Page 104 of The Ruins of the Heartless Fae

“That’s onlyifI can use my magic.”

“Kolfinna will come up with something.”

Kolfinna dragged her nails across the runes, as if scratching them away would work. She could destroy the “no” rune like she did in the previous room, but that had taken the majority of her mana. Would it be easier to just write clauses like Revna had done? Would that use the least amount of mana? She couldn’t expect to fight Revna and Mímir if she didn’t have a good supply of mana. Shecoulduse Blár’s mana like she did in the desert dimension, but she had already depleted more than half of his mana, and he was their strongest fighter, so she couldn’t afford to take more from him.

She hoped the clauses worked because if not, they would have to change their plan.

Kolfinna uncurled her fingers onto the wall and spread her mana on her fingertips.Clause: except for Magni. Mana heated her skin and the words glowed on the wall. It read:No magic. Clause: except for Revna. Clause: except for Magni.

She almost fell forward with how easy it was and quickly spun around to face Magni. “Can you use your magic?”

He held his hand out for everyone to see, and in seconds, fire flickered in the palm of his hand. A grin split his lips in half as the fire illuminated his emerald eyes.

“I still can’t use mine.” Truda held her hands up.

“Me neither.” Blár frowned.

“I’m still writing it,” she said with an exasperated sigh.

Her eyebrows came together as she focused her mana on the runes.Clause: except for Kolfinna. She breathed out, mana spilling from her and slowly seeping into the wall. Beneath that clause, she forced another one.Clause: except for Truda. The runes shimmered on the walls.

She spread her hands beneath the new runes. All that was left was to write Blár’s clause.Clause: except—

Something smashed into her side and sent her hurtling toward one of the stone coffins. Her shoulder banged against the sharp corner and she bit back a scream as she fell to the floor in a heap. She blinked, feeling the warm blood pool on her arm.

“Color me surprised.” Revna’s cool voice whipped from behind her. “I didn’t think you’d be able to break out of that room. I underestimate my teaching abilities.”

Revna stood at the opening of the room on top of the creaky railing with a thick black sword in her hand. The mountain backdropped behind her. Massive skeletal wings hung on her back, making her appear even more sinister, and a glowing red beaded necklace hung on her neck.

Revna stepped down from the railing, the wings fanning out even wider. “You motley, inferior group of children are essentially blind in these ruins. You have no idea how much treasure is here.” She held up the sword and motioned to the wings. “I doubt you humans have ever seen anything like it before. Fae society has always been so much more advanced than anything you humans can conjure up.”

Even as Magni’s mouth still hung open at the sight of the wings, he jumped into action. Fire shot from his hands at Revna. All Revna had to do was stare at the floor beneath her and stones rose to block the attack. Truda did the same, sending a wave of air slicing toward her. Revna flicked her wrist and another wall constructed itself in front of her like a shield before crumbling at the force of the blast.

Kolfinna scrambled to her feet, wincing at her throbbing shoulder. The bloody part of her uniform clung against the cut. Vivid red splotches painted her sleeve a darker shade of black. She quickly glanced at the wall, where Blár’s name was missing, and then at the entrance of the room, where Mímir was now standing, dagger in hand. Blár still didn’t have magic, but neither did Mímir.

They needed Blár in this fight. She had faced off against his impenetrable ice, and it had been monstrous. They needed that monstrosity right now and it was up to her to do that. If only, she thought darkly, running to the wall, if only she had written his name first. He would’ve been able to fight off Revna and Mímir easily. If only—

A wall of stones jabbed up in front of Kolfinna and she dove to the side to avoid getting crushed by the sudden attack.

“Where do you think you’re going, fledgling?” Revna laughed and opened her mouth to say more, but fire narrowly burned her cheek. She flew forward a foot and swung her sword at Truda, who was closest to her. Truda ducked in time, sending a thrust of wind at Revna, who cast another stone wall to protect herself.

Kolfinna gritted her teeth together and poured mana into the floor quickly. She manipulated the stones, broke off a chunk of the floor, and hurtled it in Revna’s direction. Revna’s wings flapped and a gust of wind blew in their direction as she soared toward the ceiling, her wings looking alarmingly similar to the dreki’s skeletal and leathery ones.She flew to the back of the room, away from the glow of the afternoon light. Truda gathered the air around Revna’s wings to deter her movements, but a single flap of Revna’s wings cast Truda’s attempt away.

In the corner of Kolfinna’s vision, Blár and Mímir exchanged blows with one another. Mana buzzed in the air and twitched beneath her skin as Kolfinna called forth the nature outside. But Revna was quicker. A makeshift stone spear rose from the floor and threw itself at Kolfinna. She barely had time to dodge, but another was already forming. And another.

Kolfinna jumped out of the way again, and then raised her own wall before the third could impale her. Stones collided against one another and she was thrown backward. She crashed into the railing and it bent beneath her weight. She hadn’t even realized she had gotten so close to the railing, or that she was no longer close to the wall. Revna had successfully pushed her to the other side of the room with her spear assault, she realized with a start.

Just then, fire sputtered from Magni’s hand and he shot another fireball at Revna, but Revna flew to the right, missing it, and swung her sword at the next one. The sword sliced it in half where it flashed and suddenly disappeared, as if absorbed by the black blade. Revna smiled a sinister smile and easily moved away when Truda sent pressurized air in her direction.

“Careful!” Magni shouted, running away from a hunk of the wall Revna sent in his direction. Blood dotted the floor with his movement. He cringed and sent a blast of fire at Revna, who swung her sword and waved her wings, sending gusts of wind to push away his fire toward Truda, who enveloped herself in a whirlwind to avoid the flames licking her skin.

“Careful,” he started again. “That sword—don’t—”

He cut off as another rock shot in his direction. This time, he wasn’t able to dodge it and it smacked him right in the abdomen, sending him flying against the wall. Revna flicked her wrist and a stone spear shot from the other end of the room and flew toward him. Kolfinna lurched into action, her mana blazing with life as she slammed her palms on the floor, forcing the stone floor in front of Magni to open up. A wall jutted in the space in front of him, taking the brunt of Revna’s attack before shattering.

“Don’t get hit by the sword.” Magni pushed away from the crumbled remnants of stone and with a flash of his hands, fire glinted off his palms. White debris and dust coated his eyebrows and hair. His lips curled into his signature scowl and he thrust his fire at Revna, who weaved through the air with her giant wings like the dreki had.

Kolfinna’s mana beneath her skin stretched thinly and she pulled at it, drawing more of it from deep within herself. She had been using her mana all throughout the day, so she wasn’t sure how much she had left. She already felt drained. Her bones creaked, her muscles screamed, and her wounds—old and new—ached.

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