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How could he? The boy who had shown me everything I knew about this world, the boy I had kissed under the stars, how could he? I didn't understand. I had felt so full and happy this morning on our walk. Maybe it was his way of saying goodbye.
My throat tightened as I stared into his cold eyes. I could feel his ice spreading up my legs, and I let it. I was too shocked to do anything but stand there, dumbfounded. How could I have been so naive? Hunter betrayed me. But why? Why was he doing this? Had Lord Tanmos threatened him, or worse, offered him a reward of some sort? Nothing made sense. I didn't want to believe it. Any of it. I didn't want to believe that the boy I trusted with my life was standing next to me, purposefully freezing me.
He looked away when the ice reached my waist, encasing the tips of my fingers. I could barely hear him mutter an apology, but I didn't want it. I didn't want any of this to be real.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Ragan screaming my name. My head whipped toward her direction, tears cold on my cheeks. Her face was splashed with dirt and scrapes, eyes filled with determination.
"Push him out, Ember!" she yelled.
It took the ice to crawl up my shoulders before I realized what she meant. Apparently, Lord Tanmos did too. He shouted and pointed in my direction. A handful of soldiers began to run in my direction. I began to panic as the ice moved up my neck, making it hard to breathe. I had to calm down.
I closed my eyes, blocking out the rumbling of the sky and the shouts around me. My focus was turned to the cool energy running up my spine. This was Hunter's fault. I repeated that over and over again, letting my anger and sadness build up until crystals formed around my eyes.
A warm feeling took hold in my stomach. I could feel the energy buzzing around me. I searched for it, all of it, and then I screamed, releasing all the emotions I had built up.
Flames erupted from my entire body, surrounding me in an inferno. A scream joined mine, and I realized it came from next to me. Hunter. I was burning him. Part of me took joy in the thought of him suffering for toying with my heartstrings.
The flames didn't last long, though. Soon, I was drained of energy. The force of creating such a mass of flames had worn me down. But I had to keep going. Lord Tanmos's men faltered when they saw me erupt, but they recovered quickly and continued to run toward me. I spared a glance towards Hunter, who had collapsed on the ground in a heap of smoke, before racing over to Ragan, Wren, and Adara.
Unfortunately, I was intercepted. The soldiers had caught up with me. Vines sprouted from the ground and twisted around my ankles, making me fall hard on my knees. I gritted my teeth and kicked uselessly as the vines continued to climb. At the same time, I felt the air in my lungs being pushed out of me. I needed to find a way to get a hold on my powers. I choked and failed to try and suck in a breath. Two of the men were from House Blais and House Argover. But what about the third?
I never got the chance to figure out. He collapsed to the ground in a fit of screams and twitches. I knew it had to be Ragan. My lips tugged up into a small smile at the thought of her helping someone, especially me. The soldier's colleagues barely gave him a second glance before they continued their prowl toward me. The man that I assumed was the Blais suddenly clutched his throat, eyes rolling back. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he, too, collapsed. The vines around my legs went limp.
I was horrified at how powerful Ragan was and struggled to breathe, but I managed to get to my feet. A blast of wind sent me flying back to the ground within seconds of me getting up. The Argover had pushed me down with his power. I landed at someone's feet. I prayed it wasn't the feet of a man who wanted me dead. Calloused hands wrapped around my arms in a firm grip and pulled me up. I was greeted with a pair of sea blue eyes and a mop of curly brown hair. Wren. Relief flooded through my veins.
"Try to stay on your feet now, miss. I can't be your prince every time." He winked, making me laugh a bit, and turned his back towards me to bring his hands up in the air. Pipes and gutters burst as water rushed out of them, soaking Lord Tanmos and his soldiers. One soldier from House Arser literally went up in flames with fury.
"Oops," Wren chuckled before sending another wave, this time from the fountain, over the men.
Wren was quite the boy. I admired how calm he was. I tried to do the same as soldiers circled in on us, their ruler at the front of them all. Lord Maddox Tanmos. He was different than I expected him to be. Lord Tanmos seemed too young to have gone through everything I'd heard he had. He stared me down as they came closer, bright blue eyes filled with hatred. But what had I done to him? As far as I knew, I was innocent of ever harming him.
That was quite the show, Ms. Valarious. Unfortunately, I don't have the patience to embrace another.
My heart stopped cold at the smooth voice speaking in my head. From across the crevice, Lord Tanmos lifted his chin. He was in my mind, reading my thoughts and probably searching through my memories. My chest filled with dread. I heard his laugh in my head, making me shiver.
I sense your fear. What is it you are afraid of, darling? Or should I say, who? You fear me, and you do not even know me. . . yet.
His last words made my throat tighten. He would kill me if he got a hold of me. He would make sure I would die slowly, so I knew who was more powerful.
He laughed again, more out of victory than humor, which caused the hairs on my neck to rise. Then, his presence in my mind was gone.
Giant purple bolts of lightning crashed through the sky, pulling me out of my misery. Adara stood next to me, hands covered in sparks. I noticed her eyes had changed. They were a dark grey color filled with lightning almost identical to bolts in the air. It terrified and amazed me all at once.
"We have to get you out of here," she whispered, barely audible in the harsh wind that was picking up.
Her words made me think back to the heavy weight on my shoulders. I had my backpack. The backpack itself wasn't important, it was the item inside that I needed.
"Can you buy me some time?" I shouted over the storm to the three around me. Ragan saw me pulling my backpack off and nodded.
"Whatever you've got planned, it better be good," she grunted, turning back toward the fight.
I felt the ground under me rattle like an earthquake. Pipes continued breaking and spilling out water, flowing around the feet of our attackers. Thunder rolled behind me, warning about the lightning to come. The three of them stood in front of me as I scrambled on the ground, yanking my backpack open.
Being thrown through the air had mixed all my belongings together. What I searched for was no longer on top of everything. I cursed under my breath and began digging, watching the fight around me unfurl.
Ragan was dodging blows from a man who had gotten over the large break in the ground. They stood extremely close to it and I worried that she might fall in. Although, she seemed to be fine. Every time the man swung at her, a blast of wind would knock her down but the man would scream in agony. One of his arms hung limply by his side and he clutched his stomach with the other. It didn't take long for Ragan to regain her balance and kick him towards the opening in the ground. He screamed as he fell, and I stared with wide eyes.
The deafening sound of lightning above made me turn my attention to Adara. A man from House Zian had taken her on. As soon as her lightning would strike, he disappeared, always moving closer and closer to her. I tried to reach out and help her in some way, but I couldn't feel anything. The energy was nowhere to be found. One more strike and he would be across the crevice. I abandoned my search and instead reached into the front pocket of my bag, pulling out my knife.
"Adara," I called over the howling of the wind. She stole a glance behind her and I took the chance to toss her the knife. "Just in case."
She nodded and turned, swiping one arm across her chest to send another bolt towards the man. He barely escaped it, reappearing just on the edge of the large crack. Adara gave him no mercy. She slashed out again as soon as he came into view. The force of the bolt sent him stumbling back, tripping off the edge. Of course, being a Zian, he flew out of it without a scratch. Adara grumbled something under her breath before moving her hands in circles around each other.
I saw what she was trying to do. It was like what she had taught me the day before. She was going to trap him inside a storm of winds. A tornado.
The wind howled an angry cry as it circled around the floating man, faster and faster. Soon he lost control and started to spin with the wind. I barely heard his yells as the tornado built and built, lightning flashing inside. It became so large and powerful that some of the soldiers around it got sucked in. After a while, Adara reached up with both hands and swung them to the side, the tornado acting in response. It moved into the air, bringing its captives along for the ride. Adara stretched the tornado higher and higher until it was taller than the buildings. She swung her arms again and it released the men, sending them flying across rooftops and into another part of the city.
During that entire time, I hadn't noticed the frost slithering toward me. When it touched my shoe, sending a burst of cold through my foot, I whipped my head towards its source. Hunter. Anger built up inside my chest, and I wondered if it was enough to give him another blast of my fire. I stood, stepping away from my backpack. As I walked toward him, the frost at my feet melted. Good. I saw that it immediately moved to join the rest of the flowing water gathered by the soldiers' feet. I wondered what he was waiting for.
When I turned my attention back to Hunter, he was staring at the ground near my feet. Parts of his clothes were scorched, and he wore burn marks all over his arms. He was obviously hurting by the way he crouched and the expression on his face, but he moved towards me anyway. When I reached him, I did not hesitate to swing my fist toward his face. He didn't try to defend himself when my knuckles made contact with his jaw. Hunter just stumbled backward and hung his head, his brown locks falling into his eyes.
I proceeded to jab his gut and slam my shoulder into his chin. His only reaction was a sputtered cough. It wasn't until I twisted his wrist and pushed him to his knees that he started to fight back. With the hand that I had locked in my fingers, he grabbed the inside of my arm and turned, spinning me so that we switched positions. I bit my lip as pain spread up my forearm.
"I never wanted to be a part of his plan, Ember. You have to believe me," he whispered in my ear.
Out of anger, I stomped on his foot and elbowed his side with my free arm, breaking away from his hold. He grunted but came at me again. I deflected his blow with my forearm and kicked his stomach.
He stumbled back, clutching his gut. That was when the flames spread up my arms, daring him to come any closer.
"Get the hell out of my life," I snapped, flames crackling against my skin. The heat comforted me in my confusion and hurt. I welcomed the flames, and they grew in response.
He held up his hands in defeat. "I'm sorry, Em. I'm so sorry."
Then he turned and limped toward the crevice. A sudden jolt of fear spread through me when I thought he might jump in, but when a bridge of ice formed I knew he would never have the heart to do so. He would always take care of himself before anyone else.
"Ember!" I heard Wren's voice across the mob of men. "Ember, we have to go!"
I sprinted as fast as I could when I realized what he meant. The entire crack Ragan had made was being covered with a thick layer of ice. The Guard was on the move. They were coming after me. I bent to my knees as soon as I reached my bag, digging my hand into it once more. If I didn't find that pebble, all was lost.
YOU ARE READING
Chasing Embers | 1
Fantasy"She was the spark of the revolution, and chasing embers is impossible once the fire begins to burn." - For all of her life, Ember Matthew's horizons had consisted of the North Pacific and the skyline of West Seattle, but she had always craved more...
