Of Whispers and Daggers ✓ [TLRQ #2]

Chapter 60 - Leavi

My hands fumble with my flicker as I run, shouts and sparks filling the air. Twenty feet to my left, Riszev throws a bottle. It busts against the base of a tent, honey and alcohol exploding out and burning everything it touches. The air is orange and smoky.

My finger catches the lever, and a flame darts out of my flicker. I press it to the paper wick and chunk the bottle as hard as I can. It sails through the air, landing amid a swarm of dazed Kadranians. Their screams assail my ears as I reach for another bottle.

My hands meet air. Could I really have thrown all five? The past minutes blur.

"I'm out!" I call to Riszev.

She glances over, lit bottle in her hand. A Kadranian charges her, and her arm snaps out, bottle flying. It breaks in his face, and he stumbles back screaming.

"I am too!"

Her sword flashes out. She waves me over and calls to her soldiers. I yank out my dagger as I run toward her.

A soldier intercepts me, sweeping his sword at my side. I jump out of the way, and my foot twists over a stone. Pain lances up my leg. He swipes at me again, and I throw myself to his feet. Strike hard, strike fast. Teeth gritted, I thrust my dagger into his boot. He stumbles back, and I start to push up.

A foot slams into my side as someone trips over me. I tumble, dagger spilling from my grip. Ears ringing, I suck in air. The wet ground presses against the back of my pants. Smoke and sparks obscure the stars.

A face swims above me: a Kadranian boy, half-dressed. Blood spatters the face at least two years younger than mine. Sound rushes back into my ears as he raises his sword. My useless hands rise to block, and the blade plunges.

Silver rushes over me, and I gasp. Its strength sweeps away my terror, as if the magic filled every part of me and there's no room for anything else. With a pop of light, the sword vanishes. Terror strikes the boy's face, and he flees.

I push to my feet, the light flaring from my body like a silver torch. I should be afraid, but I only feel disconnected. Men run around me, flames flicker, and I stand straight and still among them. The tips of my hair float around my head.

Sound fades, and something inside me clicks into place. It's like the double-image of a magnicrystal coming into focus, and for the first time, I feel like I truly see. Everything in the universe is mutable. Nothing belongs here that we don't want. Nothing exists that can't be sucked away, left to drown in the anti-world. Nothing is beyond our reach.

Vihnzeirre's light reveals my dagger on the ground, and we reach out our hand. The blade disappears and reappears in our grasp. We stride forward.

A Kadranian steps in our path, and Vihnzeirre hums in my throat like a steamtrain forcing the throttle. The man swings his blade—silver light pops, and our path is clear. We march through where he used to be.