Page 85 of Prince of the Phantom Sky

Raiden nodded. “Some people come here to pray to the gods. Some come to honour their loved ones. Some come to get some peace and quiet.”

Kora’s breath caught in her throat at the way the sunlight bounced off his hair, and how—like his siblings—his skin was now deeper, with chestnut undertones. Silver charms adorned his left ear, and he unsheathed his short sword and set it beside him.

“Create a single ball of water,” he instructed as he lazily laid back.

“Yes sir,” Kora snarked as she raised her hand.

Raiden’s stare flickered to her, his lips curving slightly. She reached within, now understanding her water beast was where her elemental power truly rested, and not the pit in her mind. It responded with ease, and her veins thrummed with the power of the ancients, the familiar blue glow coalescing around her fingertips as she formed a singular globe of water above the river.

“Very good. Now split it into five.”

Kora followed Raiden’s instructions, mastering multiple bodies of water, changing their shapes, and moving them through the air at ease. He abruptly stood, and with a small puff of air that was laughable, he soared across the river and faced her. He cocked his head at her expression.

“What’s so funny?”

“That, just then. The little poof of air.”

His dazzling eyes glinted as he smiled. “Remember, Huntress, I’m just as deadly as you are.” Without hesitation Raiden struck her floating orbs of water with invisible whips, and they splashed down into the river.

“Hey!”

Raiden raised his hand again and an invisible tendril of power looped around her chest, the end of it gently stroking her cheek. It didn’t squeeze, but loosely held her with something that felt more like a hug than an attack.

“Your enemy won’t wait, Huntress. You need to learn to get yourself out of a . . . bind.”

Kora squirmed against his magic, and Raiden tapped his foot as she glanced around the clearing, thinking. Her hands were loose so she flexed her fingers, summoning the river. It spooled up her legs, and as it reached her chest, she used it to force back Raiden’s wind, and remembered how she melded water to weapons. Picturing it in her mind’s eye, she imagined it sawing through his lasso of power like rope.

She cried with triumph as she broke free. Something warm approached behind her, and Kora ducked, summoning a shield of water as Raiden sent another blast of power, this time in the form of a full force of wind. It knocked her onto her back, and a small growl erupted from her as her water beast demanded justice.

“On your feet,” he commanded. “Barron won’t hesitate. He’ll strike you at every moment. He’ll try to force your power to wield to him, to bind you to him. And if he can’t do that, he’ll kill you.”

Frustration boiled, and the river thrashed as choppy as a stormy sea. With one raging thought about Barron and Blake, it rose, creating a barrier between them, the top of it curling, aiming for Raiden.

“Remember the balance!” he yelled, his arms raising.

Shit.

The past week of lessons flooded her system. Blake had forced her to believe suppressing her emotions was the key to mastering magic, of hiding in plain sight when threats lurked all around.

But Raiden . . . his lessons were built on a foundation of connectivity. Of the gods’ gift, and the balance they created within their world. Emotions could push power, but there was a fine line between Kora flowing with her essence, and consuming it until there was nothing left.

And she was falling over that line, picturing Barron, his darkness, the betrayal she’d suffered propelling her into rage. The river rose higher, and she gritted her teeth, fists clenching the grass beneath her.

They’d all betrayed her. Bree had stolen her gift. Had wasted it upon unsuspecting nobles in their gilded city whilst the other islanders suffered. Blake had abused her, his betrayal so deep, she wondered whether he deserved the darkness. Rashi and Otto, even their remarks, their snide souls, they were just as bad.

She’d been tormented.

She’d been tamed.

She’d been broken.

“Stay with me,” Raiden gently coaxed, the bridge between their minds flaring to life. Kora raggedly inhaled, her arms trembling as her betrayal flowed out of her.

“Breathe with me.”

A pair of phantom hands circled her chest and back, warming her to the touch. They moved with her fast breaths, their light pressure slowly subduing her panic. Sweat slicked her back as she released the past, the burning pit of horror that’d consumed her daily.

Even now, the cold darkness left by Barron taunted the back of her mind, but it was quiet. Subdued. But Kora knew it was waiting. Lurking in the pockets of her mind until she lost control again.