Atlantis Academy: The First Element

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Power unlike anything I've ever felt before floods me.

And it keeps flooding me, as more and more of the purple smoke escapes the orb and finds its way to me.

The cuffs activate, trying to punish me for using magick, but I hardly feel the pain.

The energy thrumming through me feels too damn good.

I shut my eyes and become instantly hyper-aware of every bit of magick in this room.

Dubois's golden obedience sigil, hovering in the air right behind me.

The chancellor's half-finished obedience sigil, suspended in front of me.

The cuffs, sending out irritating shockwaves.

With the immense power thrumming through me, all I have to do is imagine the cuffs opening and falling away.

They clatter to the floor, behind me, freeing my arms.

Then I repeat what I did in the Port Ashford Redwoods, the last time Dubois attempted to use a sigil on me.

I pull on all the golden strings surrounding the sigils, then let them snap back into place.

Both sigils vanish.

Another round of gasps fills the room, and I open my eyes.

Time has no meaning in this river of energy, but I sense only a second has passed.

The chancellor's staring at me, eyes wide with horror.

Caelum's got a different look on his handsome face. Awe.

A purple glow's shimmering across their clothes, and I realize... I'm the one glowing.

The Aether dances all along my body, sinuously wrapping itself around my limbs and torso.

It's singing a beautiful song, and I lean into it, my whole body humming with it.

"I have to stop this!" The chancellor has gone ashen, and she's pointing her wand at me.

"What are you doing?" Chloe says from behind me, her voice full of fear.

"Severing her connection." The chancellor's moving the wand, and another high-pitched tone resonates through me as she begins to build a new sigil.

This sigil is bad. Wrong.

If I let her complete it, it'll end in my death.

I need more power to defend myself.

The amount of Aether inside me's only a fraction of what's still in the orb.

I jump to my feet—all my pain long gone—and I seem to be lightning fast while everyone else is stuck in slow motion.

I take a few quick steps, positioning myself directly beneath the floating orb.

I raise my hands high, calling the rest of the Aether to me.