A Court of Fire and Starlight (ACOTAR Fan Fiction)

Arguments All Around

ASTRA

Flames and wind tore at Astra as the ground fell away beneath her.

She was vaguely aware of being crushed against someone, but her attention was centered on controlling her power – shoving it back through the door within.

When the world came back into a violet-tinted focus, Astra found herself in a field of tall, prairie grass. Sounds were muffled, but she faintly heard a hiss and then the warmth behind her vanished, leaving her to fall to her knees below the soft seed heads.

She wasn't going to be able to push the energy back in and close the door - some of it had to be released or it would shred her from the inside. It was pulsing along her arms and a tingling feeling was building in her fingers. Her heart rate was increasing rapidly, and she couldn't seem to catch her breath.

As the muscles in her upper body painfully tensed, she threw her arms out wide and let her magic free. The sensation was relieving, exhilarating, and addicting – so easy to get lost within. She squeezed her eyes shut when the purple hue became too bright to bear.

As the seconds ticked by, the well within her was draining back down to a more manageable volume of power – a safer amount.

Eventually, Astra felt a soothing warmth filling her chest, gently bringing her back to awareness – letting her know she had let enough magic out to regain control over what remained. She wrestled with it and stopped it at the source by slamming the door within her closed again.

The tingling in her arms subsided and she brought her hands down in front of her to break her fall forward.

Steady, even breaths, she reminded herself.

Colors bled back into her vision as the purple leeched away. The long grass stems tickling her face was a light shade of tan already, even though it was only early spring. Maybe plants were perpetually colored for the fall season within the Autumn Court borders.

She pushed the pressure out of her ears, causing several pops that sharpened her hearing.

The first sound to reach her ears was Reed's frenzied voice. "Eris, you forgot to mention she was one magical meltdown away from obliterating us all."

Next, she heard Kane excitedly whisper back as if it were the morning of Solstice. "It's magnificent. She's a walking weapon that we now have access to."

A sharp snarl filled the open air, causing Astra to turn her head away from the soil beneath her in the direction of their bickering.

The five males argued several hundred paces away, but she had no problem seeing their forms since they were standing within a fresh path that had been formed through the grass – an aisle that she'd created when she'd expelled the energy from her arms. Sure enough, when she quickly glanced to her other side, an identical path was burnt straight through the grass as far as her eyes could see. Though she had been far from in control, it was a vast improvement from her complete desolation of the island.

With her Fae hearing, she dimly heard Eris's low voice. "She is neither of those things – she just needs proper training."

If she hadn't still been gulping down air, she would have laughed at his assessment. She'd been receiving training from Amren for years, but it hadn't made a difference – she'd never let it – had repeatedly refused to let enough of her power out to morph it into something other than a shield.

Irritation edged its way into her mind as her breathing finally evened. Recollection of what had happened at the Dawn Court hit her, making her eyes narrow on the source of her anger.