Page 107 of Wings of Ebony
“Nooooo!”
“Th-they’re destroying my home.”
Rage rips through me.
I tuck the gun in my waist and charge at him.
The General stumbles back and tumbles to the ground. I’m on top of him and my fist kisses his face with asmack. I clamp my hands on his head and dig my thumbs into his eye sockets. “GET! OFF! MY BLOCK!”
He thrashes, pushing, punching my side as streams of fierymagic buzz past my head. Sirens yowl in the distance. People everywhere are bawling, shouting. East Row is a symphony of chaos. My leg pulses with pain. Someone pulls me backward and I punch and kick, ripping myself away. I’m up on my feet, hands up, guarding my face. There are two guys clawing at my wrists, hitting me from behind. I guard my head and a blow rams into my arms.The cuffs.
Focus.
Dig.
My wrists tingle.
Yes, that’s it. I can feel it.Something warm moves through me like a thread of fire, getting hotter, stronger by the second, when a burst of light slams into me, knocking me to the ground.
My back smacks the pavement, and I gasp for air.
The cuffs slip from my wrists and land with atinkand roll away.
NOOOOO!
I peer in every direction, but my head swims and warmth trickles down my cheek.
Wh-where’d they go?
Another crash of furniture hits the ground. More glass breaks.
Th-the c-cuffs. I n-need the cuffs. Th-they were about to work. I blink, over and over, the world growing a little clearer.
I have to find the—
Anothercrash.
Piles of things are on fire, burning. People are crying, fleeing. Muddled voices and theclackof the General’s footsteps grow louder. He’s coming for me.
The cuffs… wh-where are they?
Streetlight glints on something metal and shiny.
I crawl, feverishly, asphalt ripping my jeans, scratching my knees. Everything in me aches, but I lug myself forward across the ground, reaching, clawing, my arms burning. I try to stand up, but his crew pins me down, their feet on my arms. I groan, but I won’t scream. I won’t.
The General wipes the blood from his lip with a handkerchief. “You people are animals.” He scoops up the cuffs, eyes bloodshot.
Nooo!
“You have any idea how hard I’ve been searching for these? Thought they were a myth.” He squats to face me, and his face is blurry. “The Chancellor isn’t keen to let me keep playing my little games here, if I don’t keep my word to him.”
The cuffs glisten in his fingertips. If they burn him, I can’t tell. “Let’s at least make this fun, shall we? Let her up.” His boys let me go and I stagger to my feet. The world is sideways.
“You want them back?” The General turns the cuffs in his hands, his smile curling upward.
I can’t take my eyes off the gold.I do.It’s my magic. Our hope. Our everything.
He tosses the cuffs high in the air. “Fetch.”
