“Where’d he go?” Natalie asks me. As soon as the words leave her mouth, Zahtri reappears behind Ryanne, grabs her, and transports out of the field.
“Are you freaking kidding me?” I shout and reach out to hit the closest Gadramick to me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I try to throw a shield around me when I hear his thoughts, but Zahtri transports much quicker than Larkin. One second he is in front of me, and then the next, he is wrapping his arms around my waist and transporting us out of the field.
I try to fight against him, but his grip is too strong. I slam into a large rock. My back instantly protests as pain shoots through my torso. I gasp, trying to catch the breath that was knocked out of me. Zahtri is smiling over me. It’s no longer raining anymore, but the dark clouds above me could open up at any minute and shed their tears. “Get off of me!” I yell at him as I attempt to get away from him. The legs around my hips tighten and his arms pin my hands above my head.
“Stop struggling, Ryanne,” he growls at me.
“Then get off of me.”
“Stop trying to kill me. This would be so much easier if you’d just pick the first option.”
“You’re still stuck on that?” I ask. “I’m not going to work with you.”
“So you’d rather let more people die because of you? They’re either fighting with you or they are fighting against you. You’re the reason why people are dying.”
“They’re fighting for or against you as well, Zahtri.”
“Yes, but I don’t care if anyone dies. You do,” he tells me. I close of my mind, not letting the meaning of his sentence sink it. I can’t over think anything right now. That’ll get me killed. Liam and Larkin have both talked to me today, and I understand what I have to do.
I call my magic to me. I know Zahtri can feel it moving around us because he tightens his grips on my wrists again. The bones are on the verge of breaking when I release all the pent up anger I’ve gathered since I’ve been at Dravin’s compound. Zahtri flies off of me, but he doesn’t loosen his grip right away. I’m thrown into the air and land, not so gracefully, on another rock and roll a couple times before coming to a stop. Zahtri’s deep grunt fills my ears as he also lands painfully against the rocks.
Since I don’t have time right now to dwell on injuries, I jump up and get my first look at my surroundings. I’m standing along a cliff off the coast. Angry water crashes against the edge of the rock about thirty feet below me. I back up. If I had rolled a couple more feet, I would have fallen off. Turning around, I face Zahtri, with the knowledge that this is it. This is what I am meant to do. Claire told me I would be somewhere else during the final battle. I wouldn’t have Liam and Colton around me.
Now I understand why.
I step forward, putting more distance between me and the cliffs edge all the while decreasing the distance between Zahtri and me. I can feel his magic flowing around us, so I know he’ll attack soon. I push more magic out, putting it into the air. My magic works much quicker when I don’t have to push it out.
I throw a shield up behind me along the cliff’s edge as a precaution. Zahtri stands up and stalks toward me. “I really hoped we could have solved this civilly.”
“Then you shouldn’t have kidnapped me and stuck me in a cell for this past week,” I retort.
“Touché,” Zahtri says as he stops a few feet away from me. I throw a shield up around my mind, hoping that he can’t read my thoughts. I can’t read his anymore, so I know that he’s doing something.
“You’re smarter than I gave you credit for, dear. This might actually be fun.” Zahtri’s voice and constant endearments are really starting to annoy me. I’m an accent person. I love accents, but after hearing his deep almost Australian accent, I hate it. Endearments are something only those close to me get to call me. I am definitely not close to Zahtri, so he needs to knock it off.
I take a few steps to my right and watch as Zahtri takes a few steps to his left. We’re now moving in a circle. As long as he’s closer to the cliff’s edge…
Zahtri smiles at me before running straight at me. I’m not prepared for the sudden attack, so I don’t have time to move away. Zahtri’s movements are much quicker than any of the mages I’ve fought before. He barrels into me and knocks me to the ground again. My head instantly starts throbbing and my back aches from being slammed into the hard ground. He just had to choose a cliff, didn’t he? He couldn’t have chosen a soft grassy meadow?
Instantly, my magic shoots out of me and pushes Zahtri off of me. Look for weaknesses. That’s what Bragden taught me during our training sessions. My opponents are always going to be bigger than me, so I have to look for weaknesses. Zahtri stands up right as I bring my arms up. The liquid lightning shoots out of my palms and goes straight for his chest. With my hand out, I try to stand but dizziness overcomes me and I stumble to the side. He jumps to the side, but some of my magic hits him on the shoulder.