Katya turns out to be a Fire Summoner with unusual power. General Kirigan gives her private lessons and she loves his shadows - especially when they summon together, skin against skin. But what happens when a Sun Summoner shows up?
Based on the Netf...
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Swirling shadows surrounded Katya, blocking out all light. Blindly she went on, feeling soft sand under her feet and dry, dead air fill her lungs. In the distance thunder rolled.
Something warm pressed against her leg. Laika had returned, sending amplifying strength to her mistress.
"Thank you," Katya whispered.
Close together, they continued.
It was a difficult walk. The sand was littered with rubble; boards from broken sandskiffs, old rocks, and the skeletal remains of the forest that once stood here. Every now and then Katya stubbed her toes or accidentally cracked a dry branch.
Yet, to her surprise, she no longer found the darkness so frightening. On the contrary; it felt familiar and safe. Like Aleksander's arms around her.
She missed him, she realized. After everything, she missed summoning together and having him close.
But that was in the past. They were over.
Katya had been tired after her journey, but after a little while in the Fold she began to feel invigorated. There was power, a huge source of it, lingering just outside her reach. What could it be? Neither Mal, nor Aleksander were present, yet it felt like there were several amplifiers nearby.
Then she heard a shrill shriek echo across the emptiness, and another one soon afterwards. The volcra had come.
"This is it," she murmured. "Now we either defeat them, or we die." The thought filled her with a strange calm.
A darker shade against the clouds swooped down, cool air brushing against her.
Katya tried to summon, but the darkness remained compact and unrelenting. Perhaps she was too tired, after all. Had she come this far just to die here, alone and defeated?
The screech returned, very close now. When the creature flew past, its wing hit Katya's cheek, slapping her so hard she fell to her knees. She rubbed her aching face.
Laika howled, no longer at her side. Had the volcra taken her?
A searing pain shot up Katya's shoulder as the beast returned, sinking its long talons into her flesh. She screamed, desperately trying to rip the monster off her. Its skin was smooth and dry like snake skin.
Then suddenly Laika was back, growling and snapping after it.
Katya didn't miss the opportunity. Adding her pain and desperation to the mix of jealousy and anger she had used to create black fire before, she tried to draw from the elusive power source she had felt entering the Fold.
A flame appeared, glowing eerily in the darkness. It was strong. Less bright than it had been with Mal, but hotter. Scalding hot.
The gruesome pain eased slightly as the volcra pulled in its claws, but it didn't fly away.
