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Mara’s muffled cry of pain had her dropping to her knees as if to bind the ingredients but Claire’s mind was racing. If magic came at a cost, Roland and Vanya knew this obviously. That’s why they weren’t binding the ingredients. They realized that the cost of magic would be too high for them that’s why they were making Claire do it. So what if Claire used that immense amount of magic but not in the way Vanya and Roland wanted.
What if the same magic needed to bind the weapon together could actually be used to destroy it? Kallan had said earlier that the amount of magic to destroy one ingredient would be massive but Claire had a massive amount of magic except…
She was still months away from her birthday and unlocking the rest of it. Her mother’s words of warning that she could die if she used too much magic before her birthday floated through her mind. Claire didn’t want to die. But if that meant her family lived, that no one else in the Realm would know the pain of losing a family ever again, then wasn’t it worth the cost?
Maybe she could disable Vanya and Roland as well if she could figure out how to drain their Energy or magic without them realizing it and use their magic to destroy the ingredients as well? There was so much up in the air with this plan. But what other option was there?
She wished desperately she could hear her Triad. She felt flashes of the bond like they were fighting to get to her but the bonds remained quiet. If she died inside this magical barrier, would they survive? She bit her lip. She didn’t know the answer to that and she was running out of time.
She lifted her hands over the ingredients, as if assessing them. There was the Fortis plant that she recognized, a light pink liquid in a jar that looked like Ligamen, and a flask-like container with a piece of Metallicum inside of it. This was where the Dragon Fire went she bet.
She didn’t want to collect the Dragon Fire first in case they decided to kill Mara right after. There was a second flask on the table that Claire wasn’t sure where it went. Vanya squatted next to her.
“This is simply the container for the ingredients,” Vanya motioned to the long cylinder, his voice even like he was teaching a potions class instead of telling her how to create a weapon to kill half a Realm. “There’s pieces of Metallicum in the cylinder that need to be bound to the inside of the cylinder with Dragon Fire, the only thing hot enough to work with Fae Metal. When it’s activated, one simply has to point it at someone and press this lever to suck their Energy. The Metallicum in this flask needs to be reverse-activated to become a conduit and then the Fortis and Ligamen need to be bound inside this flask with it to finish.”
Claire nodded to show she heard him. If she actually wanted to make the weapon work, she would probably do the binding in three steps but if she did that, her magic would be too drained to destroy the ingredients and disable Roland and Vanya. She would have to lay out all of the ingredients at once and hope for the best. If she could only communicate with Mara to redirect her Dragon Fire towards the men and allow Claire some time to work. Maybe even collect Energy from Vanya to destroy the ingredients with.
Both Mara and Claire were fireproof but hopefully Vanya and Roland weren’t. Although Claire didn’t put it past them to figure out a spell or something to become immune. Maybe she could tip Mara off to her plan.
She picked up an empty flask and turned on her knees to hold it out to Mara. The Dragon Fire would melt the flask which should be a clue to Mara of Claire’s plans. Mara’s face was tight and her eyes mutinous as she avoided Claire’s gaze to stare daggers at Vanya.
“Please,” Claire said softly. She had no idea if her half-formed plan would work but she needed to look like it was working. She needed to look like she wasn’t destroying the ingredients. That she was following along with their plan. If they guessed she wasn’t, they would kill Mara before she could get the chance to save her. She had to get Mara to play along. But how?
She desperately wracked her brain for a phrase that wouldn’t tip Vanya and Roland off but would get Mara’s attention. Her eyes widened slightly as she thought of one. Mara had never trained with Claire. But she had to know what Desmond, Everett and Malcolm got up to in their childhood years in the Dragon Mountains. Maybe she could hint…
“Just like we practiced in training during King of the Mountain.”
Mara’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly as she looked at Claire and after a long breath, she nodded.
“No funny business,” Roland warned as he sliced through the bonds on Mara’s hands but not her feet. “I’m sure you can bind the weapon a bit bloody and bruised.”
Claire ignored him and focused on Mara, shifting the flask in her hands so her free hand was closer to the table with the ingredients.
Mara called up her Dragon Fire, letting it build in the palm of her hand. Roland lifted a sword to Mara’s throat, cautioning her from letting it build higher. Claire flexed her free hand and Mara’s eyes dropped to it. Claire would have to pull the sword away from Mara’s neck with her metal-wielding to allow the dragoness time to work.
“Ready?” Claire offered the flask like she was accepting the Dragon Fire from Mara. “Now!”
With a pull on her magic, Claire drew the sword away from Mara’s throat. Mara threw fuel on her Dragon Fire, flaming up till her entire body was consumed with the flame, burning away the restraints. Mara lunged for Roland, grappling with him. Vanya went for her but Claire reached for the Metallicum on the table and swung it in his direction catching him in the chest.
Claire focused the Fae Metal, trying to draw Energy out of Vanya to weaken him. His raven familiar dive bombed at her face and Claire threw a windblast in its direction. The barrier around them dropped as Vanya lost his focus on it, directing his attention to Claire instead.
Claire felt her Triad bonds lock into place as the barrier fell but she didn’t allow it to distract her. They could find her through the bonds as long as the barrier was down long enough. Although Claire didn’t want them near here. They would only become targets of Vanya and Roland’s. Vanya advanced on her, pulling magic into his hands despite the Metallicum sucking his Energy. It was like she was pulling Energy from an endless well. Just how many people’s magic did he consume testing this ultimate weapon?
Mara and Roland were still fighting next to them as Vanya lifted his hands to reseal the barrier. Claire couldn’t let Mara be caught inside again. She kept the Energy funneling into her as she waited for him to cast. When he lifted his hands and started saying the spell, Claire let out a blast of Energy in Mara’s direction. The force of it caught the dragoness in the shoulder, sending her flying sideways. Claire saw the raven coming at her from the corner of her eye, intent on its master and she sent a massive gust of wind its way, sending it tumbling away as the barrier snapped shut, leaving her with two very pissed men.
51
Claire let Roland stride up to her and smash the Metallicum out of her hand. It was a testament to how much Energy he had consumed when the Metallicum didn’t affect him.
He wrapped a hand around Claire’s throat and lifted her into the air. She clawed at his hands, feet dangling off the ground as the breath was squeezed from her lungs. “You stupid, stupid little girl!”
He threw her on the ground and Claire held a hand to her throat as she gasped for breath. “You think you did anything with that stunt? All you did was secure your fate. I’m going to hunt down every one of your friends and kill them in front of you. Then I’m going to find all of their families and tear out their throats in front of you one by one. I’ll save your Triad for last, after I pluck your pesky familiar’s feathers out one by one. Then I’ll let your Triad bleed out slowly, letting you feel every drop of pain.You dare to defy me?”
He roared the last sentence and Claire’s heart stuttered. She believed him without a doubt he would do exactly what he said. Because beneath that rage lay a cunning feline intelligence. She was out of time. And options. She was going to have to kill these men and destroy the ingredients at all costs. Even if it meant exhausting her magic. Even if it cost her life.
Maybe her mother warned her of this because she saw this as one of the options of Claire’s future. She wasn’t able to ask her. No, all Claire had to rely on now was herself and her magic.
Roland pressed his sword to her throat and pushed Claire towards the table. Even though she moved quickly, his sword left a shallow cut at the side of her neck and Claire felt a warm drop of blood trail down to her collarbone.
