41
The fury and the agony
ZARA
Ibarely hear the thunderous clash of magic over the pounding in my ears, the last remnants of my strength hanging on by a thread. I feel it though. The fire. The rage. The fury and the agony. The spark of life and the beats of death. It’s there, deep inside me, pulling at me like the strings of my heart as its chambers beat. I can almost taste the power, the raw and vicious links of the ebon chain that wrap around my essence. It’s there. It’s dark. And it’s fucking dangerous.
Kade and Darius fight against Galen, their combined force barely keeping the warlock in check. Every whirl of magic crackles in the air like static electricity and I watch through the haze of pain that clouds my vision as strike after strike lashes through the chamber. Each clash is fierce and fast. Kade’s moving together with Darius, their steps a deadly dance they’ve practiced a thousand times, their bodies fluid and instinctual.
But Galen is no ordinary foe.
Every time Kade or Darius lands a blow, Galen’s dark magicpulses outward in waves, pushing them back, disorientating them.
Galen smiles with a slash of cruel satisfaction. His magic is oppressive, laced with malice as more of his dark energy rises like a storm wave, ready to break and carry Kade and Darius away in its overpowering tide.
“You think you can defeat me?” he sneers, his voice a rasp, venomous and dripping with arrogance. “This is my domain.”
“Not for long,” Kade growls, his voice hoarse but filled with unwavering defiance.
Darius’s hands crackle with the same lethal energy as Kade’s, but even their combined might is faltering. Galen’s magic is too strong, too ancient, too powerful now it’s been combined with Malric’s.
I should move. I should fight. My body screams at me to join them, to help, to end this. But I can’t. Every breath feels like a blade slicing through my ribs, my muscles aching as though they’re made of fire. The blood weave inside me is still tangled, raw and pulsing, but I can barely tap into it. It’s there, though. I can feel it, urging me to reach for it, to let it consume me.
Galen’s fingers curl, weaving intricate sigils in the air, dark symbols that eat away at the very light in the room. He’s toying with them, and it’s working. Kade’s movements are slowing. Darius is gritting his teeth, his face set in a grimace, but even he is struggling against Galen’s dark grasp.
“Pathetic,” Galen spits, lifting his hand.
The air around him warps, and with a flick of his wrist, he sends a bolt of raw power straight at Darius. It’s a curse and the essence of ruin, its obsidian poisonous and pure. It strikes Darius’s shoulder, and I hear the sickening crack as bone splinters. He screams, falling to one knee, clutching at the wound, blood pooling around him.
Kade roars, his magic flaring out in a desperate attempt to retaliate, but it’s too late. Galen’s smile widens as his brother struggles for survival.
I watch in silence, my hands clenched into fists, nails digginginto the skin of my palms. The heat of the blood weave is burning me from the inside out, and the marrow of my bones screams for release.
The fighting rages on, and I can’t tear my eyes away from Darius, watching him collapse in agony. Blood keeps pouring from the wound in dark streams, staining the floor beneath him and filling the chamber with the acrid stench of death. My breath comes in ragged gasps as I inhale raw magic and absorb it, flooding my core with its metallic, potent power. Each inhalation lights a fire in my lungs, but I don’t stop. I can’t stop. I won’t stop.
We’ll die if I do.
The air is choking, full of pure unbridled power, a poison that’s as venomous as that coursing through Darius. The walls themselves close in as Galen’s magic expands, thickening the atmosphere until every pulse feels like a hammer blow against my chest. My power singes at its edges, still chained inside me, still unable to summon enough potency to break free.
Not yet.
Not while it’s ebbing away from me.
Galen’s dark eyes gleam with amusement as he steps forward, his sorcery surging like an ocean storm churning up the seabed beneath it. His fingers curl into talons, twisting and warping the surrounding air.
“Do you see it?” he sneers, his voice low and dripping with scorn. “Do you see how futile your resistance is?”
Kade’s face is a mask of bloodied determination, his jaw set like stone despite the rivulets of crimson dripping down his cheek and neck. His magic flickers around him like a dying ember, faint and desperate, clinging to life as though it knows its wielder won’t surrender. His dark eyes burn with resolve and anguish, the kind that comes only from a man who knows he’s on the edge of losing everything. He stumbles but rights himself, planting his feet like a warrior who refuses to fall, no matter the cost.
“We’re not finished yet,” he grates, though the strain in his voice betrays his exhaustion.
But Galen is too much. His laugh fills the chamber, resonating in my skull like a hundred nails scraping against wood. And that’s when I see it—the pulse of magic that cuts through the air, aimed directly at Kade.
I don’t have time to react.
The bolt of pure, destructive force rips through the space between us, striking Kade square in the chest with a sickening, thunderous impact. He staggers back, his breath stolen from him, eyes wide with shock as his magic falters, sparks dissipating in the air. His body crumples to the floor, and I feel it in my bones—the impact, the sickening feeling of helplessness.
Kade’s chest rises and falls erratically, his blood splattering across the stone. His body shakes violently, convulsing as his limbs jerk and try to break free from some unseen restraint. Galen watches with cold satisfaction, his lips twisted into that damnable smile as Kade’s blood pools on the floor, soaking into the crevices as if it’s a meaningless sacrifice.
