I circled her, drawing the power of the earth to me until I fairly hummed with it. Her eyes flickered and the madness I’d seen in my father was reflected there. Mad. She was out of her mind from using Spirit the way she had; I knew it.
Cassava laughed. “Fool, just like your father. He thought he was strong enough to keep me in line. See him now as he grovels at my feet.”
Peta snarled and bared her teeth. “I am here, Lark. We do this together.”
She was right. Peta could stand with me, she was a part of me. Cactus made a move and I swung my spear to block him. “No. No matter what happens, do not step in.”
“Lark, do not—”
The ground under him bucked, and sent him flying across the throne room.
I whipped my spear around and pointed it at Cassava. She lifted her hands over her head in mock surrender, a smile on her lips. “Little Larkspur. I do believe it is time for you to be with your mother.”
Her words rang in my ears. With my mother. But not with Bramley? Her smile widened. “That’s right, half-breed. He lives. But not if you do not bow to me.”
CHAPTER 23
ies, she had to be lying. But it was Aria who snapped me out of the fog of Cassava’s words. “She will say anything to stay your hand, child of the earth. She knows you rival her power. Even while she holds the emerald.”
My training took over, my instincts and anger driving me. I leapt forward, as I held the spear over my head, snapping it down in a hard thrust toward Cassava’s heart.
She screamed, her face contorting as she flung a hand toward me. The lines of power were a brilliant, pulsing green as they wove around her arms and torso. I knew what she was going to do, but in midair I could not avoid the blow. A chunk of the mountain flew toward me, and slammed into my side. As it hit, I pulled the molecules of the rock apart, breaking it down into a fine dust and circumventing the full power of the impact.
Cassava’s eyes widened as I landed right in front of her, the powdered earth floating down around us. No more words. I was done talking.
I lunged at her, driving my spear toward her stomach. She spun backward and flicked her hands at the ground beneath me. Damn, she was fast. The other elementals I faced were slower in how they used their power. They called it up, I saw the intent in the power lines, and then I avoided what they tossed at me.
With Cassava, there was almost no time between her calling the power and what she threw at me. I didn’t know if it was the emerald or something else, and it didn’t matter.
The ground lurched up beneath me and I fought to smooth it out. Every step I took toward her, she diverted me. I finally dropped my spear. This was not going to be a fight where it would help me.
“Giving up?”
“Just getting started.”
We threw our power at one another, pushing back and forth, neither of us truly giving way. The balance between us was too close for either of us to truly get the upper hand. Sweat slid down my face and my legs shook as though I’d been running for miles.
The Eyrie broke apart piece by piece, walls and structures toppling as we tore and hurled the world around us.
Cassava’s hand wavered over her opposite arm, but she dropped it and flicked her fingers at me. The tile at my feet broke and the mountain seemed to reach up and take hold of my feet, pinning me in place.
I pushed the rock away from me, and stumbled to the side, ending up next to my father.
“Lark. The Namib Sand Sea,” Peta yelled.
She was right, I could use the same tactic here as I’d done on the sand. But I had to get my friends out of the way. “Shazer, fly!” I yelled. The horse gave a grunt followed by the sound of rushing wings.
Cassava laughed. “Still trying to save your friends? I’m going to hunt them down and kill them all, Lark. As soon as you’re dead.”
I moved to my father’s side and pressed my hands against the tile. I broke it apart so I could touch the ground underneath and truly feel the mountain. Within the Wretched Peaks lived intangible pathways that called to me; the elemental who’d created the Eyrie left them behind. I felt them under my hands, under my skin, and in my soul.
Like aqueducts brought water from the rivers, the energy channels that created the mountain and Eyrie flowed to me, and allowed me access to more power than I could ever reach on my own. The ground sucked my hands down in a welcoming embrace.
I felt the mountain sigh, as in relief. It is time.
Cassava laughed again, throwing her head back. “You need to touch the earth still to call it up? Goddess, you are weak.”
“Peta, Cactus. Stick close.”
I didn’t have to ask them twice. Peta was at my side in a flash and Cactus was right behind her, crouching with me. The mountain . . . I could feel it as though it were a living creature, breathing slowly. Exactly as my first visit had awakened me to the added power within this part of the earth, again I could feel it waiting for me to call on it.