt. I splayed my fingers, commanding the cords forward.

They found their way to each Enchanter, constricting and squeezing like a snake. I motioned for one cord to slice the blue rope at my ankle, releasing me. I did the same for the others, cutting their binds with ease. I jumped up from the ground, watching my magic at work, until I caught sight of my captor, her once emotionless face one of confusion and relentlessness. She brought her palm face up, a ball of infernal power in her hand aimed at me. The flames were a light blue, the center clear and growing larger, but I was one step ahead.

A smoking black ribbon snuck up behind her, wrapping around her shoulders, another grabbing her thighs, and yet another around her neck, slowly squeezing. The Enchanters struggled and writhed against my restraints, but I didn’t let up. Others tried to free them, but I yanked them back.

I motioned my magic to bring the woman towards me, carrying her from the roof to only a few feet in front of me. Her face shimmered with patches of glitter, her ears decorated in jewelry. I let the cord around her neck stiffen more, and she let out a guttural noise from her closing windpipe. I brought up my right hand again, a ball of a black flame in my palm, my fingers stretching around its smoking surface.

I knew her heart was racing, her hair stuck to her face as she sweat profusely in panic and defeat. I pressed the flame into her chest, little by little, until she started to grunt and moan, sweat beading on her forehead—

“Dani, stop!” I looked over my shoulder to see Nicholas standing a few inches away from me, yielding his sword again. He placed a hand on my elbow, delicately, his wrist marred by bruises. If the blackness of my eyes frightened him, he showed no indication of fear. “We need answers, remember?”

I turned back to my captive - she was clearly their leader.

I stood my ground, though, shaking my head. “They tried tokillus.” I felt Elise step to my other side, defending me. “I say slaughter them all.”

“You trespassed…on…our…land,” the Enchanter choked out in response.

“Dani, let her go,” Nicholas commanded, staring at me like I was the only one there. “Now.”

I brought my hand down, dissolving the black smoke, but the ribbons around her remained. I tilted my head to the side, letting the rage subside, but holding the power steady.

I stared into her round, honey eyes. “Either I tighten my shadows around you and your friends’ necks until they snap, or you tell us what we want to know.”

The whispering breeze started again, the willows moving along with it, and she nodded vigorously. I eased the ribbon around her neck, allowing her to speak more clearly. “Fine. You leave us alive and I will answer whatever you ask, Soul Seether.”

She certainly knew who I was.

I removed the ribbon completely, followed by the ones at her shoulders and thighs, leaving a smaller black cord to entrap her wrists. I surveyed her companions massaging their wrists and necks as the cords were released, disappearing into nothing. The woman in front of me turned her head to look at them, and most of them nodded, a silent understanding.

Nicholas and Reese took her shoulders, walking her over to a decaying shop door. I overheard Reese ask, “so, how long do we have?”

Nicholas sighed. “We have an hour until we have to be back through that portal.”

“Let's hope she knows something, then.”

Reese fetched a chair and sat the Enchanter down while I removed my smoke from her wrists, securing her arms and chest to the chair instead, holding her in place. She said nothing as we circled her, a few other Enchanters with her but at a distance. Elise tapped her foot on the wood floor impatiently, leaning against the doorframe as she waited.

Nicholas twirled the hilt of his sword in his hand, making an indention in the floor as it landed. “What do you know about the portals?”

She said nothing, her lips pressed closed.

“Are you the one who made them?” Nicholas asked, this time leaning closer to her face. Reese clucked his tongue, his hands in his pockets.

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