Page 132 of Court of Lies and Deceit

Then the rain starts.

A furious rainstorm crashes down over the ground as Draven calls on his elements. Wind and rain whips against my face, soaking my hair and running in rivulets down my black fighting leathers. I block it all out as I stare up at that hole in the canopy above, waiting for the winged serpent to return.

The fire on the ground begins to sputter out, smothered by Draven’s violent rain.

I summon a massive flame of bone white fear, keeping it hovering in front of me.

My heart pounds against my ribs.

I can do this.

I am not the weak link.

I can do this.

The winged serpent streaks past the hole.

Fire streams down towards us as the lead rider hurls a massive torrent at us.

But I don’t move a single inch, trusting Draven to handle it.

Instead, I call up every ounce of power from the depths of my soul.

And then Ipush.

The winged serpent screams as I shove the massive flame of fear into its chest. Thrashing in the air, it almost bucks its riders from their saddles.

Pleasure crashes over me when my magic hits. But I’m more prepared for it this time. Clenching my teeth, I try to block out that intoxicating feeling while I continue to increase the creature’s fear.

The torrent of fire has almost reached us.

Draven slams a storm wind into the flames.

The fire shoots back up towards the creature and its riders above. They scream, clinging to their saddles with panicked grips.

And the winged serpent bolts.

“Run!” I scream at Draven as the winged serpent takes off across the sky, speeding away in terror.

I cut off my magic, knowing that the damage is already done. The creature will keep fleeing in mindless terror until its riders can manage to put it down. That thought sends a pang ofunexpected sadness through me, but it was trying to kill us, and we needed it gone.

Draven lurches into motion as well. Our boots slap against the now soaked grass as we sprint towards the glen and the portal that is waiting on the other side. The dark rain clouds evaporate behind us as Draven releases his magic as well.

Exhaustion rolls over me.

Because the creature was so massive, much bigger than just a single person, I had to use an enormous amount of magic to create that fear in its chest.

I drag in shaky breaths, my legs already trembling, as we hurtle across the ground and towards the portal. The Red Faction is still out there. And there is no way in hell that anyone could have missed our battle in the sky earlier, which means that everyone will be heading right towards this location. We need to get to the portal first.

My boots pound against the grass as I focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Draven’s ripped wings are still bleeding, and I’m not sure if he can actually use them properly right now. I gasp air into my lungs as we run. Every part of my body feels like it’s filled with iron. Goddess above, I need a rest. Just a minute to let my magical energy build back up a little.

But we don’t have a minute. So I keep running.

A jolt shoots through me.

There!

Across the grass is a twisted tree with bright green leaves above and purple moss hanging from the branches. And one of those thick branches has grown out and up before twisting and growing straight down again. It forms something that looks almost like a doorway.

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