Ryland flinched again and I threw my body over him, foolishly thinking I could protect him.
“My prodigal son has returned!” Edmund clapped his hands together in joy, an ominously pleased smile lighting up his face.
“No,” Ilyan interjected powerfully, “I just came to save my little brother.”
“Ryland!” I yelled out as Ryland flinched in my arms again, the reality of it all jerking at my magic again.
“Oh, look!” Edmund called out joyously. “Little Joclyn came, too! What fun! You sure have grown up since the last time I saw you. So beautiful. Such a pity to destroy you, but then I destroy things all the time.” He smiled cruelly at Ryland who jerked again, his voice calling out in an agonizing scream.
“No! Leave him alone,” I pleaded with Edmund, but he only smiled at me like I was the most pathetic thing he had ever seen. Ryland jumped again.
“Fight it, Ryland, please,” I begged him, my hands pressing against his back. I desperately tried to push my magic into him, not sure if I was succeeding. Ryland lifted his head to mine, resting his hand against my face.
“You’re so beautiful. I always thought so... with those eyes... They are just like diamonds.” Ryland’s body jerked again, and he screamed out in pain, his body tensing and convulsing as he fought his father.
“Fight it, Ryland!” I barely got the words out before Ryland’s hand shot out to wrap itself around my throat. He lifted me up in one swift movement, my feet leaving the ground as he stood.
His black eyes looked into me with a look of evil pleasure that did not match his face. He smiled his beautiful half-smile, but this time, it held no pleasure for me. I clawed at his hand as my lungs called out for air, my chest heaving as it attempted to inhale.
A ball of light hit Ryland’s side, shooting him across the large room. His hand lost its grip on my throat, and I went flying, Ilyan’s wind bringing me right to him before I had a chance to hit the floor. He wrapped his arm around me securely, his eyes never leaving his father’s.
“Well, that was fun.” Wyn came up to stand next to me, wiping her hands against her jeans.
“Wynifred!” Timothy’s deep voice had taken on a panicked quality I wouldn’t have thought to ever hear from him. I jerked my head around to see the panic evident not only on Timothy’s face, but on Cail’s as well.
“Isn’t this a veritable family reunion,” Edmund commented in a bored voice. “Didn’t want to bring Ovailia, I see; didn’t think she could handle being near me again?”
Ilyan smiled, that look of power covered his face as a visible wall of energy moved away from us, shooting across the ballroom and ramming into Edmund and his men. They all stumbled back a step; many fell clear to the ground.
“Oh, I’m here, Father. I just prefer not to get my hands dirty.” Ovailia’s voice echoed around the room from somewhere behind us.
“I’m tired of this,” Wyn said, stepping forward before she jumped in place. With the impact of her feet against the floor the whole room shook and shifted; pieces of the ceiling and balcony broke apart and tumbled down around us. Her action opened up a floodgate, and the ballroom began to explode in a torrent of energy. Wyn laughed happily as she continued to jump; no wonder she had said her magic was destructive.
I covered my head and dropped to the ground as chunks of marble and wood came crashing down, leaving a giant hole gaping in the ceiling. I dodged and weaved away from the falling debris until I slid under a large table, finding two trapped party-goers who were screaming frantically.
I looked up as Wyn clapped her hands; the wall behind Edmund and his men exploded, sending them all running in a panic. The room groaned at the loss of a supporting wall, the structure heaving as it was torn apart from the inside out. Wyn’s explosion separated the Trpaslíks from each other. Edmund seemed to have completely disappeared, leaving his minions to do his dirty work. With the Trpaslíks separated, Ilyan and his guard were free to pick them off, one by one. Wyn laughed before heading straight for her brother, Cail, her look of determination, terrifying.
She met up with him as he broke out from behind the rubble. She pushed her hands toward him, a magical pulse pushing him back down into the rubble he had just escaped from. Cail recovered quickly, jumping to his feet as he shot a fiery orb of energy her way. Wyn dodged it, but lost her footing. Without thinking, I sent wind to her and righted her before her brother could attack her again.
My actions caught the attention of three Trpaslíks who flung away the table I was hiding under, slamming it into an opposing wall. My head jerked up to see the three small men approaching me excitedly. I jumped to my feet, shooting three waves of fire toward my attackers, or at least I think it was fire. I had never really mastered that skill. The tiny burning orbs collided with them, the impact thankfully enough to send them skidding against the floor. The fire burned their clothes and singed their flesh, but the weak, unfocused energy wasn’t able to do much more than that. They were already back on their feet, heading right towards me. I didn’t wait for their attack; I exploded into the air and away from them, only to land clumsily in the middle of the floor, not having planned where I was going. I spun around wildly, hoping to get my bearings.
The whole ballroom was now madness and chaos. Explosions rocked the air. Wind and magic flew between fighting pairs, leaving paths of fire and destruction behind them. I watched as Talon swung his arms wide, a trail of fire spitting from his fingertips. Zilla wrapped electrical ropes around her opponents, causing them to fall to the ground. Ilyan disappeared from one spot, only to appear across the room a moment later, hovering behind one of Edmund’s retreating allies. He placed his hand lightly on the Trpaslíks head, causing him to yell out in pain before dropping to the ground.
Another explosion rocked the building, sending more debris crashing down from overhead. Talon appeared behind me, grabbing me around the waist and sliding me across the floor just as a boulder-sized piece of the balcony crashed down where I had been standing. He shoved me behind him as he shot light and wind away from us.
“Get Ryland and get out of here!” Talon yelled as he sent a table skidding across the ground, the hard edge slamming into the back of one of Edmund’s men.
I took off toward where Ryland’s body still lay, crumpled from the impact.
“Ryland!” My voice broke as I reached out, grabbing his hand and pulling it up to my face. His touch triggered my magic and I felt it surge into him, instantly moving to intertwine with his power. His head turned toward me, the knot in my stomach releasing at the sight of his blue eyes.
“Jos,” he whispered my name, a smile trying desperately to form on his lips, “you came.”
“Yeah, Ry. I did. Now we have to get out of here. Come on, let’s go, just you and me.” I tugged on his arm, but he didn’t budge.
“What did you do to your hair, Jos? I always loved your hair.” His eyes were fading out on me, focusing on something far behind me.
“Ryland! Come on. Focus! We have to leave now!” I clutched onto him and brought a powerful gust of wind around us; I felt my magic fade as we lifted off the ground a few feet, only to crash back down to the floor. I tried again with the same result.
“Ryland, I need your help.” I was becoming desperate; he still didn’t respond to me. “Ryland! Please.”
“Do you want to go steal the car, Jos?” His voice slurred as it faded away, his eyes gently closing.
“Ryland, no, no. Ryland!” He didn’t move, and he didn’t react, he just lay there.
The prospect of losing him clicked something together in my brain. I was instantly consumed with panic-stricken desperation. I called his name over and over as I pushed him, prodded him and even slapped him across the face. He didn’t react to any of it. My movements became more desperate as the seconds clicked by in my mind.
I could hear the yells and screams of the fight that surrounded us, feel the rattle of the building as it was rent with explosion after explosion. I stopped hitting
him, stopped screaming at him; I just sat there, staring at him.
He could have been sleeping. The way his hair fell across his face, the way his arms lay lifelessly at his side. I watched him, expecting him to grumble something in his sleep and roll over the way he always did; my heart almost willed it to happen. I traced the dark purple circles of his bruise, let my fingertips run the length of the healing scar across his face. He was in pain.
My voice howled in agony as I fell onto him. My arms wrapped around him and my magic rushed into him, glad to be home. I felt it swirling within him, mingling with the flaring embers he had kept hidden inside himself. I cried into his chest, feeling the connection grow within our bodies. His arms reached around me, his strong arms clenching me against him.
“Ryland?” I pulled myself away from him, my magic pulling back into me as I moved. I looked up into his face expectantly; my hope shattered at the black eyes smiling back.
“You are exquisite, aren’t you? No wonder this body seems to want you so badly.”
My heart screamed inside my chest at the deep voice that came out of him. I wrenched out of his arms and scurried away, my feet slipping against loose rocks that littered the slick marble floor.
“What? Don’t you want this body, too? You seemed to be desperate to have it just a second ago.” His body uncoiled toward me dangerously, the shoulders squared and back straighter than Ryland ever held himself. He towered over me as I continued to slip in the rubble. The building rocked with another explosion and I lost my balance, landing on my stomach.
Ryland reached down as I slid around in a desperate attempt to find my balance, and his large hand wrapped around my neck as he lifted me up. I was being choked at the pressure, my lungs unable to take in breath.
“Hello, pretty girl,” he sneered as he brought me up to face him, the depths of his black eyes staring back at me acidly.
I didn’t have time to react before he shot a flame against my abdomen. The powerful surge collided against my stomach, burning away the lower half of my shirt. The strength of the pulse shot me away from him, flinging me through the air to land hard on the marble floor twenty feet away, the impact sending a painful jolt rippling through me. I sighed as I rolled over onto my back, my body protesting the movement.
I should be hurt. I felt a powerful warmth, smelt the burnt fabric, but there was no pain. I looked at my stomach in confusion. The bottom of my shirt had been destroyed; the skin below it was blackened like charcoal, but nothing more. I wiped away the black residue, surprised to see my stomach was intact, the skin pale and smooth beneath the ash.
A white orb collided angrily against my chest, sliding my body across the floor with the impact. My attention was pulled from my stomach as Ryland’s new attack sent me slamming into the wall. I looked up just in time to see him land in front of me, another pulse already prepared to fling my way.
I knew I should fight him, I knew I should attack him as he was attacking me, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I couldn’t bring my magic to me with enough strength to defend myself. The thought of purposely harming him set my heart into a flutter of pain.
I scuttled to the side, the attack shattering the wall behind me instead. Without thinking, I grabbed a table next to me and flung it at him. My heart sank as I watched it fly, terror gripping me at the impending impact. It had almost reached him before he swayed to the side, the table flying uselessly away.
He walked toward me, smiling wickedly as I continued to shoot objects in his direction. All my attempts were useless; the small pieces of what my wind could grab and carry were either dodged, deflected, or they bounced uselessly off his chest. I knew I needed to fight back more intently, I knew I needed to try, but my heart wouldn’t let me.
“Throwing things with wind; is that the extent of your power?” Ryland raised both of his hands toward me; I could feel his wind build around me as he shot all the useless objects I had sent toward him right back at me, but with a much greater force and in a quicker succession. I shielded my head as the wall on either side of me was pelted with the arsenal. Plaster and small rocks flew into my hair and bounced painfully against my bare skin.
The onslaught ended, and I looked up to Ryland, hoping to see his blue eyes staring back at me. Instead, I saw a table. The table I had thrown at him was coming back to me at full speed. My mind went blank as I watched it barrel toward me, its four legs spinning in my direction. I wrapped myself into a ball just a moment before it hit. The legs had sunk deep into the wall around me, the tabletop stopping right before it came in contact with my body, pinning me in place instead of crushing me.
Ryland took the last few steps toward me, stopping right in front of me. I shrank away from his acidic gaze, terrified to find that there really was nowhere for me to go.
He reached down to cup my face, his hand cold and unfamiliar against my skin.
“You know, if I could break you, I would keep you.” He smiled as he leaned down, his eyes level with mine. “My own pretty, little pet. Maybe I will. After all, I know of someone who is dying to meet you.”
He dragged his icy fingers against my lower lip, the weight of his touch pushing my lip roughly to the side. I couldn’t rip my focus from him. His face looked the same, but he wasn’t Ryland anymore. He wasn’t the boy I had grown up with, the one I loved so deeply. My heart whipped back and forth as I fought my feelings. I had to get out of here before the monster in front of me did something that Ryland would regret. I knew I needed to fight—actually fight him. I just hoped that I wouldn’t hurt him.
I placed my hands against the table that entrapped me, surging my magic aggressively into it, hoping that it would have the desired effect. While not the explosion I had hoped for, the table did fly away from me, taking Ryland with it. He flew helplessly through the air, only to land twenty feet away, the heavy table landing on top of him.
Fifty-Three
Joclyn
I jumped up, desperate to escape from the monster that had possessed Ryland’s body. I ran only a few steps, my body preparing to launch into the air before a dead weight hit against my back, pushing me back down onto the floor. I tried to fight it, but couldn’t budge against the power that held me in place. I looked toward where Ryland had landed; fear now gripping me as I saw him approaching, his hand rising to aim in my direction.
An energy stream of blue waves shot over me, ramming into Ryland’s chest and stopping his progress. He only sneered at its sudden appearance, as if the powerful magic was no match for him. The magical barrier lifted off me and I rolled onto my knees, surprised to see Ovailia standing with her hands extended before her. My mouth dropped in shock at her perfectly poised figure, her cold-set eyes. She didn’t even acknowledge my existence; she simply stepped over me as she approached Ryland.
I didn’t dare look back before turning to run. The ground around me exploded and shook. I bobbed around, desperately attempting to avoid the fights and explosions around me before jumping into the sky. I sped through the air up onto the balcony that encircled the large room. I landed swiftly and continued moving, looking for a doorway or an alcove where I could hide.
The balcony below my feet shook, and I dropped to the dust-covered carpet with a thud. I cautiously moved myself toward the edge to look below me. The floor of the ballroom was chaos. Colored explosions shook the air as unguided objects flew around and collided. Tracks of color and power flew from hands as the two sides fought relentlessly against each other.
Snakes of red surged from one Trpaslík, only to collide with one of our group whose name I couldn’t remember. The red tendrils wrapped around her as she was slammed aggressively into the floor, her screams only barely audible over the sound of battle. I scanned the crowd, looking for anyone I knew. Ovailia was running, her direction taking her right out the door in pursuit of someone. I kept looking, happy to find Wyn still alive, battling back-to-back with Talon against her own brother. I reluctantly looked away from her in an attempt to find the
person who was responsible for this whole charade, but Edmund had vanished.
Ryland was walking determinedly toward Ilyan who had caught sight of him, but was still engaged in another fight. I watched as Ilyan dashed from one place to another, lightning shooting toward the small Trpaslík he was dutifully fighting. The Trpaslík was no match for Ilyan, who swiped his hand before him and sent his enemy flying right into a group of trapped teenagers who had taken refuge under the stairs.
Ilyan turned and faced his brother, his hands moving roughly to either side, sending every bit of rubble that lay uselessly on the floor up into the air and toward Ryland’s advancing form. Ryland yelled and called out in pain as he was pelted by the array of ammo, the force of the attack causing him to slide away against the floor. Ilyan did not wait for him to recover; his hands moved again, producing what could only be explained as a chain of magical energy.
The links of power crackled and sizzled in front of Ilyan, the bright white light, shining throughout the room. Ilyan pushed the chain toward Ryland; it wrapped around him, restraining his movements. It was only just visible before his body seemed to absorb it. Ryland moved his hands up in a counterattack toward his brother, but I didn’t see anything further. A large crack sounded in my ears as a heavy body landed directly to my left.
I spun around with a small scream. A well-dressed man with a neatly-trimmed beard was hovering near me, his sneer barely visible through the brown hair.
Timothy.
“Thought you could hide up here? You are just as weak as he is.” I backed away from him, careful to keep my body from falling off the unstable edge of the balcony.
Timothy laughed as he raised his fingers and snapped repeatedly. At each snap, small explosions shook and shredded the ground around me. I squealed and screamed in panic as I was littered with sparks and debris from the explosions. The Trpaslík took another step forward, his hands still raised menacingly.
Imdalind Ruby Collection One: Kiss of Fire | Eyes of Ember | Scorched Treachery Page 37