Chapter 121

[ 856 words ]

Aria

The ground explodes beneath my feet.

I leap backward on instinct as thick vines burst from the earth where I’d been standing only seconds before.

Fire warriors from my hands, slicing through the vines as they wriggle like snakes and drop to the floor.

Behind me, Ronan curses.

He struggles and snarls, but the veins keep tightening.

A wall of stone just up between us.

“Keep your eyes on your enemy, or you’ll soon find yourself regretting it,” the male says.

The ground at my feet shifts and falls apart like quicksand.

I fall onto my ass and quickly scrabble away from the epicenter.

“Don’t get cocky, old man.” Slapping my hand to the dirt, I send a spark of fire that blazes through the dry underbrush and wraps around him.

I start to target the vines, charring the roots with blades of fire.

Fuck, how strong is he that he can subdue any people at once?

From working with my fire, I know you have to pump a lot of energy into a move like that, to hold it this long.

But he doesn’t look winded at all.

My heart pounds knowing I have to get them out before they can be suffocated.

Spear heads come flying at me, the rock bursting into fragments as it hits the air.

“Aria, watch out,” Ronan yells.

One catches me through the shoulder, and I spin with the force of it, crying out in pain and anger.

“Fuck, Ronan screams.

I want to look over at him, but I hold myself back.

This asshole is waiting for the opportunity to take me off guard again.

I send out a torrent of fire, using the move to create distance and give me a moment to pull the shard out of my shoulder.

The male jumps back with the speed of someone half his age.

He’s playing with us, my wolf growls.

Without looking, I reach for the piece, which is long and thin, and blood dampens my shirt.

“Is that all you can do? Perhaps you need more motivation,” he says.

The ground rumbles beneath our feet, and more sinkholes appear underneath my captured pack.

They start to be pulled beneath the earth, the vines like the arms of an angry beast, grabbing them from below.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I shout.

“You’d better find yourself power quickly, it will only take three minutes to bury them alive.” He sounds almost gleeful at the prospect.

Worry and anger become temptations within, and the well I draw from overflows.

My wolf sits at the edge of my skin pressing so firmly against me it’s as if she’s shadowing my movements.

The older Sypher stands twenty yards away with a smug smile on his face.

“So that’s your grand plan?” I shout.

“Trap everyone and play your sick little games?”

His laughter echoes through the clearing.

“You’re still not getting it. But you will.”

Root springs out and whips towards me.

I jump back, ducking and rolling, moving further away from Ronan and the others.

I curse.

The warriors fight, but the battle is a losing one.

As they break free, more and more vines take the place of the ones they snap.

My wolf snarls.

Heat floods through my veins until I can feel it like lava pumping in my blood.

The flames roar across the clearing, colliding with the nearest vines.

They shriek and crackle as fire races along their lengths.

Several immediately release their captives.

“Get back,”I order.

I need them far away from him if I’m going to defeat him, and I will.

The older Sypher raises an eyebrow.

“Better.”

Stone spikes shoot toward me from the left and right.

I drop down on my stomach, my knee coming against the ground and making them ring.

Pain explodes across my back as they scrape against the surface.

Before I can stand, more vines burst from the soil, and I roll away to avoid them getting hold of me.

I create a shield of fire that singes the vine.

I thrust both hands forward and manipulate the shape, pushing it out like a wave so it can engulf them.

Smoke fills the air as they burn away.

The old man laughs again.

“You get the vicious streak from your mother, but you still don’t know how to use it.”

My heart skips.

Mom.

He is trying to get in our head, my wolf says.

The distraction cost me as stones pelt into my body like bricks slotting into place.

They’re trying to encase me, I realize.

More rock slams into my ribs.

And I fight my way out of them, using the force of blast to shoot them back.

I stumbled on a root that wasn’t there before, crashing onto the floor and hitting my back on a tree trunk.

The anger down our mate bond has me searching for Ronan.

He is buried up to his waist now.

My wolf is furious.

Get up.

Doing it already.

I stagger onto my feet.

I’m holding back

I know I am.

Everything around me is fucking flammable, and if I accidentally set a tree on fire and it burns to the others, it could impact the pack.

Distort the biodiversity and the food supply.

But if I don’t do something, Ronan is going to…

No.

No.

He won’t.

I won’t let another person be hurt because of me.

A sheet of compacted dirt slams into me like a battering ram.

I stumble forward directly into another attack.

Vines coil around my waist, arms, and legs.

For one horrifying second, I can’t move.

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