Page 7 of A Storm of Fire and Ice

Brontes reached down, and I summoned fire to my hands, thinking he might try to hurt Fannar. Instead, he grabbed Fannar’s hand and helped him to his feet.

“I would never kill Gwyneira’s brother, especially not to be with you,” Brontes grumbled. “I love Gwyneira. I don’t even know you!”

“But I knowyou,” Obsidia countered.

“No, you don’t. You know who I would’ve been if I hadn’t met Gwyneira. I’m not that man, and I never will be.”

“You are!” she insisted, angry desperation leaking into her voice. “You just don’t realize how great you could be!”

A little guilt passed over his eyes. “You’re wrong. I do know . . . The all-consuming power, the rage you’re talking about . . . but that’s not me, thanks to Gwyneira.” He looked at Fannar’s sister lovingly before his eyes darted sharply toward Obsidia again. “Ineverwant to be that man again!”

This time, Obsidia’s eerie yellow eyes narrowed with rage at Gwyneira. “This is your fault, little mouse!”

“Leave her out of this,” Brontes growled, his hands sparking with lightning.

“Ah, but if I kill her, the prophecy will never be fulfilled,” Obsidia purred, raising her hand as dark purple energy crackled between her fingers. “You’ll become the notorious Storm Prince I know, and then you’ll be mine again!”

The room crackled with energy, dark tendrils of Obsidia’s magic coiling and lashing out like serpents toward Gwyneira, who still stood beside me.

“Watch out!” I yelled, rushing forward. Fire burst from my fingertips, meeting the black magic midair and enveloping it in a burst of flames.

“Gwyneira!” Icicles shot from Fannar’s hands at the sorceress attacking his sister.

Brontes was right beside him, lightning arcing between his fingers as he hurled bolts at Obsidia.

“Stay back, Gwyneira,” I warned, grabbing her arm as she tried to step into the fray.

“But I can help!” Gwyneira protested with determination. “I won’t let her hurt Brontes or Fannar!”

“No, it’s you that she wants. It’s too risky,” I insisted, looking straight into her icy blue eyes to emphasize my request. “We can handle this. Just stay safe.”

After Gwyneira relented and backed further away, I rejoined the boys in the fight.

“Your attempts to stop me are pathetic,” Obsidia sneered, dodging Fannar’s ice and Brontes’s lightning with ease. “You’ll never defeat me.”

Fannar growled, launching another volley of icicles at her.

“Give up, Obsidia.” Brontes’s voice strained as he conjured a tornado. “You’re outnumbered and outmatched!”

“Never, not until the Ice Princess is dead!” she spat, raising her hands to unleash more dark magic.

“That’s not happening, you witch!” I shouted, shielding the guys from Obsidia’s attack with a wall of fire. The darkness flickered and died against the flames, but stopping that one attack was enough to strain my powers.

“Enough!” Fannar roared, summoning a massive deluge of ice that surged toward Obsidia.

Brontes grunted loudly, his storm powers amplifying the ice into deadly bullets of hail. The onslaught forced Obsidia back, her face contorted with fury and pain.

“Helena, now!” Fannar urged.

I gritted my teeth, sweat beading on my brow as I mustered my remaining energy into one final attack. I screamed, sending a firestorm blazing toward Obsidia, the heat so intense it threatened to consume everything in its path.

“Ahhhh!” she cried out, throwing up a dark barrier to protect herself from the combined force of our powers, but even her formidable defenses wouldn’t hold up long.

A dark purple and black portal formed behind her.

“Get out of my castle!” Brontes growled.

“Ugh!” she sneered, her yellow eyes glowing with hatred. “This isn’t the last you’ll see of me.” Obsidia turned to Gwyneira. “When we meet again, you will die, little mouse.”

---