Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(12)

I tightened my hold on her and let the power trickle through to my feet, urged the earth to welcome me home …  and nothing happened. I didn't slide into the ground as I had so many times before. I frowned and pulled harder on my connection to the earth. Talan wasn't blocking me exactly, but he was doing something worse. He was letting me reach my strength but then blocking me from doing anything with it. A perfect storm of frustration welled up in my chest.

He watched me, his eyes carefully neutral. "Are you ready to admit you need to be trained? Strength is not everything, Lark."

I could barely contain the fury that grew in my heart. I'd been here before. I'd been held in an oubliette and cut off from the earth and my loved ones. I'd been blocked from my power for years by Cassava who'd wanted me to believe I was weak and useless. I would not do this again.

Peta leapt from my arms. "Talan, you are holding her prisoner?"

"I am saving the world. And she is a part of that." He spoke as calmly as if she'd just asked him what he'd like in his tea.

"Bullshit. This is a game to you." I spun my spear around. "A game with rules of your own making that change as you see fit. There is more than one way to force your hand."

His eyes widened and he laughed at me. Not a soft laugh, but a full-bellied laugh that did nothing to calm my growing rage. "You would fight me?"

"If you aren't a chickenshit who uses Spirit to win a fair fight. Yes, then, I would fight you."

His eyes narrowed. "I am no coward."

Strike a point for me. I now had a button to push on him.

I answered by leaping toward him, knowing I would need the element of surprise. I swung my spear out in a wide arc. I held the haft at the very end so my reach with the blade was farther yet. The weapon cut through the tumbling water first and I twisted my wrist to bring it down toward his thigh. I didn't want to kill him, only maim him so I could break his concentration and his hold on me, and then Peta and I could escape.

He sidestepped my spear blade easily. Dancing back a few feet, he tucked his toe under something and kicked it up into his hands. A spear, just like mine, from the long wooden haft to the curved and sharpened blade at the end. We'd sparred once, but that had been light and easy, with no real effort put in on my part. He might be good.

But I was better.





CHAPTER 5



Talan's spear cut through the air at a speed that shocked me. I swept my weapon up and caught his blade on mine-barely in time to keep it from slicing into my calf. The steel on steel screeched as we pulled back and reassessed one another. Talan didn't hesitate for more than a few seconds in his attack, and once he started in on me, he didn't slow. This wasn't like the fight before when I'd been in the Deep. No, he'd been holding back then but had made it look like he was doing all he could.

He truly was an asshole.

We circled the central funnel of water, trading blows back and forth, and each move left me another half second behind until I was barely fending him off. In desperation, I turned my spear around and drove the wooden haft into his middle, stealing the breath from him and driving him back a few feet. I should have pressed my advantage but I couldn't. I needed to breathe and pull myself together. Sweat poured down my face and trickled along my spine and arms, and I tried again to reach for my element in the hopes the blow would have broken Talan's concentration.



       
         
       
        

No such luck, my elements slid through me like water through fingers. I couldn't hold either Spirit or Earth even with him winded.

Talan stood, one hand on his belly. His eyes were not full of anger at all as I'd thought they would be. If anything, I would have said he was laughing at me. "Are you ready to concede?" He spat off to one side.

I glared at him. "Let me go. I won't stop trying to free myself, no matter how much stronger you are than me. You will never be able to let your guard down."

"Nope, can't do that. But it's nice to know you are seeing you can't win." He winked and I glared at him wishing I could pummel him with rocks.

Without another word, he came at me again, forcing me to back up even while I tried to push him away. We used our spears as staffs, the hafts slamming into one another, shuddering under each blow. It was a true test of strength as we pitted our body weights and muscle against each other. Twice he caught my fingers with the staff with a hard, quick rap, making them numb, but I held on through the sharp pain. If I let go of the spear, I would be done.

I would not be done until he let me go.