Relinquish(10)

I order you to wait for us. My mentor Kyan’s voice breaks into my thoughts.

I grit my teeth. I’m trying to concentrate.

You can’t win this battle, Illyria. He is far too strong.

I swipe the clumps of hair from my face, blinking back the streams of water that pour down my face, and glare at Vikesh as he shifts, crouching low as if he might pounce at me any second. I can do this.

You are not ready. You overestimate your abilities.

Anger and resentment swirl through my chest, making the energy rippling along the length of my body visibly spark. And you underestimate how ticked off I am!

I sever the connection and shove Kyan firmly from my mind, making sure he takes the hint. I don’t need him. This time the fight is between Vikesh and me. Only one of us is walking away and I have no intention of losing a second time.

“I like you, despite your puny size and offensive tongue. You are a strong woman, foolish and bullheaded, but strong. We could make a great pair.”

“Sorry.” I crouch low, never leaving his gaze. “I’m already taken.”

“A pity.” His grin is truly gruesome when his lips peel back to reveal teeth the color of honey with pockmarked black stains between. “I could have had a lot of fun with you, but then again, perhaps your goodies have already been plucked by that boy…” He mockingly taps his finger against his chin. “Bastien, was it?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” I can feel the vibrations begin in my chest the instant I hear Bastien’s name and I try to regain my composure.

Vikesh grins, closing his eyes for a moment. “I can feel that I have struck a nerve. Good. I’ve been aching for a decent fight.”

The winds begin to whip about me, tugging at my water-drenched clothes. A chill settles over me as my teeth begin to chatter from the cold. The veil of grey dotting out the stars overhead begins to shift, mounting upon themselves into thunderous storm clouds. Vivid white lightning forks across the sky.

Vikesh opens his eyes and cranes his neck back. “Is he here? The boy who turned you down?”

The energy rippling through my fingers increases into such a frantic rhythm that it makes my bones ache from trembling.

“No, of course not.” Vikesh leers at me. “I hear he’s forgotten all about you now.”

“Enough,” I growl, lifting my hands overhead.

“Illyria!” The cry fights to pierce through the rising winds. I turn and look back over my shoulder to see Kyan and Eamon arrive at the far end of the barren yard. Eamon’s brow has been cut open and blood pours from the wound. A bandage has been wrapped around his thigh but has already begun to seep through. He leans heavily upon Kyan, who looks only slightly less damaged. I can't see Toren anywhere.

“Stay out of this,” I shout and wave one hand back toward them to push them into the shadows, but it is too late. Vikesh’s attention has shifted toward my friends.

“This is between you and me, Vikesh!”

“Is it? Oh, you would like that, wouldn’t you?” His eyes appear to glow from within as he turns his head. “Can you hear it? The music of their heartbeats?”

Sheer terror grips me as Eamon limps forward, shrugging off Kyan’s grasp. I dive without thinking, waiting for the splintering pain that will seize my shoulder when I slam into Vikesh’s midsection, but it never comes. Vikesh dematerializes and I collapse to the ground in a bruised heap.

“Illyria!”

I press my palms into the soil and push myself up to my feet. I don’t have to look to know what I will find, but when I do, my stomach gives way.

“He seems awful taken with you. Is this the other one? The one you settled for when Bastien cast you aside?” Vikesh holds Eamon by the neck several feet off the ground. He stands on the opposite side of the sinkhole, nearly thirty feet from where Eamon was only a moment ago. How did he move so quickly?

Eamon flails, kicking out at Vikesh, but the giant hardly pays him any attention. Static electricity ripples in the air around me, lifting wisps of hair from my shoulders as hatred pools in my belly. I will kill him for this, I silently vow.

“Eamon, don’t move.” His eyes widen with fright as a fork of lightning spears down from the clouds. Vikesh’s mouth gapes open in horror as he tosses Eamon aside and throws out his hands, grappling for control of the bolt.

Get him out of here! I scream at Kyan as I step forward, pressing with all my might against Vikesh’s strong hold. I can feel him attempting to disintegrate the lightning by rearranging the currents. Already, sparks of fire ricochet off the bolt and sizzle as they sear the metal of the bunker.

I don’t have time to see if Kyan is following my order as I take another step, biting down on my lower lip until my teeth pierce my flesh and blood pools along my gums. I jerk my head to the side as Vikesh sends a spark my way. A narrow miss.