The Raven Flame [The Crown Saga III] (First Draft)

Life for a Life

"Tarkan!" I screamed when another one of his fingers snapped from the flick of Caiden's wrist.

I heaved for a breath, my eyes flickering from Tarkan to Caiden and back, torn between what to do. My immediate response would've been to summon a reckless storm and blow them all away, but it was Caiden. I couldn't risk seriously injuring him.

I needed to get closer and cut Ariyah's connection to him.

"Do not harm him, Ariyah," Pangea roared, raising an admonitory hand. "He may be against us, but he is still my son."

Ariyah nodded, and it seemed as if Caiden's intense hold on Tarkan loosened a bit.

Tarkan's head dropped like that of a lifeless ragdoll, and he fell to his knees, but his body didn't collapse. Caiden still held him in invisible restraints.

"Don't lose focus, Will," Alia whispered without turning her eyes toward me. "Calix may be decommissioned, but all we really need is you for the plan to work. So, charge, Willow of the weeping trees that sing in the wind." A faint smile crept into the stiff corner of her mouth. "Show these weaklings what the power of wind can do, and the flame will follow."

Of the weeping trees? The wind? What was she rambling—

Wind...

I clenched my hands, relishing the feeling of my old friend slithering into the cleaves of my tight fists, winding around my knuckles and up my wrists. Air enables fire, and fire slays the beasts of the night.

A storm swept through my veins, gathering in the pit of my stomach as I turned on my heel. The swirls of power surged through my throat, blasting past my lips as a roar mightier than the raging currents of the tempest valley.

Pangea's eyes widened as the strength of twenty typhoons tore past me, shredding everything in its wake—the havoc that I'd suppressed for twelve long years released.

Dread should've washed over me when Pangea raised her hand and split my attack, no less strained than were she riding Torrach. However, my winds had been but a mere distraction.

Pangea was strong—far stronger than any of us. I knew she'd be able to counter my elemental powers. Alia's powers were a different story.

Heat flared across my left side, the flames of a dragon's breath hitching a dangerous ride on my savage storms.

A treacherous sense of triumph skipped across my buzzing skin as distress veiled Pangea's eyes at the sight of the blue flames dancing toward her.

I didn't stop the surge of wind until I felt the energies within her shift to summon the golden gift wreathing inside her. Shadowed walls of glistening ebony shot from the ground, surrounding her and protecting her from the scorching flames.

The breath I sucked in to draw strength burned all the way down my throat as I twisted on my heel again. My eyes locked onto Ariyah, whose lips had drawn back in a sneer.

My stomach knotted when I detected Caiden slowly face me and raise his other hand. I couldn't make it to move out of the way in time. His powers would catch me. I could already feel my blood freezing.

A shadow suddenly jumped in front of me, cutting the direct path between Caiden and me. Alia grunted, pained, as Caiden's powers sunk into her flesh, freezing her in place. "Go," she groaned through clenched teeth.

I didn't spend a single moment hesitating and raced past her.

Caiden only had two hands. Ariyah couldn't use her elemental powers on me without breaking the link between her and Caiden. I only had a few seconds before Pangea would shatter her defense and come to Ariyah's aid. It was now or never.