by Devri Walls
Jasmine reached out a hand, keeping the other up to maintain control of the water, and sent magic flying at the barrier, her mouth moving as she spoke an incantation. The barrier turned red and then flashed white. Kiora put her arm over her eyes, turning away. When she turned back, she could tell by the way Jasmine’s eyes focused in on her that the ability to see through the barrier was no longer one way. Jasmine smiled slowly before allowing her gaze to roam over the women and children around the room.
Kiora glared, trying to sort through the mess of feelings inside. She set the Light down by her feet, freeing up her arms for whatever was going to come next.
Jasmine extended her hand and magic poured out. A spot at her feet began to crackle and snap from the assault. Kiora’s stomach sank as a small hole began to open in the barrier. Kiora shot back a defense. Jasmine abruptly withdrew her fingers in surprise and the hole sealed immediately.
Jasmine’s eyes lit with recognition as they fixed on the talisman Kiora wore. Kiora’s breath caught in her throat. Throwing back her shoulders, Jasmine reopened her magic, doubling her efforts.
Kiora again tried to spurn the attack. She managed to keep Jasmine from opening the hole any wider, but could not force her back.
Jasmine’s brow furrowed in concentration as she slowly brought her other hand down. The water jerked and wobbled wildly. For a moment Kiora thought she would lose hold of it, but she recovered control.
Water began to dribble from the top of the walls, raining all around Jasmine as she opened her eyes in triumph, extending both hands. Magic ripped forth, slamming into the barrier. More water spilled from above, drenching Jasmine and beginning to pool around her feet before dripping through the hole and into the city.
Kiora tried to hold her, but she had nothing left. Her magic sputtered and she yelled to the others, “Get out of here! Get somewhere safe.”
There was nowhere safe. Nowhere. But the mothers grabbed their children, running down the multiple corridors. Tears welled in Kiora’s eyes as she felt them all stop at different rooms in the halls, barricading themselves inside—as if that would do anything.
Her magic sputtered again and died. A small reserve burned at her center, but it wasn’t enough to do what she was asking of it. Kiora’s hands dropped as her eyes slowly lifted to the one she was supposed to be strong enough to defeat. But she wasn’t—she wasn’t anywhere near strong enough.
Jasmine’s skin had turned gray, her eyes half open as she struggled under the magic she was performing. Her arms shook with exertion as she literally peeled back the barrier with her fingers. Wider and wider she pulled the hole. Kiora watched helplessly below. Jasmine stopped, looking in confusion at the hole she had created.
Hope blossomed within Kiora. Jasmine couldn’t do anything else. She couldn’t let go of her hold on the hole or it would snap shut. She couldn’t get in. Couldn’t fire a shot. They were safe. She couldn’t…Kiora’s thoughts trailed off as determination flooded Jasmine’s face despite dropping to her knees in exhaustion.
Jasmine struggled back to her feet, taking haggard steps backward, her focus never leaving the hole she had created. She tilted her chin up and her eyes narrowed. The watery height she had been controlling crashed down, rushing through the hole into the city.
“No!” Kiora screamed, turning to run. “Get out! Get—” Her warnings were cut off as the water slammed into her, picking her up and shoving her beneath the waves. She held her breath, kicking frantically toward the surface, but she had no idea which way was up.
She slammed into something hard before the water pulled her upwards, pushing her head to the surface. She sucked in great gulps of air and sputtered out the incantation for the air-bubble. The air cushioned itself around her as the current rushed her toward one of the tunnels. The swirling mass of water had already risen nearly to the ceiling when another wave pushed her back under the surface again.
Kiora tried to kick her way toward one of the tunnels, but the water pinned her against the wall. She was just feet away from the one she was aiming for. If she could just get to a door, she could open it and give the water an exit. But as long as she was in the air-bubble, she couldn’t affect the water around her. She was helpless. As time ticked by, the water did not slow as it should have, but thrashed about like wild rapids. Jasmine was still controlling it.
A scream tore out of Kiora’s throat as her dread was realized. She had made the wrong choice. She struggled and thrashed in her safe little bubble, knowing it was useless.
There would be no air-bubbles for the rest of them—there was no magic. The threads around Kiora silenced one by one. She cried out with each one lost, the pain so bad she thought her very soul was fracturing. As the last thread finally ceased to be, Kiora drifted to a listless pile in the bottom of her bubble.
She stared numbly ahead of her at the water that was now rocking gently. Jasmine’s thread vanished. Jasmine was gone, the lake was empty. They were all gone.
A child’s winged doll floated by in the water, its hair swirling around about it like a halo. Kiora rolled over, squeezing her eyes shut. She thought for a moment about popping the bubble, about sinking to the bottom and ending the pain. She bit her lip as tears poured down her cheeks again. Was it bravery, or simply an escape? Regardless, all she could do was struggle against the despair, going neither up nor down.
Reality rattled painfully around in her head and chest. She was living when no one else had. She had magic when no one else had any. And she had an enemy she could not defeat.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Back from the Break
KIORA! ALCANDER’S VOICE BELLOWED through her mind.
With a yell, she grabbed her head, curling into a ball.
Kiora, are you all right?
Not so loud, she moaned.
Alcander’s thoughts and feelings were filtering through the distance: love, worry, anger. His emotions were running so hot that he was having trouble dealing with them.
Put the covering back on your talisman. We can’t get close enough.
She sheathed the talisman. It doesn’t matter now.
There was blissful silence once more as she floated around the city in her bubble. She gently bumped off walls until she finally floated up, scraping against the top of the enclosure. She was met with blue skies. Their peacefulness mocked her.
She lost track of time. But her magic was pounding in her ears and buzzing beneath her skin, letting her know it had been long enough to replenish what she had lost. She always seemed to be most aware of her magic after she had drained herself down to nothing.
Kiora.
Alcander again.
Kiora, we can’t get in.
She ignored him, looking instead at the clouds as the water below lulled her.
It wasn’t long before a clatter above her jolted her into semi-awareness. Arturo stared down at her through the barrier.
Get up, he snapped.
She turned her head away.
Stop it, he snapped again, stomping a hoof this time.
They are all dead.
Yes. And soon I will be as well. I am out here with no bubble, Kiora, trying to pull you out of your own head. They are coming—surely you must feel that.
I don’t feel anything.
Arturo looked up and snorted. A second later, Alcander and Emane came sprinting across the empty lake.
Emane knelt, pushing his hand flat against the barrier. “Kiora, please. Come back to us.” He looked anxiously toward Arturo. “Can she hear me?”
Arturo nodded in the affirmative. She could see them, hear them—but it was like they were very far away. Something had fractured inside of her and she couldn’t feel anything anymore.
“Kiora?” Emane asked again.
Alcander stood, looking down at her. Kiora!
Kiora gripped her head again. Not so loud.
I will be as loud as I need to be for you to hear me. I will not sit here and let you give up.
&nb
sp; Kiora whimpered. They are all gone. After everything I did, all the lives I took to protect them—it didn’t matter.
I can’t make the pain stop, Kiora. But you can. Fight this. Fight with me. Fight who did this.
I don’t want to fight.
Kiora, I love you.
I love you too.
She felt his shock at what she had just said, but he pushed on. Kiora! Feel it—feel me.
Alcander held out his arms as he bared his mind. Kiora met those blue eyes as the ice inside her thawed under the warmth of his thoughts and feelings. He loved her so much it terrified him. Alcander, terrified of her. She understood that feeling. She half smiled.
He weakly smiled back. You see it.
Yes.
Arturo slammed his foot into the ground again as a shield flashed above them. Lomay.
Kiora, either do something or bid us goodbye.
Kiora blinked as the first shots of red magic sizzled on the shield over them. She blinked, looking to Emane who still had his palm on the barrier. His eyes were so sad.
Emane mouthed, “I understand.”
She frowned. Understood what? And then she fully came to. He understood that she was going to let them die because it hurt too badly. He was just going to smile at her, giving her his full understanding while he died.
The absurdity of it all snapped her out of her despair. She had to get this water out of here now. They needed in.
Kiora spoke the incantation to pop the bubble, forcing the water to the side so she could breathe. There was no time to swim to the exits—she would never make it. Pulling at the water, she used it to propel herself forward, keeping her mind open so Arturo could lead the others where they needed to be.
Nearing the end of the tunnel, she used a burst of magic to force the door open. The water rushed out and she allowed herself to be carried with it.
She needed to return the water to the lake. Trying to control both the water and the wind was the only thing that had prevented Jasmine from breaking down the barrier completely.
Rolling free of the current, she saw Lomay in the lakebed, holding a shield and backing away from the Shadow’s followers that were advancing from the other side. Alcander and Emane sprinted toward her.
Arturo, get Lomay out of there.
Lomay managed to climb onto Arturo’s back while maintaining the shield.
Hurry!
Arturo flew straight toward her. Now you’re in a hurry. Perhaps next time you should not leave us inches from death.
Please, not right now. Kiora waved her arms at Alcander and Emane. “Over there.” She pointed, moving them out of the way.
The two veered off, skidding to a stop to her left, clear of the water. She waited until Arturo had flown over her head before she grabbed hold of the water with her mind, sending it spinning back toward the lake. The sheer magnitude that she was trying to control was rapidly depleting her magic. In a happy accident, the water acted as a shield, absorbing the incoming magic on its way back to the lakebed.
The cries of attack soon turned to ones of alarm as the incoming forces realized the danger they were in. They scattered, running in every direction as the lake begun to fill. The Shifters immediately started to change.
“Where is Drustan?” Kiora yelled to Emane.
“He stayed to protect the Taveans,” he yelled back.
“Kiora, you can’t let those Shifters out!” Alcander said in alarm as dragons and other winged creatures started to take form in the water.
Kiora swore. He was right. They couldn’t fight off a herd of dragons right now, and they couldn’t get back into the city until this water was out.
She hurriedly ripped the covering off the talisman, leaving the Shifters frozen in the half forms they had managed, bellowing in their crippled state as the last of the water covered them completely. Kiora fell to her knees, shaking from head to toe. She was utterly spent and exhausted.
Alcander rushed toward her, but Emane held an arm out. “Please,” he said. “She is almost out of magic. Let me.”
Alcander opened his mouth, but then shut it before nodding and stepping back.
Kiora’s vision blurred as Emane picked her up. “Emane?”
“See, I can get near you.” He smiled as he walked her through the door. “You just have to completely exhaust yourself first.”
She smiled weakly, leaning her head on his chest.
“Now.” He gave her a chaste kiss on the top of her head. “If you could keep the magic to a minimum until I can get you back to your room, I would appreciate it.”
She moaned, burying her face in his shirt.
“What?”
“The rooms,” she sobbed. “They are in their rooms. They didn’t know where to go. They didn’t know…the water…they didn’t have any magic.”
“It’s all right, Kiora. Just breathe.”
The word “breathe” broke every last shred of control she had. “They’re dead,” she shrieked into his chest. “All of them.”
***
ALCANDER WALKED THROUGH THE hallways, collecting the bodies of those who had perished in the Shadow’s attack. He carried each of them to a hall, laying them out, their arms folded across their chests, until Lomay could build the funeral pyres.
Emane had insisted that Kiora rest and was refusing to let her out of her room until she did. Alcander was grateful—he didn’t want her to see this.
The next room was empty, and as with every empty room, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
His whole life had been surrounded by death and loss. He had shielded his sanity behind a thick wall. Kiora had already weakened that wall, and this task was precariously close to sending it tumbling down around him. He had loved these women and watched these children grow. He loved them as much as he loved his own family, although he had never shown it.
The next room was empty again, allowing his mind to wander back to this afternoon. Looking into Kiora’s eyes through that barrier—they were as dead as he had ever seen. He didn’t know where she had gone, but the Kiora he knew had fled—retreated somewhere. He shuddered. He never wanted to see her look that way again. If he lost her…He didn’t want to think about it.
He shouldered open the next door and his heart dropped. A second later, he felt Kiora coming down the hall. He ran out, shutting the door behind him.
“You’re supposed to be in your room.”
She scowled at him. “Yes, I know. And I would like to know why you and Emane have decided you can lock me up instead of letting me deal with the consequences of my actions.” She choked, her chest jerking.
“Kiora, these are not—”
“Yes, they are!” she screamed at him. “I decided to avoid the prophecy. I decided to put the women and children here, and then I decided to leave them. I decided to go after the Lights first. Me!”
“I agreed with you.”
“But it wasn’t your choice! It was mine. It was all mine, and I…”
She crumbled and Alcander grabbed her, wrapping her in his arms.
“They are dead because of me,” she sobbed, clenching the back of his shirt with both fists.
“Stop,” he whispered.
“Never again.” She shook her head. “I can’t run from this anymore.”
He pulled her back, brushing the hair off her face. “You haven’t run.”
“Yes, I have. I let Dralazar live in Meros, and Emane was kidnapped. I have fought everything that has been asked of me. I have resisted every kill I needed to make. And now I tried to turn my back on the prophecy. Did you see what Emane said to me at the barrier?”
Alcander shook his head.
“He said, ‘I understand.’” She wrapped her arms tightly around herself. “He understood that I was going to let you all die because I couldn’t push past the pain. He was just going to sit there and die, not hating me—just understanding! Alcander, I have run away from everything.”
“You hurt, Kiora. It’s who y
ou are. I understand.”
“I don’t want my weakness to be understood—I want to be strong. This cannot be who I am—not anymore. I have to turn it off.”
Alcander stroked her cheek, looking into her eyes. “Don’t you turn it off—don’t you dare. If I ever see that look in your eyes again, I don’t know what I will do.” Kiora glanced away and he tightened his grip on her, forcing her to hear him. “I mean it, Kiora. I thought I had lost you, and I don’t ever want to go through that again. You are amazing just the way you are, and you are strong enough.
“You don’t have to like it to do it, Kiora. The pain doesn’t have to stop. It won’t stop. You will go through the actions, you will do your duty, and when we get back home…” He hesitated, wondering if he had overstepped, before continuing. “Then you can mourn every action you had to take. But until then, stay with me,” he whispered.
“I have to be stronger.”
He grabbed her chin, kissing her on the forehead. “And you will be. There is a war coming. Are you ready?”
She gripped his wrists. “I am ready.”
“Jasmine will be stopped.”
“Yes. But…”
“But what?”
“I don’t know how. She is stronger than me, Alcander. Even if I had all my magic, I don’t know if I could have held her back. And if I had stopped her, it would have only been because she was fighting Nestor’s magic as well.”
“You will find a way.” His thumbs brushed the tears from her cheeks. “You always do.”
She nodded, taking deep breaths before noticing his wistful smile.
“What?” she asked.
“Earlier, you said you loved me.”
She looked away shyly, her cheeks coloring in a way he loved. “I do.”
“Say it again.”
“I do.”
“No, not that.” He chuckled. “That you love me. Say it again.”
“I love you.”
The frustration and need built up within him. “Look at me, Kiora. I need to see you when you say it.”
