“Let us help you.” Raiden’s face is right there as I open my eyes. Capella, too. “You don’t need to do everything alone. And we know what happened last time. We choose to help you, Ever.”
“No. Please. It’s not the same. You don’t understand. I’ll take all your power, and I don’t know if I can give it back. I’m not…” My voice betrays my emotion, stealing my words.
“You won’t, Ever. We believe in you. We are Naturals. Let us help, even if it’s with no strength or power. We’re here. In spirit.” Her kind smile is my undoing.
I twist my hand and grip first Raiden’s, then Capella’s, in mine.
Just like during the trial, we put our combined hands against the ground, and I immediately feel the difference. There is only a hum, a faint vibration of their energy, depleted and dulled out by the Usher, but that drop, that essence is enough. As if the magic remembers what we did, and now it responds.
I relax and picture the vision in my mind. We don’t just want one Jarkoreth. We want every single creature to help defend us. Heat warms our hands, growing, and I let the rolling heat of energy knit together and strengthen. Still, I push. I command until I feel like I’m a furnace, burning from within.
The sea, the wind, and the ground beneath my hands all thrum with magic. Magic that is eager to escape. It lashes againstme, desperate to overtake, and I’m back on that cliff, looking out at endless possibilities of my power.
“Stop, Ever. That’s enough.”Ten’s voice is distant inside my mind, but we only have one shot at this. We have to make it count.
The contact with Raiden and Capella vanishes, but I still can’t break my connection. More. More. More.
“Ever!”
My eyes flash open, and I snatch my hands back as I blink back into focus. With my heart thundering in my chest, guilt sparks at what I did. What I was on the brink of doing.
My body is burning, the patch of snow around me now a puddle of slush. And the mark at my neck is sore, as if the burn was only just made.
Ten’s eyes, always filled with comfort, offer none now as he studies mine. I already know what he sees—darkness.
“Sur’gos!” Calix shouts, and he points up to the bank of the mountains ahead of us.
Grey, stone-like skin covers the creatures. Their heads are huge and pointed, ending in a razor-sharp beak that looks more like a spear rather than a mouth. They remind me of disfigured birds. Giant, ancient birds. But in place of wings, there is a thin membrane pattered with veins of black and deep red, connecting from its forelegs to its back.
A dozen of them are crawling down the edge of the mountain, stalking towards us, blocking our path to the Transference stone.
“Ten?” I question as fear invades. I was looking for the courage I’d need to fight my brother, not monsters. At least, not like these.
The Sur’gos keep coming, descending the incline towards us. Their bird-like features make them less than agile as they dig their feet into the ground and balance on the joints of their forearms, the flapping membrane acting as a grotesque cloak.
Ten closes ranks, as does Calix, and Kalan appears, back from the forest. I look at him, and he just shakes his head before drawing his weapon alongside the boys. I will happily wield my blades at one of these creatures.
The heat of the power still simmers in my veins. Still fights for me to succumb. But I am not the weak link this time. I’m the magic—the one with power. Aslendrix saw to that; she gifted me with her power, and I won’t let her down. Novandia is weaker here, andsheonly sees dominance.
Something clicks into place with that sentiment. I’ve taken the first step. My friends believed in me. It’s time my magic obeysme,and I don’t run from it.
I sheath the sword and step forward.
“Ever, what are you—” Ten starts.
“Trust me.”
My hands ball into fists, and I visualise the place in my chest where the well is dry and empty of Aslendrix, and in its place, magic burns bright and hot. Instead of containing it, I let it out. As I think of Ten and Calix, I shape the flow of molten energy and will it to stand guard over us. Force it to.
Novandia might not be able to raise the dead, but I only need his magic to work like a shield or simply scorch the ground around us so that the Sur’gos can’t reach us. As we stand united to fight against the monsters, I have to fight to protect the ones I love.
It’s the only possibility I choose to believe.
The moment the first Sur’gos sets its clawed feet on the ground from the mountain, it starts to crawl its way, picking up speed, directly towards us. Its pointed beak acts like an arrow, with only one target in its sights.
The energy inside of me staves off the cold, like my own internal furnace, but the cold wind howls, as if encouraged by the creatures.
There’s still no sight of my brother, the Usher or his army, but I know they’re here. They’ll be heading to the stone.
