Page 6 of Riftborne
Once it got to this point, I never could.
The last vestiges of my control snapped like a frayed rope. The unrelenting curse surged to the surface, flooding my veins with an intense and unstoppable fury. I spun to face the girls as the ground trembled beneath me, the air crackling with energy.
As if I reacted outside my own realm of authority, I thrust my hands forward, unleashing a searing torrent of force. The blast tore through the air, finding the girls in an instant.
They stumbled back, looking at each other in horror and confusion. I could do nothing but watch as they opened their mouths to scream, but no sound escaped. Realization washed over them in silent horror as the vortex of energy stole their voices.
Time seemed to slow as a haunting radiance began to pulse from their eyes, hot and blinding like an exploding celestial body.
How delicious it was to feel the power break the confines of my skin. To be rid of it, even for a fleeting moment. I hated myself for the pleasure that radiated through me. My eyes bore into the sight of the girls, unable to tear my vision from the gruesome scene unfolding ahead.
Wisps of spectral energy curled around strands of their hair and gowns. Crimson tar began to flow from their noses as though their minds were being strangled by an invisible grip.
They fell to the ground. The energy continued to weave patterns around their unconscious forms before slowly releasing itself into the ether.
I stood frozen. The last pulses of energy resonated around me like heat emanating from hot pavement. The world held its breath.
Slowly, the aura lessened, and I felt the weight of my actions crash down upon me. The trance broke.
Were they dead?
I stumbled over to their lifeless forms and my knees hit the ground, damp grass embracing my fall.Please. Please don’t be dead.
But I couldn’t bring myself to check. To touch them. I could tell from the overwhelming stillness that they weren’t breathing. If they were dead…
A wave of nausea swept over me, threatening to expel the entirety of my dinner. The silence of the forest was screaming, as if nature itself recoiled from me. Tears welled in my eyes.
I dug my fingers into the dirt. How could I allow myself to lose control like this? I should have kept walking.Fuck, I should have kept walking.
Tears streamed down my face, blurring out the world around me as regret crept into my blood and bones. One thought permeated.
Run.
My legs ached as they found their balance, and I stood, trembling. I took a shaky step towards the tree line just as a twig snapped from behind me.
I spun to find a pair of familiar, hauntingly emerald eyes nearly pulsing in the darkness. The wind whipped, sending his copper hair flying. His form was backlit by the moon, lending an ethereal quality to that devastating face. The one now completely fixated on me.
My heartbeat pummeled against my chest.
General Laryk Ashford.
He stood there, twisting a dagger through his fingers with expert precision as an enigmatic smile played at the corner of his lips. He must have seen everything.
Esprithe save me.
Panic rushed over my body as I grappled with the consequences that would surely be waiting for me once he escorted meback to the party and informed the crowd of what I had done. They would kill me without hesitation. A perfect crescendo to the evening: the death of a Riftborne. I was as good as dust.
His eyes bore into me, but his expression was strange…
His eyes gleamed with something familiar but wildly inappropriate for the occasion. It couldn’t be…
Was that amusement?
He cocked his chin to the side, his gaze lingering on my left hand, bare and visible in the moonlight.
An eternity passed.
Is he going to kill me right here and now?
