her.”
“Fight them, Chase. These voices will only lead you astray.” I recognized the voice, but without the scent of sweet fruit accompanying it, it took me longer to pinpoint.
“Elyas?” I asked, but there was no response. The voices were gone and the only sound that remained was the sloshing of water.
A pang in my chest brought me back to reality. The knife Rayna spoke of was in my heart, turning and sliding deeper. She was right; I’d trampled everything Willy stood for while floundering in my guilt. Even in death he was better than me: a better person, a better soldier, a better friend. I owed him more than this.
I stared at the formation of rocks by my hand that took on the shape of Willy’s face. “I’m strong enough, Willy. I won’t let you down. Not again.”
Chapter 7
I stayed on the shore, sitting on the rocks and watching a storm roll in. My mind wandered back and forth between sadness and determination, with a side of excitement at having my elements back. The water made a trickling sound between the stones as it rolled up on the rocky shore, but the tranquility of it all shattered at the snap of branches. I expected Marcus to sit down beside me and try to coax me inside, and although my stomach gurgled with hunger, I wasn’t ready yet. Rocks shuffled until the footsteps stopped behind me and when he spoke, chills spiraled down my neck.
“Being the chosen one isn’t all you thought it would be, is it?”
I didn’t remember moving, but I found myself staring into the black eyes of Drake Sellowind. The forest contrasted his dark presence, but he fit perfectly with the darkening sky. Fire rose in my chest and flared between my fingers; the power of a hundred souls rushing to my hands. Blue flames snapped to life and Drake stepped forward, but the magic I expected him to bring never came.
“Put it away, Chase. You’re as likely to kill me as I am you.”
“If you honestly believe that, you don’t know me as well as you think.”
“On the contrary. I know you better than you know yourself. But that’s not what I meant. You and I could battle for a century; there would be blood, tears, exhaustion, and pain, but neither would outlive the other. Not anymore.” Drake walked toward the lake, stopping just out of the water’s reach. “Soon we will both be absent of the necessary—for lack of a better word— ‘oomph’ to destroy one another.” The flames warmed my hands but the color didn’t change, and Drake seemed calm in the presence of my power. “She was wrong, you know—Rayna. Willy didn’t die a hero, he died a fool.”
“Shut your mouth.” I gritted my teeth and the blue flames transformed to red. The heat warmed my body and distorted the world around me.
“Forgive me, I mean no disrespect. But had your friend listened to you and stayed away, he would still be alive.”
“I said shut up .” I didn’t scream the words. They were barely a whisper.
I threw a stream of fire and in one graceful motion, Drake defended. Darkness pooled from his hands in a swirl of black and gold. I’d never felt the intensity of his magic like this and it swallowed my flame entirely.
“I told you, brother, fighting me is futile. Those souls inside you have made you a force to be reckoned with, but that does not help you when up against a force equal to your own.”
“Stop. Calling. Me. Brother.”
A second element charged through my body, and water rose from the lake in the shape of a serpent. The water hissed and tunneled through the air, turning to ice before smashing into Drake’s back. The ice shattered but Drake didn’t flinch. Magic pooled behind him, creating a shield of darkness. The ice vanished into the black and beads of sweat tickled my face. Anger pulsed inside me, but as hard as I pushed, I couldn’t gain any ground against the Dark Brother.
“Fine!” I yelled, and my elements vanished.
Drake’s power disappeared with mine and we stood face to face, a
“Fight them, Chase. These voices will only lead you astray.” I recognized the voice, but without the scent of sweet fruit accompanying it, it took me longer to pinpoint.
“Elyas?” I asked, but there was no response. The voices were gone and the only sound that remained was the sloshing of water.
A pang in my chest brought me back to reality. The knife Rayna spoke of was in my heart, turning and sliding deeper. She was right; I’d trampled everything Willy stood for while floundering in my guilt. Even in death he was better than me: a better person, a better soldier, a better friend. I owed him more than this.
I stared at the formation of rocks by my hand that took on the shape of Willy’s face. “I’m strong enough, Willy. I won’t let you down. Not again.”
Chapter 7
I stayed on the shore, sitting on the rocks and watching a storm roll in. My mind wandered back and forth between sadness and determination, with a side of excitement at having my elements back. The water made a trickling sound between the stones as it rolled up on the rocky shore, but the tranquility of it all shattered at the snap of branches. I expected Marcus to sit down beside me and try to coax me inside, and although my stomach gurgled with hunger, I wasn’t ready yet. Rocks shuffled until the footsteps stopped behind me and when he spoke, chills spiraled down my neck.
“Being the chosen one isn’t all you thought it would be, is it?”
I didn’t remember moving, but I found myself staring into the black eyes of Drake Sellowind. The forest contrasted his dark presence, but he fit perfectly with the darkening sky. Fire rose in my chest and flared between my fingers; the power of a hundred souls rushing to my hands. Blue flames snapped to life and Drake stepped forward, but the magic I expected him to bring never came.
“Put it away, Chase. You’re as likely to kill me as I am you.”
“If you honestly believe that, you don’t know me as well as you think.”
“On the contrary. I know you better than you know yourself. But that’s not what I meant. You and I could battle for a century; there would be blood, tears, exhaustion, and pain, but neither would outlive the other. Not anymore.” Drake walked toward the lake, stopping just out of the water’s reach. “Soon we will both be absent of the necessary—for lack of a better word— ‘oomph’ to destroy one another.” The flames warmed my hands but the color didn’t change, and Drake seemed calm in the presence of my power. “She was wrong, you know—Rayna. Willy didn’t die a hero, he died a fool.”
“Shut your mouth.” I gritted my teeth and the blue flames transformed to red. The heat warmed my body and distorted the world around me.
“Forgive me, I mean no disrespect. But had your friend listened to you and stayed away, he would still be alive.”
“I said shut up .” I didn’t scream the words. They were barely a whisper.
I threw a stream of fire and in one graceful motion, Drake defended. Darkness pooled from his hands in a swirl of black and gold. I’d never felt the intensity of his magic like this and it swallowed my flame entirely.
“I told you, brother, fighting me is futile. Those souls inside you have made you a force to be reckoned with, but that does not help you when up against a force equal to your own.”
“Stop. Calling. Me. Brother.”
A second element charged through my body, and water rose from the lake in the shape of a serpent. The water hissed and tunneled through the air, turning to ice before smashing into Drake’s back. The ice shattered but Drake didn’t flinch. Magic pooled behind him, creating a shield of darkness. The ice vanished into the black and beads of sweat tickled my face. Anger pulsed inside me, but as hard as I pushed, I couldn’t gain any ground against the Dark Brother.
“Fine!” I yelled, and my elements vanished.
Drake’s power disappeared with mine and we stood face to face, a
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