Atonement - Book Four (Man x Man)

Chapter 16 (new)

"Stop. Right now." She snaps at me.

I chuckle at the request. "Or what?"

There's no water nearby, though I suppose I could pull it out of the air or the mud. I settled for a small wind tunnel that ascended from the sky and surrounded her, pulling the very air from her lungs. Suffocation feels much more satisfying than the quick death of removing her blood, and I wanted to watch the color leave her pastel skin.

The wind spins faster and faster, a funnel that blurs her image, only a ghost of a figure flipping and contorting as she fights for her way out until she falls to her knees, clutching her throat.

Corina reaches, ripping a tree from the ground with her telekinesis; the sound is deafening as the roots give way, and the lumber sails toward me at a speed I nearly can't deflect. Opting to sacrifice her death, I narrowly managed to deflect the tree in time.

 She gasped for air as I slung the wind tunnel, sending the oak hurdling into the woods. I could feel Sherian running towards me, a vibration in the ground as my magic ran wild. Grabbing my own wrist, I formed an ice barrier around my forearm in a makeshift shield, throwing my arm up to block the blade, as he could only swing it one-handed. While the pain was sudden and sharp, I'd shocked us both with the fact that I deflected him.

"You're fucking dead!" He snarls at me, baring down on the blade but I know the sword well, it's a broad sword and it's for two hands. Her shields are down; his scarred face glares back at me in a way that can't bring me to falter. 

Sherian was a villain once more, and my resolve to kill him was renewed. 

The horrific view brings back all my torment, a reminder of exactly who had been using my body for his own pleasure all these months. The book pleads with me, practically electrocuting me back into my senses as he swings his sword, and I deflect it with my arm cuff once more, only to have it shatter.

 I take a cut and hold my arm close to my body before stomping on the ground and turning a path to him to solid ice. His feet are frozen to the ground, which should hold him for a moment while I focus on Corina. My arm was nearly useless; I couldn't bear to look at it under my sleeve as I turned my attention to my sister. 

She's giggling as I approach her. "You really think you're going to win?" she asks, hysterical as she climbs to her feet. I can see her frail body, a distant reminder of what dark magic looks like when you succumb to it, a reminder of how close I was to that very future if I continued down this path. But I didn't intend to live past this fight; I would die here if it meant killing her. 

"I know I am. I'm not afraid to die." 

By her expression, it appeared she still was, and I took the opportunity to clasp my hands together and pull down cloud cover with a resounding crack of thunder. The fluffy fog crashes down around us, giving me ample ammunition and coverage. 

Corina aims for me in wild, sweeping motions of what almost resembles electricity, but the moves are slow and predictable. I pray that she strikes Sherian as I track the vibration in the fog, staying out of the spread easily with instinct alone. 

My only goal was to deflect and avoid, letting her burn out and use her energy. For once, I feel like my training is taking effect. I move through the fog; I don't need to be strong or accurate to practice avoidance. In the background, Sherian breaks free from the ice, I dive as the blade swings. 

He almost catches Corina, who had been rushing towards the commotion, and she curses and shoves him to the ground with a hard crack of lightning.

The blood spray from his hand peppers us all down, and I gag, unable to hold it in. Their eyes lock on me, alarm bells ring in my ears and I quickly slam my hands on the ground, flinching at my injured arm and throbbing wrist. Sherian has a charred mark on his chest, and black ink crawls up Corina's arms from overuse; they were beginning to succumb, and it spurred me on to finish this.