Galen wipes his bloody face, his sneer firmly in place. “You’ve always been the weakest of us, Kade. Too impulsive, too emotional. She was your undoing, just like I warned you she would be.”
“Where. Is. She?” My voice is a snarl, and the room shakes as the blood weave surges again, a wild storm of energy tearing through the air.
“She’s somewhere you can’t reach her,” Galen says, his voice steady despite the threat in my tone. “Somewhere she’ssafe from you and I can do what I want with her.”
I surge forward, but Darius’s magic flares again, slamming me back like I weigh nothing. The taste of iron fills my mouth as I spit out blood and glare at him. I’ll kill him if I have to, and he knows it. He understands it, and he’s staring at me as if he’s finally solved a puzzle he’s been trying to understand for years. He’s hesitating, and uncertainty flickers through his eyes, and Darius is no longer sure whose side to take, his loyalty fracturing as he unweaves the web of lies Galen has spun.
A wave of shadows shoots across the room, pinning me to the wall and sending Darius reeling. My vision blurs as the force crushes my chest, squeezing air from my lungs. Galen presses his advantage, pouring more and more into the magic he’s using to defeat me, and he’s winning without much challenge.
“You’re predictable, little brother,” Galen sneers, stepping closer. “Always reacting. Never thinking. That’s why you’ll always lose.”
The shadows tighten, driving the edges of my vision darker. The blood weave flickers, its power struggling to push through the crushing weight of Galen’s magic. A roar tears from my throat, and with sheer will, I shatter the shadows pinning me, sending fragments of darkness splintering through the air.
I lunge forward, fists crackling with raw energy as I crash into Galen. The force of the impact sends us both staggering, but he recovers faster, striking out with a surge of dark energy that nearly knocks me off my feet.
The room becomes a storm of magic and fury. His shadows twist and coil, slamming into me again and again, each strike sharper, more precise. I retaliate with the blood weave, each punch laced with power that fractures the air and sends tremors through the stone beneath us.
Galen’s faster. He always was. His strikes are calculated, exploiting every gap, every hesitation. But I’m relentless. Fury drives me forward, blinding and consuming. The thought of Zara fuels every move, every attack.
Pain sears through me as the shadows try to ensnare me, but rage is a potent fuel. With a roar, I try to channel the blood weave, and I manage to slip from his hold, splintering the shadows as I escape their grasp.
I slam him into the ground, stone cracking under the force of his body. The blood weave surges, ready to strike the final blow. But Galen’s laughter cuts through my rage, low and menacing, and before I can land the hit, a burst of shadows explodes from him, throwing me backward.
Pain shoots through my body as I skid across the floor, colliding with the wall. Galen rises, battered but grinning, fresh blood streaking his face.
“You’ll never win, Kade,” he growls.
The air around him darkens, his power swelling to monstrous proportions. Darkness spills from his hands, forming jagged tendrils that lash out at me. I dodge the first strike, but the second catches me, wrapping around my torso and slamming me into the ground.
My vision swims as the shadows tighten, squeezing the breath from my lungs. The blood weave flickers weakly, its strength draining as Galen pours everything into this attack.
The light and life ebb away as I grapple against my brother, losing the battle to stay alive.
“You’ve always been a slave to your emotions, Kade,” Galen taunts, his words cutting deeper than any blade. “This is why you’ll never be able to lead. You’re weak, and she was your weakness. That’s why you’re losing now.”
I spit blood, eyes wild with rage, and try to push against the shadows holding me. My magic is a feverish storm insideme, but it’s being suffocated by his. I can barely breathe, barely think, as his power continues to crush me.
Galen’s words slice through me, sharp and unrelenting, carving open wounds I thought long healed. My magic flickers, struggling to ignite under the oppressive force of his power, but I refuse to let it extinguish. His taunts aren’t proof of my weakness; they’re a testament to what I’m willing to fight for. Just as the darkness tightens its hold, a pulse of raw, blinding energy floods the room. It isn’t mine, it’s Zara’s too, and we’re stronger together than we ever were apart. Our magic crashes into Galen’s like a tidal wave, shattering the shadows and giving me the opening I need to break free.
I can barely move, and my head spins, but there’s a sudden, sharp pulse of power. A wave of sorcery rushes toward me, not mine, but Darius’s. The shadows around me crack, faltering as Darius steps forward. His magic collides with Galen’s, shoving him back just enough for me to break free.
“Enough!” Darius roars, his presence overwhelming. He pushes both of us back with a burst of light, sending a ripple of force through the room.
I stumble, gasping for air. “I won’t stop until I have her.”
My magic recovers and wars with Darius’s, even though the exhaustion is taking its toll. I can barely focus, let alone fight my brothers, but I don’t have a choice. I’m out of options. I’ll do whatever it takes to find Zara, and the only way out of hell is through it.
Galen steps back, his eyes gleaming with that familiar, cold calculation, and my rage boils over. I can’t let him escape. Not now, not when I’m so close to breaking him. I lunge forward, desperate to close the gap, to reach him and make him feel every ounce of pain he’s caused me.
Every ounce of pain he’s caused Zara.
But the moment my feet hit the ground, the air aroundme freezes. My body locks in place, as an invisible chain wraps around me, holding me still. I can’t move again. My breath hitches, panic surging, but I’m trapped in the weight of whatever sorcery is binding me.
I try to push past it, to break free from whatever hold’s been placed on me, but I can’t. Every time I move, it tightens. I’m caught in the jaws of a predator, the pressure suffocating me, demanding I submit.
Galen slips into the shadows, and I roar with unbridled violence. His hand flashes and a jagged shard of obsidian appears in his grip. He slams it into the floor, and shadows erupt around him, swallowing him whole.
“You’ll destroy yourself,” Darius says, his voice grim. Darius’s eyes darken, his hand pressing firmly on my chest as he holds me back. His jaw tightens and he waits for me to calm down, barely flinching as I struggle against him. “Kade, you need to listen to me. Now.”
