Defiance Rising (31 page)

With a curt nod, Toren turns his back on me and races to Eamon’s side.
 
My best friend’s moans of agony shred my heart.
 

“I’ll be back for you,” Toren calls to Kyan before he vanishes.

Kyan looks up at me from his crouched position, wary but hopeful.
 
“Are you in control?”

“Barely.”
 
I grit my teeth as the whispers rise again.
 
“It’s too strong…”

“Fight back,” Kyan says, stepping closer.
 
“You are stronger than you think you are.”

I shake my head, feeling like I’ve just been sucked into a cyclone of my own making.
 
“You’re training isn’t working.
 
I’m still dangerous.”

Another step forward.
  
“It takes time, Illyria.”

“I don’t have time!”
 
A gust slams into Kyan’s chest, doubling him over as he gasps for breath.
 
“See?
 
I’m already losing control!”

“You do,” Kyan chokes out.
 
“This is your destiny.”

A snarl rips from my throat.
 
“You want me to destroy Bastien.
 
How is that some noble destiny?”

I thrust out my hands and pin Kyan to a tree.
 
He howls as flames rain down upon his arm, singing his shirt and the skin below.

“Illyria, no!”

I turn to find Toren facing off with me.
 
His condemning eyes burn with anger and resentment.
 
“Are you happy? You’re going to kill us all!”

Listen to him,
Kyan weakly calls to me.

I bend over, screeching as I yank at my hair.
 
Rasping laughter echoes through my mind as I’m mentally shoved aside.
 
My lips curl into a snarl and I leer at Kyan.
 
“Get out of my head!”

Toren dives for Kyan, rolling out of the way as sharp icicles hurl down at them from the sky, forcing them to retreat deeper into the burning forest.
 
The icicles shatter upon impact.

With a great gust of wind, I thrust up into the air, hovering over the thawing ground.
 
Lightning streaks across the darkened sky, darting from the clouds to set acres of forest on fire.
 
Smoke burns my nostrils as I rise higher.
 
Lifting my arms, I pull down rain from the heavens.
 
Swirling my arms about me, I create a nearly invisible barrier, shielding me from the elements.
 

Toren and Kyan huddle behind a tree, drenched by the torrential downpour I unleash upon them.
 

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I taunt, rising into the air to see them.

“What are we going to do?” I hear Toren ask, his teeth chattering from the frigid rain.
 
“We have to stop her.”

“We have to stop her,” I giggle obnoxiously.
 
“Kyan can’t save you, Toren.
 
No one can.”

I watch as Kyan’s jaw tightens with resolve.
 
He pushes off the tree with his one good arm and raises his hands in surrender.
 
“You want me?
 
Here I am.”

“So you are both brave and stupid,” I grin, hurling an ice spear at him.
 
It pierces his shoulder.
 
Kyan cries out, stumbling, but he rises up again despite Toren’s desperate pleas.
 
Trails of blood wash away from the wound in the deluge of water falling from the sky.

“You’re afraid of me.”

“Of course I am,” Kyan says, yanking the spear from his shoulder.
 
“You are far more powerful than I realized.”

I sneer down at him, sinking to hover ten feet in front of him. The trees about me explode, sending wooden shards into the air, pelting against my protective shield, but I am unaffected by their impact.
 
“You’re no different than the rest of them.
 
I know what you all think of me, what you say behind my back when you think I’m not listening.”

He ignores the sting of my words.
 
“Fight back, Illyria.
 
You are stronger than the Shadow.”

“No, she’s not,” a maniacal laugh erupts as I stretch my arms out to my sides.
 
Rain patters off the shifting force field.
 
It glows, pulsating with blinding white light.
 
“No one can control me.
 
No one can stop me.”

“I can.”

“Bastien?” I spin in mid-air, shocked to see him standing less than fifteen feet behind me.
 
He doesn’t shift his gaze toward Toren as he sneaks out from under the trees.
 
“Let her go.”

“No.”
 
I barely recognize the deep grating growl passing my lips.

He steps forward with confidence.
 
His eyes pierce through the shadow, straight to my soul.
 
The whispers shriek in my mind.
 
“Fight back, Illyria.”

“I can’t,” I weep as I can feel the Shadow’s grasp pierce deep into my mind, anchoring down for a fight.
 

Bastien’s steps are steady, untainted by fear.
 
“You have always been strong enough.
 
You just have to believe it.”

Tears stream freely down my cheeks as I fight to hold onto a shred of my sanity.
 
“You came back.”

Bastien nods.
 
“I came back for you.”

His words pierce through me like a flaming arrow, scorching the Shadow as it flees.
 
My body spasms as I wrench back control.
 
The bubble around me dissipates and my eyes roll back into my head as I plummet to the ground, unconscious.
  

Twenty-Six

An eerie calm greets me when I begin to rouse.
 
My head feels like a spear has been shoved right through my left eye so I remain motionless apart from breathing.
 
It feels better that way.

I can no longer hear the whipping winds or crashing of trees.
 
Warm sunlight beats down on me from above.
 
Everything appears to be back to normal.

“Illyria,” Bastien whispers in my ear.
 
“Can you hear me?”

“Give him room, Bastien.”
 
Toren’s voice is tense, edged with anger.

I feel Kyan’s chilled hands press against my temples and warmth rushes through my body.
 
My fingers and toes tingle and the headache recedes, but I keep the mental block firmly fixed in my mind so Kyan can’t pry further should he so choose.

“She will be fine.
 
Her mind appears to have gone into some sort of lockdown,” Kyan replies.
 
“I think I might be able to get around it.”

Toren shifts beside me.
 
“Are you sure you want to do that?”

Bastien whirls around.
 
“Are you serious?”

“Yeah I am,” Toren snaps back.
 
“You weren’t here for the whole show, Bastien.
 
She completely lost it, no thanks to you.”

“It wasn’t her,” Bastien insisted.
 

“Maybe not, but what happens the next time you decide to leave?
 
Imagine what would’ve happened if she’d been at the camp,” Toren said, waving his arms around at the destruction.

Bastien hangs his head and his voice drops to barely above a strained whisper.
 
“I won’t leave her again.”

“Someday you will have to,” Kyan reminds him.

“I won’t leave unless she’s ready to say goodbye,” Bastien amends.
 

“And you think she will be?” Kyan asks, cocking his head to the side.

“Yes.
 
I know Illyria.
 
She’ll do whatever it takes to save her friends, even if that means marrying that King.”

“And will you let her go?”

Bastien gulps loudly before answering.
 
“I wouldn’t love her if she did anything else.
 
She was destined to save our people.
 
I don’t have a choice.
 
I have to let her go.”

Kyan clasps Bastien on the arm.
 
“You know what it means to truly love her,” he says proudly.
 
“I’m just sorry you both have to sacrifice so much.”

“I’m doing it for her.”

“She knows that,” Kyan assures him.
 

“How do you know?”

“Because she’s been listening to every word you said.”

Bastien rears back, staring down at me in amazement as he notices my open eyes for the first time.
 
“Oh, thank god!”

He pulls me into his arms, cradling me to his chest.
 
I sink into his embrace, wishing this moment could last forever.

Kyan rises to his feet, tugging Toren back.
 
“Let’s give them some time.
 
I need to patch Eamon up anyways.”

A gust of wind buffets against Bastien and me but we hardly notice.
 
I lay there, silently wrapped in his arms for a long time.

I sit up, wiping away my tears.
 
“I’m sorry about what happened.
 
I didn’t…you know I’d never…”

“I know,” he soothes, pulling my hands into his lap.
 
“I shouldn’t have left like that.
 
I was hurting, angry.
 
I needed to sort things out, but I didn’t go far.”
 

He rubs his hands along my arms, caressing me with a tenderness I still find completely unexpected from him.
 
“How did you know to come back?”

Bastien points to sky above.
 
“I don’t remember thunderstorms being a part of today’s weather forecast.”

I laugh and shake my head.
 
“Why is it you can always make me smile when I should be groveling for everyone’s forgiveness?”

He leans in close.
 
“Because I know you.
 
The good within you will win out in the end.”

“And until then?”
 
I press.

He grins and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.
 
“Kyan might need to smuggle out some of those hard hats they use on the building site in the City.”

His hand cups my face, his eyes captivating me.
 
Never before have I known what it meant when my mother said the window to a person’s soul is through their eyes, but now I do.
 
Staring at Bastien, I can see nothing but love in its purest form.
 
He doesn’t want to change me.

“You are the Shadow Walker.
 
It is a part of you, Illyria.”
 
He brushes his thumb along my cheek and I lean into his touch.
 
“I could never truly love you unless I accepted every bit of you.”

“But look what I did…”