Page 40 of Gift from the Source
“You could have too,” I wheeze.
Holding my gaze, he sticks his hand out, and his faithful servant, Dr. Ale, hands him a vial that I make out from the corner of my eye.
Their little concoction they’ve developed to steal gifts. I’ve witnessed its side effects. Watched it happen in my mind’s eye. That small glowing white vial may appear sweet and innocent, but it’ll be the death of this realm if it’s not destroyed.
Just because he’s supposed to take my gift today doesn’t mean I’ll allow it to be easy. I’ll hold onto it with every last fucking sliver of my soul.
He sees the defiance in my glare and for a moment, I dive into eyes that are blacker than midnight. Their color’s been tainted by the cruelty he’s cursed across this realm, but I remember what they looked like before.
A light brown that was once full of fear.
“Any last words?” he asks as he shoves the vial between my lips.
I try my hardest to choke it up, but it’s a losing feat. Not only because he pushes it so far into my mouth, I nearly swallow the whole vial, but also, the sight sucks me in.
“Choices were made, and they’ve changed the path.”
Elementra’s voice causes my heart to swell as my mind plays the truth of what happened before the Summum-Master arrived.
I will not win today.
But neither will he.
“Thank you, Elementra.”
As my eyes clear from their cloudy appearance, I find the Summum-Master staring at me curiously with the now empty vial clenched in his hand. Pain slices across my chest when I open my mouth to speak and nothing but a tortured cough comes up.
“You…you’ve,” I stutter, trying so hard to get the words out.
To my utter shock, water spews from his finger into the empty vial and then he presses it against my mouth. There’s nothing worse he could give me now, so I drink it willingly. For no other reason than to be able to rub his failure in his face.
“You’ve been betrayed,” I finally managed to say.
“Excuse me?” he asks, straightening his shoulders.
“That was not your normal concoction but the entirety of a main ingredient.”
“Liar,” he growls, leaning down until his face is inches from mine.
“What would be the point of that? Whichever concoction I was given would’ve taken my life. But now you know, you won’t get my gift at all because there won’t be one to take.”
A string of coughs tears from my throat, causing him to jump back and stand straight. I watch completely satisfied as his shoulders bounce with the rage that’s burning within him.
“What did you do?” he bellows, spinning on his heels to face his most trusted scientist.
“Master,I…I…”
I don’t waste time hearing whatever it is he has to say as the Summum-Master takes purposeful, deadly strides toward him.
Elementra, please don’t leave me now.
If I’ve been given a choice, I don’t choose to die here.
Calling my air element back out, I pray and push as hard as I can against the stone around my body. At the first crack, I use all the strength I have in my body to lift my arms and slam them into the ground at the same time I push my element out again.
When the earth crumbles to pebbles, my body flies backward on the blast of my air. The outburst sends the Summum-Master tumbling, while I soar through the hallway and crash through the illusion wall.
My head slams into the concrete floor as I continue to slide backward and roaring in my ears starts instantly. It’s not loud enough to block out the sounds of shouting from on the other side of that wall.
