Page 89 of A Deception of Courts

First, I tried to wiggle my toes but felt nothing but agony at the attempt. At least I could feel my foot, that was a good sign that the damage wasn’t terrible. With my free leg I kicked at the animal’s back, trying to pry myself free, all whilst magic clashed ahead of me.

A flare of stark blue light bathed the dark belly of the forest. The air splintered with the sudden heat before dispersing. I snapped my head in the direction to see a Cedarfall soldier running toward me, blade drawn, the desire for death pinched across their face.

I tried to call on my power, but my pain choked me. All I could do was lift my hands as if they had the power to stop a sword.

The air cracked with warning. As suddenly as the man was running at me, the next moment he was nothing but a charred husk of flesh and bone. Lightning cut through the forest, a whip of purple light that devoured him, melting armour and scalding the body it should’ve protected.

Blood misted the air, raining down across my face. I clamped my mouth closed, not before some invaded me, spoiling my tongue with the sour taste of ruin.

“No one touches what is mine!” Duncan bellowed, his voice stern yet dripping with fear. I found him, snakes of power crackling around his fists. His gaze snapped to something I hadn’t yet seen, followed by another burst of blue light that shot across the dark forest. Like the first to die, another soldier faced the same end, a bolt hitting their chest and sending them flying into the dark of the surrounding forest.

A wave of strength came over me at the sound of his presence. From my position on the ground, I couldn’t see anything but the rushing of feet. Unless Duncan conjured more of his lightning, we were bathed in darkness. Only the terrible sounds of a struggle told me that we were completely fucked.

“Robin,” Duncan gasped, eyes laying upon the dead horse across my leg. His teeth gritted, his brow furrowed and then he gave me a command I couldn’t help but follow. “Get up. Your people needyou.”

A feral cry tore out of me. Determination filled my body until I had enough strength to get free. I felt the sudden relief as the weight pressing down on my calf was lifted. I thought I’d done it myself, from the sheer need to help my friends. But looking back, I found Rafaela standing before me with the slumped, dead horse now spaces behind her. She was panting heavily. Her dark skin illuminated with gold light that emanated in pulsing waves from the hammer she held.

“Can you move?” she asked, words rushed. Her free hand was outstretched for me, the other gripping firm around the handle of her weapon. I saw the splatter of flesh across the flat surface – Duncan wasn’t the only one to kill someone.

I brought my leg upward, recognising the sharp pain that encased my ankle like an unseen bracelet. “Twisted, not broken.”

“Good. You can fight on it.”

I opened my mouth just as a shadow peeled from behind Rafaela’s wings. There wasn’t time to warn her. Rafaela was torn from her feet and yanked into the air, snatched away from me. I scrambled to follow but thick serpents of root and tree wrapped around her limbs. They twisted around her wrists and legs, wrapping tightly around her waist until her wings were bound and her hands trapped to her side.

She was like a fly, caught in the web of a spider. Except no spider could control trees and foliage like this. Elemental power was rare, and I’d never seen someone command the earth to do their bidding before. It was as though the branches had come alive of their own accord.

Her hammer thudded headfirst into the ground beneath her and tumbled uselessly onto its side. Its golden glow died the moment it left Rafaela’s touch. If it wasn’t for the root that pressed over her lips, I was certain she would’ve erupted in shouts of fury. Her eyes screamed with that emotion – unspent rage that she couldn’t access.

I threw out my power, thrusting arrows of conjured ice toward the living foliage that continued to encase Rafaela. Some embedded into the vines, while others smashed upon impact and rained to the ground in clouds of crystal.

“Duncan,” I cried blindly for him. “Help her!”

Blue light flashed once again. This time it didn’t disappear without having an effect. I threw my arm up and blocked the debris that exploded toward me. Duncan’s lightning had caught a tree to our side. The cracking sound vibrated through my bones, the heat boiling the air.

I braced myself, lowering my bleeding arm to glance back up. But it wasn’t Rafaela I saw this time, others demanded my attention.

A wall of masked soldiers charged toward me. I saw them perfectly. The forest was alight with fire that had sparked in place of Duncan’s lightning. The irate flames danced off the armour, striking fearsome shadows across the ground.

Anger filled every vein, every vessel, until the storm inside of me was strong enough to ravage a world.

There was no time for questions or wondering how we’d got to this point. I had to focus. I swallowed the sharp ache in my ankle as I brought myself onto my knees. The soldiers continued to stalk toward me, with Rafaela dangling far above them in a cocoon of tree wrapped entirely around her. Duncan was nowhere to be seen. I feared what had become of him, but there was no point worrying until my enemies were taken care of.

I slammed my palms into the ground, letting every ounce of my power free. Leaves crunched beneath my force and turned promptly to shards of glass as I forced the inner cold to spread across the forest bed. Ice devouredeverythingin a wave of mist and vehemence. I forced so much power into the attack that I forgot to breathe properly, not that I needed it.

My magic fuelled me.

“Restrain the king!” one soldier cried out before my mist met him, consuming him whole. Another stepped forward, their hands raised, eyes glowing with an unnatural green sheen. That’s when more roots emerged from the surrounding ground, coiling and dancing like vipers. They met my attack, the booming crack of elements colliding sending a colossal wave of force outwards. I felt the impact deep in my bones. Even my teeth slammed together, sending a sharp vibration through my skull.

So this was the person responsible for Rafaela’s imprisonment. The same roots she dangled from like a puppet on a string above us now raced toward me. I pumped more strength into my ice, freezing as many of the roots as I could.

But more kept coming.

I barely had time to lift a hand before the ground burst directly beneath me, and the thick roots forced themselves upon me.

My life, and those of my friends, depended on me. I scratched and clawed at the successful root that had claimed my left hand. Forcing my power – not against the root but into it – I froze it through until it snapped with ease. But as before, the more I broke, the more that encased me.

“Nice little trick. Shame I always hated the concept of gardening.” Althea threw herself before me. Her red hair was wild around her head, a crown of flames in its own right. She wasted no time in sending an arch of ruby fire toward the band of soldiers. It broke their line as they threw themselves out of harm’s way. Some moved quick enough, but the soldier with the strange power was so focused on keeping Rafaela and me bound that they met Althea’s fire willingly.

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