Page 134 of Realm of Wind and Vines
Fire roars through the air, incinerating a massive chunk of trees as Alistair loses his patience and throws everything he has at Lavendera. But more trees just keep shooting up from the ground, blocking the flames and then shooting back to attack Alistair. Isera alternates between yanking up walls to protect herself and throwing sharp sheets of ice at the trunks in an effort to cut them down.
Lavendera screams in frustration.
Trees shoot out around her with so much power that I’m forced to throw myself down on the ground to escape them. Rolling over, I narrowly evade a cluster of stabbing branches before I manage to leap to my feet.
My heart pounds as I stare at Lavendera.
She is fighting four people at once, two of whom are the strongest magic users in the entire Seelie Court and one who is the fucking Unseelie King.
And she is stillwinning.
Seeing this display of power now, I realize with shocking clarity how much she was holding back when she was pretending to be a contestant in the Atonement Trials. Even when she was battling the Dryad Queen earlier, she wasn’t fighting at full power.
Shock clangs inside me as I gape at her.
What the hell is she?
Where does all of this power come from?
Is it because she actually is half dragon shifter, just as I have been suspecting? Is this what they meant when they were talking about a partnership between fae and dragon shifters that made both races more powerful? A child born from both bloodlines?
Lightning splits the air above.
Ice flames shoot across the rooftops and crash into torrents of real dragon fire as Draven and the others fight in the dark storm clouds above.
A mass of trees shoots towards Isera. I scream a warning, but she has already seen it as well. Slamming up a wall, she throws herself to the side. To my left, Alistair is forced to do the same thing.
Both of them roll across the cobblestones and jump to their feet only a few strides from me.
“This isn’t working!” Alistair yells over the snapping branches and roaring fire and booming dragon wings.
I suck in a deep breath. “We need to?—”
While still forcing Orion back across the square on the other side, Lavendera starts hammering us with a rapid hail of branches. Alistair yanks up his palms and shoots fire at them while Isera blocks them with ice walls and throws sharp shards between the crashing trees towards Lavendera. Dark storm clouds churn around us.
Gripping my knife tightly, I stare at the desperate battle before me.
I am so fucking useless in fights when I can’t use my magic. If only I could?—
A sudden idea hits me like a lightning bolt.
Reaching inside me, I pull at the faint spark of pain that still lingers inside me from when my back hit the edge of the stairs in the dungeon. While still leaping and ducking branches, I reach that faint emotion towards Lavendera even though I know that it will be so weak that she won’t even feel it.
Anticipation pulses through me when I manage to connect it to her.
I might not be able to manipulate the emotions she already has, since her head is so messed up, but I can apparently attach my own sane emotions to her.
“I can create an opening!” I yell at Alistair and Isera. “Tell me when.”
The two of them, who have trained and fought together for weeks both inside and outside the Unseelie Court at this point, just exchange a look and a nod.
“When I shoot two blocks right after each other,” Isera says.
I jerk my chin down in a nod as well.
Raising both hands, Alistair begins pouring a massive flood of fire at the trees.
Across the stones, Lavendera grinds her teeth and slams more trees back at us while Isera starts up a barrage of her own. Ice shoots through the air. Sheets and shards and walls smack into the wood.
