Page 130 of Children of Fallen Gods

I saw the ground opening, the skies on fire.

And I feltterror. Reshaye’s terror, drowning me.

Think, Tisaanah. Think. What do you do when you’re losing control?

What did I do, when Reshaye took over at the Mikov estate?

I let myself fall.

Fall.

Through the agony, I forced myself to calm, forced my mind to turn inward.

I stopped fighting. I released my hold on Reshaye’s panic. And I fell.

* * *

I stood in rolling plains.Rippling grasslands spread out around me, disappearing to the horizon on every side, their golden glow turned cold under the moonlight. I had been here before, the day I had lost control at the Mikov estate. I looked up — up, at what looked like a sky, except instead of stars above me I saw threads glowing in the darkness, my own mind and Reshaye and Irene’s all battling, slow motion, in streaks across the night.

And…

My brow furrowed.

There was something else up there, too. Another glow, another soul, far more distant than Irene’s and Reshaye’s, but treading incandescent rivulets across the sky nevertheless. Like the claw marks of something trying to drag itself closer.

If I reached for it, a shiver ran through me — a shiver of hatred, of despair, of grief. And… a strange familiarity…

I started to push towards it, but then, something more important caught my attention. One more presence, here, drawing from this level of magic.

I spun around and looked to the sky. A searing streak of violet light reached across it.

I recognized that raw magic, that presence, immediately. I had seen it, too, the last time I had been down here.

Max.

Max washere.

And I needed to break through Irene’s grip if I was to meet him.

Suddenly invigorated, I drew back, until I could see all of the threads connecting us lit up like streaks of firefly light. Me, Reshaye, Max, all drawing from the same deep level of magic. And Irene’s, hacking through my mind until she reached it, too.

I thought back to what Vardir had told us in Ilyzath. That this magic, deep magic, demanded life. Thrived on it.Consumedit.

I didn’t just burn my own energy. I could take it from others. And while the Stratagram tattoos had cut off my connection to my own energy… Irene was now feeding me hers, whether she intended to or not.

I grabbed onto Reshaye’s panicking presence, even as it fought me.Trust me!I hissed.

I stopped retreating from Irene’s magic. Instead, I reached out for it — her mind. Her presence.

Her life.

We can use this,I told Reshaye. It understood a moment after I did.Help me.

I tightened my grip around Irene’s magic. And then I Wielded it.

* * *

My eyes snapped open.Magic burned inside of me, like I had swallowed smoldering coals. Irene sagged against the table, her hand still clasped around mine, face contorted in pain. I held her mind in my grip — even though those Stratagrams still choked me.

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