Xander POV
The stone is cold beneath my boots, it’s become wet with the water from the fight. I keep my back pressed to the damp wall, staying furtdan junt Bayard the archway. I don’t move, hell, I barely even breathe to be fair. All my focus is on Serafine.
She’s still standing, well… barely, anyway. She’s stubborn, though, so I can’t get involved yet. Her shoulders are fight with strain, and her body is tit faintly by an unsteady glow from the threads.
Every spell that she throws at Gideon takes something from her, and I can see it in the way her arms tremble, and how her steps falter, her logs shaking slightly. She’s hurting, yet she refuses to stop. She’s stubborn, strong.. but stubborn.
Killian shifts his weight behind me, and I can tell he’s unable to stay still. His hands are resting on the blade, and his stance is tense and waiting.
“I think we should go in,” he mutters quietly before watching me and waiting. “She’s not going to hold him off much longer, and you know it. Aander”
I don’t bother looking at him, I can’t anyway, I have to watch her, everything in me wants to agree, but I can’t. “Not yet,” I reply.
Killian scoffs, clearly frustrated, so am I, but I have to respect her wishes. “She’s bleeding, Xander. Gods sake, she’s exhausted and if we don’t do something soon-”
“She asked me to trust her, Xander,” I interrupt. My voice is low but steady. I’m already feeling bad, I don’t need him adding to it. “She said this is something only she can do. I’m not going to take that away from her.”
“And what if she can’t?” he asks.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I don’t try to stop the way that question cuts me deeply.
“Then, I’ll be the one who pulls her out of it,” I answer. “But not until I know she needs me, not until she knows I believe she can do it.”
I hate that, I hate that she’s getting hurt, but she hasn’t lost all control. I don’t want her to, I want her to win this, but at the same time, her losing all control means I have a reason to step in and help.
Opening my eyes, I look through the darkness and see her. I watch as she draws on her magic, and the air wraps around her, flickering with fire, water and wind. She looks amazing, I can see her threads woven into it, shocking bright against the darkest, and wierdly, it looks like they are dancing.
She’s using everything and yet, she’s still losing. How is she still losing?
Gideon doesn’t seem tired, he’s absorbing it all, everything that she throws at him. He simply twist it, devours it and send it back sharper and harder. Every spell that she casts seems to feed him more power.
I watch struggle again, a scream escaping her lips as she fights to control the magic, Come on, Serafine, find the strength!
Gideon’s voice cuts through my focus, it’s smooth and mocking. “Say goodnight, Serafine.”
My body turns to ice, I don’t need to wait to know what he means, I already know what that means. I charge into the room without a thought, my boots skidding across the broken stone. Light and heat flare against my skin as I race forward. I see her, eyes widening as the magic rushes toward her too fast before she can do anything. I see her trying to react, but she doesn’t have time.
I throw myself between them, my hands grasp her shoulders, and I shove her out of the way before it hits her. The magic hits me full force in my chest, and it slams through me so hard I can’t breathe./
Pain rips through my body, white–hot and blinding. I feel myself lifted off the floor, and thrown backward so hard that I feel my spine twist mid–air. For a moment, I feel weightless and suspended, but I know if I hit he wall, I’m not surviving, not from this force.
Suddenly, everything slows, and a warmth curls around me, soft and strong. Threads of light weave through the air, catching me before I can crash. I hover for a heartbeat before I realize it’s her. Even barely conscious, she’s managed to find the energy to use her magic and catch me.
1/3
Chapter 148
1 land far mere gentler than I should have. Everything still hurts, my body seresses in protest as troll over ons ny tide and push mysalt ng
“Killian!” I shout, my voice raw and breaking from the pain. “bot”
There’s a blur of movement behind me, and Killian rushes in with the guards. Their weapons are drawn, despite me saying they can’t damage t threads! If they do, it destroys someone’s land.
They fan out quickly, and surround Gideon and I hear the blades unsheathed, and a murmur of voices.
Gideon begins to turn, and lifts his hand. Threads flare around him, and fire bursts from his fingertips in a wide are. It rolls toward then like a living beast.
The heat surges across the room, and the first wave hits them like a wall. The guards dive for cover, some use shields, and I grabs Serafine Dragging Bey behind a fractured pillar, I curl my body around hers as the fire crashes overhead.
The air is now thick with smoke and the shouts of my guards. This isn’t good, it’s almost impossible to do anything if he’s throwing fire at us
Gideon steps through it like he is god and is immune to it; his eyes burn, and the threads shimmer around him. Everything that Serafine did hasn’t helped to weaken him. It’s like he was just wasting time and mocking her attempts.
We need another plan, and Serafine doing it all alone isn’t working. I don’t care what she says, she has to accept help.
The fire continues to curl across the floor, it’s like it’s alive, my guards are forced to hide behind pillars. They are shouting orders and trying to regroup.
The smile is thickening so much that it’s burning the back of my throat.
I keep my arm around Serafine, shielding her, and waiting for her to catch her breath. Her chest is rising and falling in quick succession, and I hold her tighter. She’s drained, and her threads are flickering. She’s not stopping, even I can tell she won’t give up until either her or Gideon is dead
I shift slightly, and brush her hair back so i can look into her eyes.
“What needs to be done?” I ask, voice low but firm. “Tell me what we have to do to end this.”
Breathing in deeply she looks at me. “The threads,” she whispers. “They’re the source of his strength. They’re connected to him, Xander, and rooted deep. As long as they are still connected, they will follow his command, that’s how he keeps getting more magic.”
Nodding slowly, I process what she’s saying. “So, what you’re saying is, if we get them free…”
“It severs him,” she says. ” It breaks his hold. But we can’t damage the threads. They’re connected to the land, to the crops, to everything. If we cut them
Sighing, I nod. That makes it harder. “We kill more than him,” I finish for her. I know what she’s saying, those dead crops, their threads are here,
connected to Gideon.
Nodding once, she speaks again, her voice hoarse, “They have to be pulled, separated from him carefully.”
Okay, I need a plan. I look past the pillar. Gideon is pacing now, moving slowly as his magic coils around him. He doesn’t even look tired, if anything, he looks stronger. It’s like he was taking in her magic and strengthening himself with it.
Lifting my hand, I signal to Killian, who is crouched behind a fractured stone bench at the far end of the chamber. He sees the motion instantly and rushes toward us. As soon as he moves, Gideon’s fire lashes out again. Killian dodges it by mere inches, and rolls across the stone before landing beside
- us.
“So, do we have a plan?” he asks, breathlessly.
I do, and all we can do is hope it works. “We split the guards. We need to teams,” I tell him quickly. “One team distracts him and keeps attacking him, but they cannot hit the threads, Killian,” I warn, and he nods.
“Already made them aware, the threads aren’t to be damaged.”
Of course, he has. “Good, the second team focuses on pulling them free. If we can tear him loose from the magic, he loses everything.”
2/3
08.39
FM, 27 Jun
Jun – B
86%
Chapter 148.
Killian gives a short nod. “Okay, got it.” He glances at Serafine. “I’m guessing that won’t be easy?” he asks.
She stares at him like he’s lost it.
“Nothing about this is easy, Killian,” I say.
Smirking, he nods and then he’s gone again, moving back through the smoke and shouting for the others. I know they are regrouping and he’s sorting out what they are doing. Now I need to sort out Serafine.
I watch as the guards come out, some fighting against him, trying to avoid the threads and his fire, while others try to sneak up to him to get hold of the threads.
I feel Serafine’s gaze on me, sharp and searching. “What are you doing?” she asks quietly.
Meeting her eyes, I wink. “You said I can connect to your magic, right? That we’re tied to each other now.”
“Yes, but-”
“No, just listen,” I say. “Let’s see what two of us can do together.”
She opens her mouth, and I cover it with my hand.
“You’re not doing this alone, not anymore, Serafine.”
Hesitating for a moment, she watches me, then after a second, she nods. I can see the fire burning behind her eyes, and I relax. Finally, she’s ready to let someone else help her as well.
Together, we step back out into the open and walk into this storm unsure if we will survive or not.
3/3
