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He burst out laughing, the sound like ice picks jamming in my ears, and his supposed army joined him. It was like a discordant melody, all jangling and awful.
“There I was, thinking you were preparing for this.” Jett clicked his tongue while I got to my feet, a little shaken but unhurt.
He wanted to see whether I had been training? Fine. He was going to get what he asked for.
I summoned up the air around me and sent it to him, lifting him off the ground before propelling him ten feet into the air. There were gasps and cries of shock, one of which came from Jett. I threw him away but realized too late I'd flung him in the direction of one of the burning tents.
He caught himself in time, forcing himself to the ground well away from the fire—which he then gathered in one hand and flung in my direction. Now there were screams as a fireball tore through the air, lighting the shocked and horrified faces of those it passed.
I didn't think about what I needed to do. I just did it. Outside of every tent was a bucket of water—I drew the water from the one closest to me and flung it up in front of the fire, which dissipated into a cloud of steam before dissolving into the air.
“So you have trained,” he observed.
Was that irritation I heard? It had to be, because this time he picked up an entire smoldering tent without touching it. It hovered in the air long enough for me to realize what he was going to do. I gathered up my wind and caught the tent before it could reach me. Then, I hit it with a strong blast that sent it flying apart, pieces landing at my feet.
“We can work together!” I told him, but he only laughed bitterly.
“Only the weak try to make peace.”
I would show him how weak I was. I focused on his feet and lifted my hands, watching his snide mockery turn to surprise as roots began punching their way up from underground. They wrapped themselves around his ankles and began winding their way up his legs. The more he struggled against them, the tighter they held him.
I then took a burning tent and lifted it as he had, holding it in the air, dangling it over his head.
“Weak?” I shouted. “I know you aren't talking about me when you use that word. I could drop that on your head and that would be the end of it.” And for a second there, the idea felt right.
I could almost see myself doing it. Putting an end to all this.
But he was still Jett. Even if he wasn't, really, I couldn't be the reason he died. So instead of letting the tent drop, I flung it away, over the cliff behind him.
“I was right.” He used his own earth magic to wither the roots, which quickly broke apart and fell in pieces around him. “You are weak.”
I reacted a split second too late. A storm of rocks began to fall before I could hold them back. I crossed my arms over my head and curled into a ball, flinching and shouting as they landed on my back, shoulders, arms, and hands. They sliced my skin, drawing blood. I tried to stop them, but I couldn't do that and protect myself at the same time.
Then, a particularly large, heavy rock struck the back of my neck. I collapsed, blood flowing freely down my back, the whole world exploding in pain. It dazed me, blurred my vision. I looked up and found three Jett’s approaching slowly, sauntering my way, but soon the image came together until there was only one of them.
And he was smiling in triumph.
“I wasted so much of my life protecting you. And look what it got me.” He kicked me in the stomach, and I doubled over, groaning. “You weren't even worth protecting. You've never been anything but a weak, needy, soul-sucking burden to anyone. When I think of what I went through to keep you safe and for what? Everything I sacrificed. Everything I forced myself to do!”
He crouched down. I couldn't see him, still covering my head with my arms, but I could feel his nearness.
“You weren't worth any of it,” he whispered. “You're barely worth killing.”
Maybe it was the pain. Physical, emotional.
Maybe it was the disappointment. My breaking heart.
Or the betrayal. Or finding out I was wrong and stupid forever thinking he was incapable of this.
Whatever the reason for it, burning hot rage erupted from my core and exploded from me in a blast of white light that knocked Jett off his feet.
