Page 11 of A Simple Truth

I closed my eyes, forcing away the loud thoughts that sprung up in my mind; thoughts I was not ready to process yet.

“Just so we are clear, Finn hasraw fire,right?” Cori’s voice sounded loudly in the half-asleep tent.

“Oh, come on Cori, it’s not polite to ask.” Tori shushed her sister, but then a second later, added, “But now that the question is out there…do you?” Her head peeked up as she rested on her elbows, peering over at my cot across the tent.

“Perhaps a better question asked to Gideon’s tent.” Yanush chuckled across the room, pulling blankets up her shoulders.

I paused, unsure what to say. I knew the answer but admitting it somehow made it real, and I was still clinging to that comforting denial. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. A minute had gone by, maybe more. The awkward silence had lasted too long for me to say anything now.

“Yes, she does,” Zora finally grumbled from her spot. “I saw it with my own eyes today.”

“That’s so exciting!” Gia exclaimed in the cot next to me as our eyes met. I gave her a sheepish smile, though excitement was far from what I was feeling now.

“Having it is one thing. Wielding it is another,” Ioanna skeptically added as she yawned, rolling over to her side.

That statement alone brought sheer eeriness to the room as the girls nestled back to sleep. Though I now laid wide awake, staring at the ceiling, ignoring the relentless waves of exhaustion.

Could I?

CouldIwield raw fire?

The question nagged me bit by bit, until my mind surrendered and I defeatedly drifted fast asleep.

6

FINNLEAH

The answer to that question was actually quite simple.

The answer that now, every single Destroyer Rebel knew.

I couldn’t.

Wet dirt splattered on my face as my sore lungs struggled to expand. My eyelids, heavy as lead, were unwilling to open, yet the surrounding clatter of metal and commotion pulled me out of the sticky darkness.

“Someone kick her and make sure she is still breathing!” Zora shouted from afar.

A few swift strides accompanied by loud splashes of mud sounded a couple of seconds later. Someone’s leather boot gently poked my side, earning a slight grunt from me.

“She’s alive,” Ashe shouted to Zora, already running back to the ring. Her brash voice still echoed in my ears alongside an annoyingly high-pitched ringing.

I wasn’t sure how many times I had passed out today. I stopped counting after the first five. At first, people were concerned, rushing to me, pausing their training to ensure I wasokay. Now though it was just a quick glance over my falling body, along with a chuckle, a sigh, or a scoff.

My face was bruised and my head throbbed with a dull, gnawing ache. I ran my fingers across my lips.

Great, a busted lip now too.

I clenched my jaw tighter.

I was a mess. Physically…emotionally…

I didn’t expectthis. I could swear if Lady Fate stood here right now, I’d see her laughing uncontrollably, mocking me.

A Destroyer. A wielder of Justice Fire.

Raw fire, my ass.My brows furrowed.

Not only had I failed to summon even a damn spark, I passed out every time I got too close to the Destroyers’ Cleansing Fire. Each time I tried to find my power, that fire within me, my body refused to cooperate. Darkness immediately overtook me even at the slightest attempt, and I found myself, once again, on the ground, sinking in the cold, wet dirt.

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