Page 123 of The Bones of the Cursed

The rage overwhelms me.

I scream, sending a shockwave rocking through the city.

The bastard took him.

Now he will die, slowly.

I round the corner to check the next street when I spot him. Iclas holds Malakai by the throat, his swirling death mist hovering just above Malakai’s head. The cobblestone streets are completely destroyed. Some buildings crumble, some still stand strong.

Malakai’s eyes meet mine, no fear present in his gaze. Just love.

I smile slowly.

“Oh, you fucked up Iclas,” I hear Malakai mutter as he slashes at the Fae with his dagger. Iclas staggers backward, just narrowly avoiding the assault as he kicks out, sending Malakai tumbling to the ground.

All Iclas manages to do is enrage me further. My anger and love for Malakai mix, forming a ball of energy in my soul.

“You made your last mistake the minute you laid your hands on my mate,” I growl.

I stomp my foot onto the earth, my powers splitting the ground we stand on. The crevice opens up where Iclas stands, throwing off his balance.

Malakai heaves himself to the side.

Iclas grapples to wrest control over his power, but I’m one step ahead. I surround him with a wind so powerful that it blows his death mist away the second he conjures it. My flames dance on my fingertips as Iclas’s gaze latches onto me.

I shoot a flame and he dodges it, his mist slithering towards me, crawling across each crack in the ground. The ice in my veins fights to escape, and with the help of my wind I send an icicle soaring straight into his gut.

Iclas is thrown to his back, clutching his stomach as blood oozes between his fingers. I don’t pause in my assault, sending another ice shard straight at him, clipping him in the shoulder. The ground trembles, knocking me off my feet, and in the time it takes to stand he’s running at me with his sword held high.I move but not in time. His sword slices across my side, the wound shallow but painful. My energy is running low from using so much magic in such short succession, but I dance just out of reach, quickly dipping low and stabbing my dagger into his thigh.

Blood spurts from his leg, but not enough for me to have hit the right spot. He stumbles, but regains his footing. His wounds quickly heal so that he can continue his attack.

Malakai staggers to his feet, but I don’t want his help. I need to finish this.

I dig deep into my soul, pulling the water from the sea that borders the entire northern shore of Percius and the Outskirts. I pull so deep that I feel something else rising with the water.

The skeletal body atop a water horse follows, unable to deviate from the watery trail I create. I hear the fear in the voices around me. I see the shock on Malakai’s face. But the thing that brings me such joy is the absolute terror radiating from Iclas.

The Nuckelavee barrels toward the Fae, only able to stay on the path of water. Unfortunately for Iclas, the path leads straight to him.

“You may have escaped him once; I doubt you’ll have the same luck again. Give Ames my best when you see him.”

I push the water back, the Nuckelavee following it back to the sea, dragging Iclas with him. Iclas’s screams echo off the city streets. Each second he is in the Nuckelavee’s grasp, the more his body deteriorates. By the time he is back to the sea, Iclas will be nothing but cursed bones. Ones I most definitely won’t be setting free. They can lie at the bottom of the Sidereal until the end of time.

I search for that newfound power, the one that love makes stronger. Light manipulation that also ran in my mother’s veins. I pull on that energy, creating a ball of light and flame before pushing it outward in the direction I want.

Malakai comes up behind me. “Where did you send that?”

I lean back into his hold, weak in the wake of such magic. “The Isle of Rimoldi. That should be enough flame and energy to burn the entire island. When the flame recedes, the island will be cleansed. A rebirth of sorts, I guess. I read about it in my grandmother’s grimoire. A way to cleanse a cursed place.”

As we walk through the streets, the amount of unnecessary loss shoots a pang through my chest. Elion is stumbling on his feet, Leena helping him back into the castle.

Kailu looks fine save for a few scrapes, thank the Gods. I was worried since he was barely healed from his last injuries. His face is drawn, sorrow pouring from him.

“What happened?” I race to him, cradling his face in my hands.

Kailu looks away, but I can see the tears collecting in his eyes. “Hendrix is gone.”

My heart clenches. Hendrix.

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