Page 130 of Realm of Wind and Vines
He starts slightly and then blinks hard. At last, his eyes seem to slide back into focus. His gaze darts from me, to the dead guard, and then to the open cell door. My heart stutters as a burst of hope flickers inside me. Did he recover? Is he back to normal? Please, Mabona, let his mind be intact.
I jump in surprise as he suddenly leaps to his feet and runs towards the open cell door.
“We need to—” I begin.
But he doesn’t stop.
He just sprints right out the door and starts hurtling up the steps. A low growl escapes my lips. He could’ve at least waited for me.
Spinning around, I hurry back into the hallway.
“You!” a male voice screams.
My heart leaps into my throat, and I whip around to find two dragon shifters in silver armor staring at me in shock from the other end of the corridor.
“Mabona’s fucking tits,” I growl.
They scream as they charge towards me.
Summoning my magic, I shove a massive violet flame of pain into the first guy’s chest.
Pleasure floods my body. But so does exhaustion. I’ve used a lot of powerful magic in a very short time, while also sprinting across the entire city. Twice. And touching iron.
The first guard goes down screaming on the floor as I increase the flame of pain in one sharp yank before cutting it off. His sudden collapse makes his friend slam into him from behind. It almost sends him tumbling down on the floor as well and buys me enough time to whirl around and take off up the steps.
Air rasps through my throat as I drag in desperate breaths while sprinting up the stairs.
Two seconds later, boots start pounding against the stone steps behind me.
A noise of pure desperation rips from my throat. I don’t have time or energy to fight this guard right now. Lavendera isn’t here. We need to find her and get the hell out of here before Draven and the others are forced to shift and put their lives in danger.
Pounding up the steps, I run with everything I have.
The back of my neck suddenly prickles.
On instinct, I leap into the air above the next step.
A sword whooshes through the air barely a second later. It slams into the stone wall on the other side of the narrow stairs with a metallic clashing sound.
Landing on the step again, I twist with the motion and swing my leg through the air. My boot cracks into the side of the guard’s face. He grunts in pain, and his head snaps to the side from the forceful kick. I reach for my magic, aiming for thatspark of pain since it will consume less energy than creating one out of nothing.
But before I can shove my magic forward, the guard launches himself at me.
Still off balance from my kick, I topple backwards as he slams into my legs, tackling me down on the steps.
Pain shoots through my spine as my back hits the edges of the steps. Gasping, I try to concentrate enough through the pain to summon my magic again, but the guard has already yanked his sword back.
Ripping out my dagger, I stab it towards his face.
He jerks back, evading the hit, but the move also forces him to abandon his own strike.
While still blinking my eyes into focus, I reach for my magic again and shove it at him right as he uses his grip on my legs to yank me down the stairs. My stomach lurches and my leather armor scrapes against the stone steps as I’m hauled downwards.
A moment later, my magic slams into the spark of pain in his chest.
With a scream, I pour a torrent of magic down it while stabbing my knife at his face again.
He screams in agony as I force his pain into a searing wildfire.
