Reaching Retribution(92)

“Am I afraid to lose? Is that what you’re asking me?” Dravin takes another step forward. Neither Liam nor I have magic that can be used as a weapon. Dravin does. We have strength and training and I intend to use all of that against Dravin tonight. This has to stop. All this madness has to end.

“Are you afraid to go against us? Is the strong, ruthless, Gadramick leader afraid to go up against two ordinary mages?”

Dravin throws his head back and laughs. I glance over at Liam, who gives me a similar look. We’re walking on thin ice right now. Instigation can go one of two ways. It can anger him enough to get him to react sloppily—to attack without thinking, giving us the advantage—or it can anger him enough to attack even more ruthlessly than he would have before. It could motivate him further, giving him the advantage over us. With Dravin, I’m not sure which way it’ll go. We’ll find out soon enough though.

This is the man who put a dagger into my side because Ryanne wouldn’t tell him what her powers were. That feels like so long ago. Dravin knocked Ryanne out with dormirako and took Liam and me in as prisoners when we went to rescue her. This is the man who killed me.

One good thing did come out of that incident though. I was finally able to tell Ryanne that she was my soulmate. I had been battling with how and when to tell her. She had so much on her plate already that I didn’t want to drop another bomb on her, but I knew she’d be mad if I kept it to myself for too much longer.

Ryanne passed out from exhaustion shortly after healing me. I remember the look on her face when she woke up and saw me alive. There was so much pain in her expression because she was seeing me getting stabbed all over again. I don’t want to be the reason for putting that pain back into her beautiful eyes. We have to win this.

Will the prophecy still be fulfilled if we lose? Will all this be for nothing if we lose?

Liam and I have fought against each other many times during training, but we’ve never fought together. However, you can’t be around someone as often as we have and not know how that person fights. Liam and I understand each other and we’re working toward a common goal. We can do this. Natalie kept telling me to have faith, and now I finally do.

I have faith we can accomplish this. We can all make it out of this alive.

I face Dravin one last time.

This has to end now.

Without looking back, I brandish my sword and take a step forward, meeting Dravin. It’s now or never, and I’m choosing now. Dravin pulls his sword out and deflects my attempt.

“You’re going to have to do a little better than that if you want to stop me.”

“Oh, we will,” Liam says he joins me.

“You know this isn’t really a fair fight,” Dravin says as he glances between the two of us. He doesn’t look scared and I know that he’s not. He still thinks he’s going to come out of this situation victorious. He’s too cocky, and hopefully that’ll get him in trouble.

“Who said anything about a fair fight?”





Chapter Twenty-Nine


Zahtri runs toward me without magic. Little does he know that all of the guys have done this to me during our training sessions, so I’m prepared. I wait until he is right in front of me and then I flip to the side while pushing my magic around me. If Zahtri tries to touch me, it’ll shock him. I have my own defense mechanism. I smile as I start to feel more confident in this fight.

I was given these powers for this moment. Zahtri never came into his magic. His powers aren’t real; they were produced. I can defeat him. When I died, I had to admit to my mom that I believed I could someday be strong enough to do this. Well someday is here, and I feel strong enough. I can do this. I have been captured many times. I’ve been beaten and broken, and I’m still here. I’m still standing. I came back from all of it and didn’t let it affect me. In fact, all those instances just helped me prepare for this. Dravin may have helped me. I’m stronger now than I’ve ever been. I’m not going to give up. I’m not going to sacrifice myself. Larkin was right about that. Sacrificing myself won’t help anything.

My soulmate and protector are over there fighting for the life after this. Fighting for what comes next, and I need to do the same thing. My life has barely begun. I don’t want to die before I reach the middle of my story. I don’t want to close the book, because I don’t want this ending. This is just a chapter in my story. Just a chapter; not a conclusion. Definitely not a conclusion.

Zahtri has my complete attention right now. He turns and attempts to punch me, but I throw up my arm to deflect his blow. He’s about Bragden’s size, and I’ve fought and won against Bragden before. I can do this now; I know I can. I swing my leg out and kick him in the chest, but he thwarts my action by grabbing onto my leg and throwing me across the field. He winces when his hands connect with my skin, but he doesn’t let that deter him. Twisting my body mid-air, I land on my feet and run forward without pause.