Page 5 of The Ruins of the Heartless Fae

“Stop resisting!” an angry snarl came to her left, alarmingly close.

She barely had time to look before she heard the hauntingly familiar sound of cracking ice beneath her feet. In seconds, a thin sheet of ice spread across the cobbled street, sunlight gleaming off it in harsh, blinding rays. Her feet slipped from beneath her and she waved her arms to catch herself but she still slammed onto the icy ground. The ice split where she fell and she winced as pain radiated from her bad knee down to her ankle.

The chilling cold made her inhale sharply.

It can’t be.

The man to her left walked almost in slow motion, the ice pulling away from the ground beneath his booted feet to keep him from slipping. He raised his hand and ice magic spread around her ankles, rooting her in place as it slowly spread over her body. The icy grips felt like stone.

She would die. She would die.Hewould finally kill her.

Breathe.

The man took a step toward her; she could hear the shouting of the other Royal Guards—not too far anymore.

Breathe.

Instead of the chilling blue eyes she expected to find peering down at her like she was a half-dead insect clinging to his sturdy boots, she was met with brown eyes. And instead of inky black hair, this man had white-blond hair.

It’s not him.

A flood of relief washed over her. So long as it wasn’thim, she could still run away.

He was only one step away, his hand stretched out to grab her. There was a hard set to his jaw, and he stood at least a foot taller than her, towering over her just like the buildings behind them. His ice tightened around her. Another inch closer. And another.

Her magic exploded around them, stones and vines violently hurtling toward the Royal Guard. Her mana pulsed through her body and she willed it into the icy ground. She imagined a stone spear shooting out from the ground; in seconds, her imagination came to life as she carved the spear out of the stony street, then aimed it at the ice bindings over her chest and legs. The stone spear smashed into the ice encasing her, shattering it and freeing her, but not without scraping the delicate skin of her stomach. She barely registered the pain as she sprang to her feet; ice shards scattered over the ground and glistened like broken glass in the morning sun.

The Royal Guard’s eyes widened, and that was all the time Kolfinna needed to bring forth the stones from the street toward her body. Tiny rocks flew toward her, drawn by the magnetic pull of her mana as she employed them to cloak her fists like gauntlets. The ice elemental user reeled back at her display, widening his stance and narrowing his eyes in concentration. He had likely never faced a fae, judging by his alarmed expression, and maybe hadn’t known that along with nature manipulation, she could manipulate the earth as well.

Kolfinna pulled the rocks toward her shins as he charged her. She shot her vines out from the ground to wrap around his legs. Ice clung to his fingertips, as if ready to attack the vines, when she punched him in the chest and face. She spun and kicked him with her good shin, equipped with her rock armor, against his head. He slumped forward in a heap and she tightened her grip on him with her ropey vines.

She quickly tied up the guard with her vines, her heart racing a million beats a second; she had defeated him, somehow. A year ago, she would’ve expected nothing less from herself, but that was back when she was naïve and overconfident.

She didn’t have time to think—they were gaining on her.

Half of the Royal Guards were stalled by the vines and roots she had thrown at the civilians; they seemed to be emptying the streets and helping civilians to their feet. A pang of guilt had her hesitating, but she continued her escape; she didn’t hurt any of the civilians, only pushed them out of her way. They would’ve killed her given the chance, she reasoned.

The Royal Guards would reach her in no time; she wasn’t fit enough to outrun a Royal Guard, who were trained in combat and endurance, and her only advantage was that they likely didn’t have training or real experience fighting a fae who knew how to use her magic. But that advantage was waning; she was using up a lot of mana at a frightening rate.

Heat singed the hairs on her arm and a wave of fire rose to her right. She barely had enough time to raise a shield of plants before stumbling to the ground. A scorched, rotting smell stung her nose and her shield of plants crumbled to charcoal in seconds, the wind carrying their ashes around her.

Impossible!

The only way someone could burn her vines was if their mana was more powerful than her mana coating and controlling the plants—and if there was one thing Kolfinna was proud of, it was the strength of her nature manipulation.

Kolfinna twisted on the ground to face the assailant.

A man in his late twenties stood in the center of the road, a shock of red hair contrasting with his pale skin. Expressionless silver eyes were trained on her and fire burned at his fingertips. He had a calm but terrifying aura around him and he wore the Royal Guard uniform, but instead of the characteristic white uniform with silver accents and buttons, his uniform had gold accents and even the red cape had gold clasps instead of silver. A gold badge shone on his breast pocket.

Rows of apartment buildings and glass storefronts lined the streets, and people poked their heads out from the second and third stories, watching with bated breaths and wide eyes the chaos ensuing on the streets. People ran all around them, trying to get as far away as possible. Kolfinna wanted to slip away from all the attention; all these people knew what she looked like now. She would have to run to the countryside to keep the rumors at bay.

“No need to keep running,” the red-haired man said in a velvety voice. The fire in his hands shifted into a shade of purple, then blue. “If you surrender, I won’t hurt you.”

Kolfinna rose to her feet unsteadily. Her voice came out strangled. “Liar! You’re here to capture and kill me!”

Kolfinna jumped back and focused her mana to the ground. Dozens of vines erupted from the stones and headed in the man’s direction. They were faster than the ones she had been showcasing earlier; with this man, she couldn’t afford to ration her mana. She needed to go all out. He was deadly and strong—she could tell by the blue color of his flames that he wasn’t an ordinary fire elemental user. One wrong move and she’d be dead.

Fire shot from the ground in blazing red heat, burning her vines instantly. Uneasiness stirred in the pit of her belly. He shouldn’t have been able to burn her vines that quickly.

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