AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Before Dugald can stop me, I stride forward, towards the chaos. The darkness is oddly palpable. I feel it on my skin, taste it on my tongue, it taints the air that I breathe. Oily and slick in a repulsive way that is unlike anything I’ve ever known. A viscous soup that spreads across the world bent on consumption.
The field around where the portal that took Duncan opened is covered with debris. Remnants of buildings, trees, torn up grass, and bodies. Dugald is right; I can’t use magic directly, but maybe, just maybe, I can do something with it.
Shouts, growls, crashes, and screams assault my ears. The survivors retreat and the monsters give chase but not all the monsters. At least half of the twisted creatures are turning to Inverness. Pouring into the streets of the unprepared city, attacking not only any people, but the buildings themselves. They’re raging machines of destruction. Tearing and ripping with no concern about what, as long as it’s destroying.
I unfocus my eyes, shifting my vision to see the energy flow of magic. Rivers of it around us, but instead of being the white or even gray that I’m used to, its dark now too. Whispers in my head that feel like my own thoughts grow louder.
Power. I can stop this. I can use this. I’ll control it, it won’t control me. I’m strong enough.
But if I’ve learned anything, it’s that I can’t trust those dark voices. Impulses and urges that make doing the wrong thing seem okay. It’s not okay, it’s not right, and it’s not me. The real me, the person I aspire to be. No, I’m not going to bring the magic in, but maybe I can direct it. Use it without letting it taint me.
Maybe. I hope.
Storm clouds roil across the sky, darkening the breaking dawn. Thunder rumbles and the wind blows, picking up speed, drowning out the shouts and sounds. A horde of creatures rampage like a seething mob of darkness. Taloned and clawed limbs slash from the mob and destroy all that they touch. I race the monsters towards Inverness, and sooner or later we’re going to collide.
I throw my arms out wide and wave at them. I’m sure I look mad, but as I do, the magic responds. I move it, no that’s not it, I influence it. It’s almost like paddling water, I change, at least around me, the flow. A little. The energy responds, though.
Sparks fly from my arms and hands. Purple, red, and white pops of energy as magic coalesces. Circling and gathering around my arms. Every other time I’ve used magic, I’ve drawn it in, pooled it, and then released it to create some effect; often as not that effect was not fully under my control.
This is different. I’m attempting to control it, but not let it be a part of me. My eyes adjust, slowly, to seeing both the magical energy and the world around and behind it. The monstrous mob closes on my position. They see me and are rushing forward with grunts and growls.
The magical energy is low. The portal was a black hole, sucking in everything, but magic is a flow and most comparable to a river. And no matter if it tried, the portal did not drain the source, whatever that may be, and the flow didn’t stop. Now magic is returning and the dark taint is thinning, dispersing into the greater flow, but not without affecting it. Even the greater flow is a dark gray now.
And I’m not the only one trying to use it. The creatures draw on the power even as they feed back into it. They’re tapping into it like dark filters, magic flowing through them, entering pure and coming out tainted.
I reach the edge of Inverness moments ahead of the mob. I have one quick second to look around and assess. The survivors continue their retreat, which is more of a rout. The people run and scream in terror as the twisted creatures pick them off one by one.
Lightning strikes the ground, over and over, blasting everything it touches as it dances across the battlefield. The ground is exploding, hitting people and creatures at random. The wind has risen to a mild roar. Behind me the town of Inverness is being destroyed, torn down one brick and one wooden slat at a time.
I see all this even as the mob closes. The once human or Fae creatures that comprise it are each twisted in their own unique ways. Claws, beaks, and gaping maws all merge and cry out with raucous caws, clicks, and bellows. A nightmare mass of destruction bent on ending me.
Ach, I love you, Quinn. Always.
Duncan’s voice whispers in my head, but instead of creating the reciprocal sensation of love it always has before, it sparks anger. No. Rage.
Fire explodes, burning through my body, searing my thoughts. The dark whispers grow louder and it’s all I can do to keep from acting on them and letting loose an unending torrent of my own destruction.
Anger is such a pale comparison to rage. Anger can be controlled or channeled. Rage demands release. And the energy surrounding me responds to that demand.
I am an island in the eye of the storm. Dark clouds swirl over my head as the lightning moves with them, encircling me, striking the ground so fast and hard that I’m left standing in the middle of an electrical cage.
The world shifts to a negative of itself. My eyes can’t keep up with the light flashing bright, then dark, bright, then dark. Screams assault my ears, wind buffets my body, picking up force and speed. Outside the electrical bars twisted creatures, almost demonic, focus onto me. Groups of them shuffle forward; others run, rushing, intent on destruction.
The energy of magic swirls, caressing my skin, looking for an entry. It’s an effort of will to not let it in but it feels greasy, like some viscous liquid that I’ve immersed myself in. I have to channel it, without accepting it, but no matter the dark still whispers in my head.
Power. Save Duncan. This is power, the power to reach him. To save him.
It’s sensible and right. This is the way I prove them all wrong. I’ve been pushed to my limits, and I’ve lost my man more than once, but this will be it. If I take on this power, I can find him. I’ll be powerful enough to destroy anyone who would dare to threaten us. No one and no thing could dare to stand against me.
No. This is wrong.
I know it’s wrong, but so much of me doesn’t care. This road Duncan and I have been on has been too hard. I’m only a girl. I’m no one special. I don’t deserve this, but if I’m going to have power, then why shouldn’t I use it?
The monsters throw themselves against the lightning. I raise my hand and make a sweeping motion. The wind responds, blowing them away. They tumble, one over another, but more are coming and something else too. The back of my neck tingles and I spin.
A black something flies at my head and I barely duck in time. It passes so close some of my hair is caught on it and ripped out. I throw myself into a forward shoulder roll. I try to direct the magical energy but now it resists, refusing my commands.
I know if I bring it inside, I can tame it, but to do that I have to submit.
