Page 67 of Sun Elves of Ardani

“Magic can do incredible things,” Eliyr said.

The obelisk was untouched. If the fire had reached it, there was no sign. The stone was as smooth and white as ever. As they neared it, all the elves turned to Kadaki. Their mistrust was palpable.

“You understand this is not for your benefit,” Rhian said, coming to stand in front of her. “We are allowing you to do this so you may assist us in the future when I see fit.”

“I understand,” Kadaki said flatly.

Rhian gave one of her thin smiles, her eyes crinkling slightly. She pulled a tiny silver key from her pocket and raised it to Kadaki’s neck. “Then we will have no trouble putting this back on after you’re finished?”

“No, Commander.”

She inserted the key into the lock at the back of Kadaki’s neck. “I admit, I am curious to see what you can do, mage.”

There was a click. The collar popped open. Kadaki took a deep breath, and her lungs filled with magic. It was like suddenly seeing color after days of black and white. Her entire being tingled with magic energy. Her vision lit up, allowing her to see the strands of magic in the air, which had been invisible to her while she wore the collar.

Rhian took a step back, looping the open collar through her belt. She watched Kadaki, waiting. The rest of them had spread out in a fan around them, like an attack formation. A few had their hands resting on their sword hilts. Neiryn was the only one who didn’t look nervous. He raised his eyebrows slightly when she met his gaze.

A familiar, powerful buzz of energy hummed around the obelisk. Kadaki lingered beside it, savoring her time without the collar. But there was no point in putting it off. The elves wouldn’t wait forever.

With much more confidence than the last time, she raised her hand and placed it on the surface of the obelisk.

There was a change in the air as she opened the channel, and her ears popped, like she’d just come up from deep underwater. And then magic was pouring into her.

It was easier this time. Except for the overwhelming amount of power, it felt almost as natural as drawing ambient magic from the air. Now that she’d done it before and knew what to expect, she could relax and let the energy flow into her. So she pushed her limits this time. She kept her hand pressed on the stone, her fingers bent and tense, for longer than she would have thought possible.

How much power could she take? Enough to keep her strength up for the next few days? Weeks? Months? Was there a limit?

Finally, she pulled away. A few arcs of energy crackled around the obelisk as it rebalanced its magic. Then everything was calm again. Kadaki’s body felt both lighter and heavier, brimming with more magic than she should have been able to safely contain.

Experimentally, she waved her hand at a mass of magic particles in the air. They leapt to the side instantly, rushing to obey her. She waved again, this time aiming for a larger swath of the ambient magic. To her astonishment, every particle of magic in the cavern shifted at her command, with hardly any effort.

“That’s enough,” Eliyr said.

She turned to him. His eyes were on the magic particulate in the air. As the only other mage, he was the only other person in the room who could see it clearly—and could see her effect on it.

“You’ve taken enough. Step back now.” He sounded nervous as he watched her. He must have been very unnerved, to have felt the need to speak up. Rhian even glanced at him in surprise.

He had good reason to be nervous. With the amount of power she’d taken, she could kill them all with a sweep of her hand. It would be easy. It would take less than a second and only a fraction of the magic she’d stored.

She was not sure whether that amount of power thrilled or frightened her.

Even the most skilled mages had to be cautious when taking magic from obelisks. Too much magic could destroy a person. To do what she had just done was unheard of.

For the first time, she wondered if what had happened to her in Kuda Varai had not been an entirely bad thing.

All the elves were regarding her with even more caution now. Rhian slowly stepped forward, holding up the collar. Kadaki’s stomach turned when she saw it, even though she’d known it was coming.

“If you please?” Rhian said.

The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. Kadaki glanced at Neiryn, whose arms were tightly crossed over his chest. He was perfectly still, watching her closely. An emotion she couldn’t identify passed across his face.

Kadaki silently gathered her hair up in one hand to pull it away from her neck and turned to allow Rhian access. The moment the metal closed around her throat, all the magic she’d collected seemed to drain out of her. But she knew it was still there inside her, just waiting to be released again.

If Rhian had been worried, she hid it well. “Let’s go,” she said to the others.

And then Kadaki heard it. Clicking.

The sound echoed through the cavern. They all searched for its source. Then a light caught Kadaki’s eye.

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