Page 44 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
"The skies? What are you?—"
Kallie sucked in a sharp inhale, and Ellie’s gaze smacked into hers.
The war had already started. They were too late.
Chapter 19
KALLIE
They had only stayedwith the villagers for a few hours, helping where they could and providing comfort where they couldn’t. Ellie had told the Tetrians to go to the castle, to tell Queen Cetia what had happened, what they had seen in exchange for shelter, food, and protection. Most of the survivors were too shocked to understand or parse what had happened. The attackers didn’t stay long, only flew over the village to drop the explosives that had set the village aflame before darting back east. A few of the villagers had even spotted the Frenzian crest on the assailants’ breastplates. From what Kallie and Ellie could gather, the creatures that had attacked the village were the new humanoid experiments Myra had mentioned. Humans bearing large wings—Kallie hadn’t believed it when Myra told her, and she struggled to believe it now. Yet, the evidence was right there.
As Kallie stared at the aftermath of the destruction, she debated returning to the castle. With the war already having begun, what was the point of continuing down this path? Domitius had already started attacking. They needed to gather troops.
"There’s still time," Ellie had said when she had seen the doubt creeping into Kallie’s eyes. "You can still end this before more people get hurt."
Kallie was no longer sure, though. How many more people would die before then? How many more attacks would befall innocent civilians?
But as she took in the sight of the Tetrians rallying around each other, neighbors wrapping wounds, mothers squeezing their children’s faces and wiping away their tears, Kallie knew there was no other choice. She had to continue. She had to reach Domitius. Now more than ever.
So as they made their way through Borgania, Kallie shouldn’t have been surprised that Ellie returned to the other urgent matter Kallie had repeatedly ignored.
"You need to practice," Ellie said, folding her arms over her chest. They stood along a river as the horses rested. Birds chirped as they bounced from branch to branch. It was strange to see the forest untouched after witnessing such destruction.
Kallie kicked a rock and sent it bouncing deeper into the woods. "We need to keep moving."
Whenever they stopped, Ellie would ask Kallie to practice manipulating her. While Kallie knew she should use her power, she found every excuse not to. She needed to relieve herself; she needed to sleep; they needed to get going. It didn’t matter what the excuse was; she found one.
At first, Ellie didn’t push her too much. While Ellie hadn’t admitted it, Kallie had suspected the warrior could hear Kallie’s mind spinning with worry—worry over the friends they left behind, worry over the path ahead, worry that Graeson would find them before they reached Domitius. But as the hours and days slipped by, Ellie’s patience grew thin. And with the situation advancing and becoming more emergent, it was practically nonexistent.
Kallie snatched her bag from the ground.
"What are you going to do when you face Domitius and your gift fails you?" Ellie pressed, stepping into Kallie’s space. The stench of old smoke smacked Kallie in the face. Despite the distance they had put between themselves and the burning village, the aroma still lingered on their clothes and in their hair.
"It won’t." The lie was ash on her tongue, but she didn’t have the strength to face it right now. They needed to keep moving.
"But how do you know?" Ellie snapped. "Dani warned me what happens when someone doesn’t use their power for an extended period, Kallie. This isn’t healthy. You need to use it."
"My emotions are fine!"
Ellie quirked a brow.
Kallie groaned. "This—my anger, my frustration—has nothing to do with not using my power. It has everything to do with what we just saw! The war is already here, Ellie, yet what are we doing? What iseveryonedoing? Wasting time." Kallie took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she steadied her breathing.
She was in control.
She was in control.
She was?—
"You don’t have to do anything crazy. All you need to do is have me pick up a stick or something," Ellie said.
Kallie put her hand on her hip, her knuckles digging into the sharp bone. "What would be the point of that, hmm?"
"At least then you would know you can still access your power!" Ellie shouted, making the birds in the nearby trees flee from the branches.
Kallie’s gift stirred in the pit of her core, eagerly awaiting her to use it, to pull from it. It twisted inside of her, teasing, taunting. It was second nature. She grabbed onto it, coaxing it. All it took was one touch, one thought, and it was soaringthrough her bloodstream, pouring down her fingertips. It was honey and sweet and?—
Kallie released it in an instant, tossing it away. "Accessing it isn’t the problem." She spun on her heel and stormed toward Winter.
