Page 135 of A World of Ruins

A stream of water shoots from one of Hedris’s men’s palms, but I block it with my power before it can hit Link. The light from my hand blinds the soldiers for a moment, giving me time to slam into the closest assailant.

I swing my sword around, severing heads and coating myself in their blood. I yell out my rage, jamming the tip of the blade into one of the men’s chests. He gags and splutters before I draw it out, and a dozen dead bodies lie in a circle around me.

Turning to look at Link, I march up to him and grab his shoulders while searching him to see if the blood that is on him is his.

‘It’s not mine,’ he says, and relief blooms inside my chest.

I scan the terrain as the battle rages on, with phoenixes circling the air. ‘Where are Iker and Illias?’

Link swallows, his hair damp with sweat. ‘They were with Rydan, near the volcanoes.’

My hands fall from his shoulders as I lift the sword, with the blood of Hedris’s men still dripping from it. ‘Here, take this.’

Link frowns, shaking his head as I place the blade’s hilt in his hands. ‘But it’s yours.’

‘I don’t need it!’ I tell him as I back away and turn to run off in the opposite direction.

I begin to shed off my gauntlets, fury burning in my gaze as I focus on the rivers. Kirian is on the other side, looking unfazed as he unleashes dark tendrils of shadow magic to repel the oncoming warriors.

The air cracks with the collision of magic and weapons as I push my feet to the maximum strength.

A woman clad in royal blue armour intercepts me, releasing a harrowing cry as she brings her blade down on me. I roll onto the ground, twisting my head as the dagger slams into the dirt beside me. I release a blast of light from my palm, sending her to the ground. As I rise, her pale face screws into anger and she tries to lift herself back up, but I don’t let her. My expression is cold and relentless as I throw another burst of my power her way.

She screams and all I can think about is how muchIscreamed when Idris died.

I think about the bite and how bright red and bruised it was.

I think about how pale he looked and how much pain he was in.

I think . . . I think about how this person can be on the side of someone whose only desire is to destroy every piece of land on this earth.

I lift my hand, beckoning magic to my fingertips, but someone stops me as they capture my wrist. I can’t seem to calm myself as fire burns through my nostrils and I turn my head to where Darius is now by my side.

He doesn’t yield his hold on me. A storm swirls in the gold rims of his eyes. ‘Nara, stand down.’

I can’t believe he is saying that. ‘Darius—’

‘Hewantsyou to be drained of every power you have inside you right now.’

I can only stare at him, realising the truth behind his words.

‘Think about it!’ He shakes my arm, which seems to steady me back on track. ‘What has he done up until now?’

Nothing. He has done nothing but watch.

Just as he did back at the arena, letting me waste all my energy so that he could overpower me.

My gaze softens as Darius stops trying to open my clenched fingers, and our shared fury is momentarily quieted. The woman on the ground scuttles back, the contempt in her gaze palpable as she watches us turn our attention to her.

‘Well, isn’t this a wonderful sight.’

My spine turns to steel at the voice coming from behind us. I can feel an undercurrent of rage brimming beneath Darius as we turn to find Hedris with a group of soldiers backing him.

Hedris’s gaze slices between Darius and me. ‘The thief telling his bitch to calm down.’ His words are a deliberate provocation, and it works as I try to run at him.

Darius stretches his hand out to stop me, his jaw tightening as the muscles on his neck go taut. The pause that follows feels like the beginning of a thunderstorm. ‘Say that again,’ he dares, his voice low and hinting at the temper that lies just beneath his surface – the temper I have witnessed a hundred times before.

Hedris sneers. ‘Your.Wife. Is a—’

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