Page 64 of Court of Lies and Deceit

Fuck.

I duck and summon my magic again as another blast of water hurtles towards me. A few steps away, Draven is shooting lightning at three of the players while Isera is throwing spears of ice at the other two.

My mind churns as I scramble upright again while trying to figure out how to help them while also taking down the sixth member of the enemy team. The guy, his black and purple eyes locked on me, shoots another blast of water at me from across the room, forcing me yet again to leap to the side to evade it.

Panic and dread twist inside my stomach like cold snakes.

Because it’s with horrifying clarity that I’m coming to realize that I am practically useless in one-on-one fights like this.

I’m not a warrior. I’m a spy.

I have no magic that can kill or block attacks. The best I can do is to distract an opponent with my magic. Or to make them flee. But even that is difficult. Because first, they need to actually feel fear for me to be able to increase it so much that they flee or surrender.

Throwing myself to the side, I evade another water blast. A dull ache pulses through my body as my shoulder hits the ground yet again before I roll to my feet.

It would be different if I could create emotions from nothing. But this… The way my powers are now, it’s not enough.

Anger flares up inside me, shocking in its intensity. The rage that consumes me is so furious that my vision blacks out for a second. Fucking hell, Ineedto figure out how to create emotions the way Jocasta does. I need to get stronger. More powerful. I will not?—

Water slams into my chest.

The blinding rage distracted me so much that I wasn’t keeping track of my surroundings.

Pain pulses through my back as I crash into the stone wall behind me. My ears are ringing, with both anger and pain, but I still hear the crowd cheer above me. Rage sears through me, setting everything on fire. Fuck, I want to kill them all.

I jerk back, stunned by my own thoughts.

It distracts me enough that I manage to shove the rage back and focus properly on my surroundings again.

Draven has managed to knock out two of his opponents and is now fighting hand to hand with the final one. A few steps away, Isera is still battling the other two. Both of them are fire wielders, which is of course the worst kind of opponent for her. They smirk as they shoot torrents of fire at her one after the other.

A sudden idea strikes me.

I summon my magic, but then have to yet again dive sideways as my own opponent tries to drown me with a wave of water. It slams into the stone wall behind me, creating a sloshing sound as it washes over the stone.

Rolling across the now wet sand, I leap to my feet and throw my magic across the room.

Just as I thought, my magic connects with the sky blue flames of confidence in the chests of both my opponent and Isera’s two. With a shove, I turn them into raging wildfires.

Their grins widen as the two fire wielders start attacking Isera with more fervor. But their attacks are sloppy now. Isera flicks a glance in my direction. I keep increasing their confidence until they start blocking Isera’s attacks far later than normal.

Across the sand, the water wielder who has been facing me abandons his ranged attacks and instead sprints towards me, a confident grin on his face.

I flex my fingers on the knife in my hand while still continuing to manipulate their emotions.

To my right, Isera shoots two sheets of ice consecutively, followed quickly by two smaller chunks. Her opponents, overconfident in their own abilities, block the sheets with lazy waves of fire right before they can hit. But when they lower their flames again, the two chunks of ice are far too close. They crash into their faces with sickening cracks. Blood gushes out of their noses as they collapse to the ground.

The water wielder before me draws a sword as he charges across the sand. I force out a calming breath, getting ready to fight him in close quarters, since that will significantly increase my odds.

He closes the final distance.

I grip my knife hard.

His head snaps to the side as a block of ice slams into it.

I jump out of the way as his feet continue taking him a few steps forward before his brain realizes that he is unconscious. He hits the sand next to me in a heap of limbs.

For a few seconds, I just stare down at him. Then I glance up at Isera. She gives me a nod, a knowing glint in her eyes. I flash her a smile back.

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