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I cut the seventh line across. “Vrail, tell me when to—”
“Rocks in the air!” Vrail shouted, covering her head with her arms. I turned with my arm and blade still rooted into the ground and waved my free hand across the sky. A gust stronger than any I had ever made blew through the air and crashed into the flying boulders with enough force to shatter some of the smaller pieces. The large ones landed on the ground with a resounding shake a short distance from Vrail.
She uncurled her arms from around her head and blinked at me with wide eyes. Once she realized we weren’t dead, her face broke into a grin. “I wish you could teach me that!”
I huffed a laugh and started cutting the last line. “Watch for the second catapult.”
“They’re loading it now.”
Not good. If breaking this seal was anything like the last. I would be incapable of protecting Vrail. It would take everything I had to stay conscious.
The rivers of silver turned gold the moment my blade finished the last cut. I looked up at Vrail. “Run to the ship!”
“I’m not leaving you!”
“That’s an order, Vrail!” I seethed through clenched teeth. She folded her arms in determination, unwilling to move. My chest ached, seeing the same stubbornness in her face that I’d had as an initiate. There wasn’t enough time for me to teach her how often it was deadly.
A smug smirk tugged at Vrail’s round cheeks as strings of shadow curled around her ankles and arms. Then more covered her legs and chest. The next moment, she was lifted into the air and sent flying toward the east side of the island in a harness of shadow. Her protests were blown away to sea.
Thank you, Riv, I thought as I finally released my blade and pulled it into the air. With Vrail gone, I had nothing to distract me from doing what needed to be done. I cut my hand with the bloodstone dagger and plunged it into the center of the seal.
A bright light exploded from the ground and cascaded over the sea in every direction like a wave. My back arched as the magic flowed through me. Tears welled in my eyes and I went limp. I fell forward onto the hilt of my blade, bruising my stomach.
My senses exploded. The surge of magic overwhelmed my body to the point of making the world spin. I tried to gather my bearings, but every sound, every scent, every touch, was suddenly too much. It pinned me to the ground, my heart hammering against the earth.
Somehow, I sensed the boulders. I turned on my side and saw the white rocks plummeting toward me like a barrage of arrows.I closed my eyes and let out a shrill scream as one collided with my thigh.
Warm blood soaked through my trousers and I could feel the cold air on the jagged end of my bone. My vision blurred and I succumbed to the pain, drifting into the blackness. But something warm and gentle found me there. Riven’s shadows trailed over my body, assessing the damage before he crouched over me with thick tears in his eyes.
“Keera, wake up!” His voice cracked with the force of his shout.
My eyes fluttered shut again, but I forced them to stay open. My mind cleared just enough to see his face come into focus. “My leg.”
Riven choked on his breath as he assessed the damage. “I can get you to a healer.”
“There’s no time.” I winced as I tried to look down at the break. Rheih had taught me what needed to be done to expedite my magic. “I need you to set the bone. My healing gift will make quick work of the rest.”
Riven’s hands trembled as he wiped his face, but then a shadow of hard resolve settled across it. “It will hurt, but I’ll be quick.”
I nodded and closed my eyes. Riven was kind enough to not announce himself. He pushed my femur back into place in one quick snap of his arms. I screamed so loudly the ground shook underneath us. Only when the pain faded to something that felt a little less like death did I realize there had been another barrage of boulders. The white rocks had landed too far north to hurt us.
A battle horn sounded in the distance. I recognized it as the same one Myrrah used on naval missions for the Arsenal. Damien’s soldiers had already boarded their ships. If they were as armed as his beaches, every Shade’s life was still at risk.
“Riven, I need you to cover those ships.” I huffed a breath of pain as I slowly sat up on the ground.
Riven’s jaw flexed and he shook his head. “I’ll burn out if I try.” His violet eyes faded as he looked at me.
I wiped my own blood from my mouth. “Then we should be grateful that we’remiiskwithir.”
I held out my hand. The second seal had reinvigorated my magic. I didn’t know how deep the stores of my powers went, but I knew Riven was not at risk to deplete them.
He grasped my hand and I instantly felt the flow of warmth through my body. He was pulling at every ounce of magic I had and I gave it to him. I knew to Riven his magic was cold and sharp, always painful and never easy, but as he used his powers through our bond, it felt like sunlight and warmth blooming inside my chest.
Angry shouting filled the air as Riven covered their ships in shadow. My cheer was cut off by a yelp as my bone fused together in a final shock of pain. The magic pulsed around the break and I was imbued with a strength I was not sure I had ever felt.
Riven’s brows rose as I stood, but he did not let go of my hand. I held our connection and felt something unfamiliar in my magic. It was the same newness as when I unlocked the last seal. I had suddenly sensed the flame underneath my skin, waiting for me to ignite it against the world. Now there was a coolness to my magic, a wetness I had never felt before. It bubbled inside me until I knew exactly what it was.
I squeezed Riven’s hand. “If you see me burning out, tackle me.”
