Page 90 of Empire of Flame and Thorns

Then Fenriel takes off at a sprint.

My heart leaps into my throat.

Every muscle in my body is screaming at me to stop. To just sit down. To lie down and rest.

But I can’t. Because Fenriel has found the rings. And I need to get one of them.

Blocking out the pain and exhaustion that courses through my body like fire, I take off between the trees and sprint after Fenriel.

My heart slams so hard against my ribs that I think it’s going to shatter them and collapse my lungs. But I keep running. Branches whip past my face and a stray thorn slices into my cheek as I sprint past. Yanking up a hand, I impatiently wipe off the thin line of blood that appeared.

Anticipation courses through me.

There looks to be an opening up ahead.

Pushing my legs to go as fast as they can, I dash towards it, shoving branches and vines and thorns aside with my arms.

I crash through the trees and into a clearing.

Fenriel is standing next to a stone altar in the middle of the small clearing. His hawk Talon is perched on his shoulder, and there is a triumphant smile on his lips as he holds up one of the rings.

My gaze snaps down to the altar. Two gold rings remain there.

Hope surges through me.

I take a step forward right as someone else steps into the clearing.

Lavendera blinks when she sees me and Fenriel, and comes to a halt only two steps in. She cocks her head. I open my mouth to say something right as the sound of snapping branches comes from Lavendera’s side of the glen.

She doesn’t even turn around. But both Fenriel and I snap our gazes towards the noise.

My heart drops as Alistair, Isera, and Trevor sprint into the clearing.

CHAPTER THIRTY

For one single second, we all just stare at each other. Then everyone’s eyes turn towards the stone altar and the two gold rings that remain. Fenriel, who was holding up the third one, snaps his fingers closed around it and yanks his hand down.

The clearing explodes into chaos.

I throw myself sideways as a block of stone shoots towards me. Across the grass, Fenriel whirls around and tries to sprint away.

Fire roars through the air, creating a wall of flames in front of Fenriel, at the same time as Alistair, Isera, and Trevor dash towards the altar.

Rolling to my feet again, I leap up from the grass and sprint towards it as well. But I’m on the wrong side of the clearing. They arrived in a spot that was much closer to the altar than mine. So before I’ve even made it halfway across the clearing, they have already reached the stone altar.

Desperation slashes through my soul as I watch Trevor and Alistair snatch up the remaining two rings.

Isera arrives one second later, her fingers almost managing to brush the ring that Alistair grabs. A block of ice explodes into existence, wrapping around Alistair’s entire hand. He cries outin shock and then slams his burning palm over the ice encasing his hand.

Fenriel makes another attempt to sprint away with the ring he already has, but this time it’s Isera who throws up a massive wall of ice. I gasp as it shoots up from the ground, encircling the entire clearing and locking above us like a dome. Her message is clear. No one fucking leaves until she has one of the rings.

I silently thank her for that because I also need to get one of the rings before the others can disappear with them.

Sprinting across the grass, I aim straight for Trevor while bombarding him with pulses of magic in order to find something that sticks. Stress. Panic. Fear. Exhaustion.

Exhaustion.

My magic finally finds a spark in his chest to latch on to. I pour my magic into it.

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