Trial by Fae (Dragon's Gift The Dark Fae #1) - Linsey Hall Page 0,47
me to see if the island was close.
Shit.
Miles away yet, and I was losing ground.
And there was no way I could keep up this speed with Tarron blasting me with wind.
I scowled at him and shouted, “You’re a bastard.”
It was personal now. Normally I’d just kick ass, but if I was wasting time slinging insults, it meant I was pissed.
Should I hit him with a potion bomb?
But he was the king. Would he disqualify me? Could he?
He’d killed his own brother, so yeah, anything was possible.
No, there were other ways to do this. Surreptitiously, I sliced my thumb with my fingernail. Blood welled and pain smarted. He already knew what I was, but I still wanted to be subtle, just in case the audience was watching. I needed just a little bit of new magic, just a little bit of an advantage…
I called upon my Dragon Blood, envisioning the power of water. The ocean surged around us, and I focused on it. Soon, I could feel it beneath the boat. Feel the force and power of it. I commanded it to push my boat ahead.
The vessel jumped forward. It fought against Tarron’s howling gale, and I poured more magic into it. The boat won out, pushing through the water. I pulled into the lead again, gaining by several yards. Then a dozen.
The fire mage shouted, irritation in his cry. He raised a hand and shot a fireball right at me.
“Shit!” I hurled the oars into the boat and called upon a shield from the ether, lunging it in front of the fireball before it smashed into the bow. The force of the blow shook my arms, and I shuddered.
I couldn’t row and defend at the same time, so I used my magic to propel the boat forward. It took so much power that my strength began to flag, but I pushed on.
The fire mage continued to throw his blasts in between strokes of his oars. He nearly hit me a half dozen times, but I was quick with my shield. Every time the fire slammed into it, my arms shook. I gritted my teeth.
At one point, Tarron blasted him with wind as well, trying to force him back.
Because the mage had to contend with the Tarron’s howling wind, Luna pulled into the lead ahead of him.
I was barely able to keep my lead, and by the time I neared the shore, my magic was nearly tapped out. When my little boat finally surged up onto the beach, I jumped out without a backward glance. Luna and Tarron were only seconds behind, with the fire mage close after.
I sprinted up the beach and past the dunes, reaching a massive field. There was only one thing on the island—a grove of trees, right in the middle. My seeker sense dragged me toward it. I tried to transport, but a spell blocked me. So I ran for it, pushing myself as hard as I could.
Tarron reached my side and kept up easily. I pushed myself hard, sprinting as fast as I could. I looked back and spotted Luna. The Fae was fast, and she did have wings. Beautiful blue ones that carried her swiftly through the sky.
Shit.
She was catching up too. I sucked a breath into my burning lungs and ran faster, headed for the grove of trees. Rowan trees, just like the seer had said.
I reached the tree line just as Tarron and Luna did. She landed and ran in alongside us. I dodged trunks and leapt over fallen limbs, heading for the powerful magic that I could feel within the glen. It pulled at me, beckoning me nearer.
On foot, I was faster than Luna, taking the lead. Tarron kept up without trouble, which irritated the hell out of me. He tried to trip me twice, but I was too quick, leaping over the roots that he forced out of the ground. Finally, we spilled out into a huge clearing bordered on all sides by more rowan trees.
In the middle of the clearing stood the biggest tree I’d ever seen. The ones in the Fae realm were huge, of course, but they were taller than they were wide. This was a rowan tree that had to be hundreds of feet tall and wide.
The magic was coming from it, though I had no idea what to do.
Then the earth beneath my feet began to shake. I stumbled, grabbing onto a tree limb for support. The earth around the huge rowan broke apart, and