Page 30 of Forged in Flame and Shadow

I aim my next sun beam low, sending it flaring across the ground, straight toward where Leon stands.

He roars as he has to throw himself out of the way, the shot too low to block with his shield. The ground where I lie begins to shake, and I roll away as fast as I can, immediately sending another bolt of magic toward Leon’s feet, forcing him to dance away once more.

The smell of burning moss fills the air, and a wave of triumph rolls through me, watchinghimrun frommymagic for a change.

There’s a reason they’re all targeting me. The fae want something from me because I’m powerful. My aunt wants me dead because I’m athreat.

Let’s see just how powerful and threatening I can be.

The next time the heat moves through me, it’s like I’ve opened a door inside myself I didn’t know was locked. Magic streams through it with such ferocity it feels endless. I scramble to my feet and throw my hand out, aiming straight for Leon’s shield.

Any ordinary shield would surely melt under the strength of the blast, but in this case my sun beam hits the reinforced metal so hard it flies out of Leon’s hand. He ducks in time to avoid being hit by the shieldorthe beam, which is still chasing after it. The shield hits the wall first, leaving a deep dent before it clatters to the ground. The sun beam follows seconds after, colliding with the wall hard enough to send a shower of sparks across the room. Cracks spider out from the impact point, and a cloud of plaster billows outward like smoke.

“Stop,” Gallis calls, holding up her hands as she strides onto the training ground, stepping over the churned and charred earth.

“Was that what you would call a display of precision?” she demands.

I know she wants me to say no, but when I think about the sheer amount of power I just felt move through me, all I feel is pride.

“I hit the shield, didn’t I?” I say.

She shakes her head. “When you were aiming for his feet, I thought you were getting it, even if you were still only sending out single, overly powerful beams at any one time. But that last display was nothing but brute force.”

Defiance rises up in me at her criticism. I showed I wasstrong. I beat Leon, for gods’ sake. Surely that counts as success?

“With respect, proctor, I got the job done. What does it matter if I’m precise about it? Why are we worrying about how prettily I do it if the whole point is to be able to defend myself in whatever way I can?”

The proctor opens her mouth to respond, but Leon cuts her off. “Please, proctor, allow me.”

When I look at him, I’m surprised by the steel in his eyes and the hard set of his mouth. He looks angry.

“It matters because defending yourself is not the same as burning everything up. It matters because you don’t deserve to have all this power if you’re not going to learn how to use it properly,” he growls.

Then, to my shock, he stalks out of the room.

Maybe it’s the adrenaline still running through my veins from the fight, but as I watch his retreating back, I know I can’t let those words go.

“Excuse me, proctor,” I say stiffly. “And sorry about the wall.”

Leon

I hear her footsteps behind me, having to make two strides to my one just to catch me up as I charge through the Lyceum halls.

“What is your problem?” she demands. I say nothing. It’s better to not even look at her as I try to calm myself. “I don’tdeservemy power? That’sbullshit.”

“Youdon’tdeserve it if you allow yourself to be consumed by it, allow it to control you rather than the other way around. Well done, you showed off how strong you are—but like Proctor Gallis said, that’s not the be-all and end-all.”

My words don’t placate her. She’s smart enough to know she hit a nerve with me, and she’s not going to let this go.

“Is this about Fairon?” she continues. “It is, isn’t it? You’re mad I’m not listening to the proctor’s instructions because it puts me further away from being able to heal him.”

“That’s not it,” I say, turning a corner. But she keeps stumbling after me.

“I thought you wanted me to get better at protecting myself, but when I do, you’re pissed? I guess all you care about is whether my magic’s useful to you.”

Resentment sparks in me at her words, and I stop, turning on her.

“How can you think that’s true, after everything we’ve been through?”

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