whump, whump, whump sounds overhead, cutting through the storm’s sheeting chorus.
A frisson of alarm streaks through me as we both look swiftly up, the sound like a more forceful, rhythmic thunder. My eyes meet Lukas’s in a flash of sudden, urgent concern as a succession of shrieks split the air.
Lukas and I move swifly toward our shelter’s opening, push away the cloak’s edge, and peer up into the rain.
My spark of alarm detonates as repeated flashes of lightning illuminate the sky to reveal a horde of Gardnerian military dragons tearing through the storm, just above the forest’s canopy.
Countless broken dragons, soaring relentlessly East.
“What does this mean?” I say after the gigantic horde finally seems to have passed.
“The Gardnerians have cut down all the Vu Trin,” Lukas gravely reasons, his lightning-lit eyes narrowed and his face slick with rain as he scans the sky. “Mage forces are likely massing near the Eastern Pass in preparation for an invasion of the Eastern Realm.”
The ramifications of this hit home with devastating force.
The Realm that holds almost everyone I love. The Realm that’s the only hope for thousands upon thousands of people.
I remember the stories Yvan told me of Gardnerian dragon horde attacks on Keltish villages. Children and families torn to shreds. Entire villages decimated. Horror takes hold of me as I imagine this nightmare visited down on the people of the Eastern Realm.
“I’ve caused this,” I rasp, my fire affinity rearing against Lukas’s shield with anguished force. “There’s now all-out war because of me. Thousands of people are going to see their lives destroyed. And I have no way of stopping it.”
Lukas shoots me an incredulous look then takes hold of my arm and guides me back into the shelter. He yanks his cloak back down over the shelter’s entrance.
“Elloren,” he says firmly, still holding my arm, “this war would have come to the Realms with or without you. Do you think Vogel would have left the Eastern Realm alone if you hadn’t come along?” His brow lifts in further incredulity. “No. He would have marched in and enslaved them. If he had his Black Witch, it would only have happened that much faster.” His gaze on me sharpens. “Right now, he’s likely bringing in Fifth Division trackers so they can locate our trail as soon as this storm passes. Mark my words. You’re the only significant threat that stands in Vogel’s way, and you will learn how to fight back. You’re potentially the deadliest weapon that both Realms have ever seen.”
The only weapon of the Prophecy left, I think with terrible clarity as an aching grief twists my heart. But I’m a weapon rendered useless by my lack of control over my magic, while Vogel’s dragon army bears down on my family and friends and countless innocents.
What if Vogel catches up to me before I gain any control over my magic?
“Vogel can’t find me,” I roughly insist, grabbing hold of Lukas’s hand. “If he does, he’ll force me East. He’ll turn me into a monster...”
Lukas eyes the hand I’m clutching him with, his brow tightening as he takes my wand hand into his, his fingers weaving through mine as his grip on me tightens. “Elloren,” he says, giving me an intense look as my magic cyclones through my lines and clamors against his shield, “you’ve got to get hold of your magic. You’re going to punch right through my shield. And if Vogel chooses to send out a search spell and happens to guess our direction correctly, you’ll bring about everything you fear.”
I struggle to do what he’s asking of me. To gain control of my magic and tighten my lines against it, but my affinity flame is whipping out in chaotic streaks too powerful to subdue. My mind circles into panic as my magic slashes fiery tears in Lukas’s shield and I rail against the nightmare I’m caught up in.
There’s a massive forest around me filled with trees that would strangle me with their limbs if they could and rip the affinity lines clear from my body. Beyond that, I have no truly safe place to train. Even the Eastern Realm is a danger to me. We’ll have to sneak in somehow, since the Vu Trin want me dead.
And the Wand in my stocking, the Mythical Force for Good, is no match for Vogel’s Shadow Wand.
It hides from Vogel’s Wand.
My heartbeat ratchets up as I face the full horror of the situation head-on. “I’m scared, Lukas,” I confess, my voice growing