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Vas positioned himself in front of me and my heart squeezed at his protectiveness.
“Keep close, okay,” he said and I nodded, my pulse pounding. I’d never been in a fight like this before. Never been in a battle. Hordes of people began climbing the walls of the palace. Some were shot down by the guards but they couldn’t shoot everyone. They were too vastly outnumbered.
I kept moving forward with Vas, still holding his hand. I felt it the moment we clashed with the Dicteps’ army. We’d marched on the palace too quickly and they hadn’t enough time to prepare. It was clear by the way the soldiers scrambled to take up positions. They put up a good fight but it was useless against such numbers.
That was the danger in keeping so many down low. Eventually, they were going to explode up to the surface and take back everything they’d been denied. Vas pulled me away from the fighting, Ren and Sven taking up the rear. We hurried along the battlement to a locked door that Vas quickly magicked open. We passed through a back entrance to the palace, more people following behind us. Jalio was among them, shouting orders.
“The Dicteps will be taking shelter up in the high tower,” Vas said. “That’s where we’ll find him.”
We climbed a winding staircase made from black stone, meeting several soldiers along the way. Vas easily knocked them unconscious with a spell. I could feel his magic then, a thick blanket of power, so much stronger than before. It awakened my own magic. I could feel it pounding away inside of me, ready to assist in the fight.
It was when we neared the top floor of the palace that my magic began to buzz, vibrating through every part of me as though in warning. I startled because my magic had never felt so strong before. It had never given me such a striking warning. What was happening?
This mission we were on, leading the miners to victory, to freedom, had awakened something I’d felt building for a while. It unlocked some part of my magic that had been dormant my entire life.
Vas had been right about me. I was a late bloomer and my time had finally come.
I tugged on his hand to stop him going forward, causing everyone following behind us to stop, too. “Darya?” he said, his voice questioning.
“My magic. It’s warning me. Something bad is waiting for us up there.”
He looked stunned. “Your magic? Does that mean—”
“It’s vibrating through me. I’ve never felt it like this before. I think my full powers have finally come to me.”
Vas took my face in his hands, his eyes bright with emotion. “That’s amazing, Darya. I told you it would happen.”
“What’s going on? Why have we stopped?” Jalio interrupted.
Vas motioned up the steps. “Someone’s up there. Someone powerful.”
At this Jalio’s expression shifted. I saw something strange pass over his face and then his body, his very form began to change shape. My mouth fell open in amazement as he transformed into a minotaur, half bull, half man. All power. He was huge and terrifying, and it was all I could do not to cower in fear. Nearby I heard Ren yelp in surprise before he squeaked, “Holy mother of God.”
Oddly, despite the situation, it made me chuckle. Maybe I was losing my mind.
Vas’ arm slid around my waist, his mouth at my ear. “Why are you laughing?”
“Ren made me do it.”
“Hey, I got a fright, okay?” Ren interjected. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
Jalio moved past us and up the stairs, his long tail swishing behind him, hoofs pounding into the stone steps. I marvelled at his horns. They were big enough to skewer an elephant.
The rest of us followed at a safe distance. When we reached the top there was a door leading to what I assumed was the high tower. In front of the door stood a woman dressed all in white. She had glowing purple eyes and it took me a moment to place her. This was the High Priestess of the Glorins, the one I’d seen during their performance at the Star Festival. She hummed with demonic energy, her power thick in the air.
“Leave now,” she commanded, her ethereal voice echoing down the stairway. It touched my mind, trying to influence my actions but I fought against it. My breath caught because she was visually stunning, but the magic that had so newly come alive within me was blaring a warning. The High Priestess was dangerous.
“We’re not leaving,” Jalio boomed, his voice familiar but distorted in his minotaur form. It was grittier, deeper than before.
As they faced off, I got a strange, ticklish feeling in the palms of my hands. They felt hot, too hot.
“Very well then,” the High Priestess replied, her arms shooting out as she blasted a bright, blinding ray of light at us. We all felt back. My spine crashed into the stone steps and I gave grunt as pain shattered up my back. Jalio was pissed. He reared up then lowered his head before running at her, horns forward. She blinded him with another blast of light and he fell sideways. I shielded my eyes. It felt like the light was singeing my retinas while my palms continued to burn. What was going on with me?
