Page 90 of Synodic

Knowing I had only a few precious seconds to act before he came at me, I debated spending that time reaching for my concealed blade or grabbing the girl and running. Weighing my inexperience against the fact he was still somewhat of a distance away, potentially leaving us room to get lost in the smoke, I chose the girl.

But within a few steps, I was suddenly knocked off course, and pain flared in my cheek as I scrambled to right myself. Somehow the man was standing right next to me, as if he’d been there the entire time.

He looked at me, smiling with eyes that both fed and absorbed the heat of the flames, and it took me a moment to realize he’d struck me on the side of the head.

How had he moved toward me so fast?

He grabbed for me, and I shot out my hand, straight-arming him away when a surge of power rolled through me with a single ripple of my cells. Light shot out of my palm in a spotlight of silver, hitting the red man right in the gut. The force was so strong it propelled him back by his middle, pulling him out of view until even his fingertips were swallowed by the smoke.

I darted for the girl again, and just as I was about to reach for her, I was flung off my feet by the back of my hair.

I hit the ground flat on my back, knocking my head against the unforgiving surface. My skull exploded, the pain making my eyes lose focus.

How had he made it through the smoke so quickly?

Infuriated, I kicked my foot out, landing my heel right against the tender skin of his shin.

“You little bitch,” he howled in agony and punched me in the jaw. Stars erupted in my already blurred vision, and I tasted the copper tang of blood on my tongue. Dazed, I struggled to glance up from the ground, hoping not to see any sign of the girl, but I found her peering at me from over the basket, her eyes were wide with palpable fear. I wished she’d run from here. I didn’t want her to witness this.

This man, whoever he was, knew me, knew what I was, and his sick determination wasn’t faltering in the slightest as he grabbed for me again. He was at least twice my size, so I had no hope of beating him in a fight. Unless…unless I could shock him again. Harder. Like I’d done to Maddock back in the crevice.

I tried to summon that building pressure in my hands, imagined it flowing within me like a subterranean well, but nothing came.

I searched for it, begged for it to come, pleaded even. Still nothing.

I needed to think of something, but I couldn’t concentrate past the ringing in my ears which most likely signified a concussion.

“Trying to shock me again?” he said with a snarl. “That was a very nifty trick. You might be more valuable than I was led to believe.”

“Keep your hands off me, you sick bastard,” I spat at him while kicking out, aiming between his legs. I hit him in the thigh, and he cried out as his leg went dead. I kicked him again, but he caught me around the ankle and dragged me across the forest floor.

I clawed at the dirt and grass, trying to find purchase as he pulled me along. When that failed, I swiveled onto my back, shrieking and kicking my legs furiously for him to release me, but he was too strong, his vice like metal. Another of my kicks hit him in the stomach, and he grunted, wrenching my leg at an unnatural angle. I screamed out as the pain in my head pierced through me all over again.

“You’re lucky she wants you alive, or I would slit your throat right here,” he said as if he was doing me a favor.

She?

I knew absolutely nothing about this veiled enemy, and I didn’t want to stick around to find out. We had all been so focused on Erovos, we never stopped to think someone else might get to me first.

I scrambled for my blade but something was wrong, I was moving too slow. It must have been the multiple hits I took to the head.

It was definitely a concussion.

The man’s eyes narrowed into firm slits of deep concentration, and he began muttering words in a language I didn’t understand. The very air in front of him started to ripple and tear apart, revealing a dark sliver of whirling midnight.

My words and reaction time seemed sluggish. I couldn’t move or think fast enough. It felt like I was in one of those nightmares where you try to move, run, crawl, anything, but it feels as though you are wading through tar. No matter what you do, your fate is inevitable, and even though you wake just before horror strikes, you know how it ends.

Unfortunately, there would be no waking up from this.

“Whaass…that?” I slurred incoherently as terror settled in my bones. I couldn’t distinguish what I was seeing, it looked as if he was opening a rift in space itself. Was that how he had moved so fast? Through tunnels of darkness?

“The Dark Spirit has taught my queen a great many things. Even how to manipulate the energy of others to use as your own,” he said, just as the little girl collapsed to the ground without a sound. And the black hole grew wider.

The scream that lacerated my throat consumed me.

I wailed and cried and thrashed, but the red man grabbed my hands, stopping me from fumbling through the layers of my dress to get to the concealed weapon at my thigh. He slammed my wrists together and held them both within his large grasp.

I looked back at the burning village and the small girl crumpled on the ground. Tears fell from my eyes, stinging the cuts on my face, and I desperately hoped for one last way of escape, one last way to save the town and people I loved.

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