A Dark Inheritance by Todd Herzman

Author:Todd Herzman [Herzman, Todd]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-29T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 41

Ella

Ella watched as the Serpentine burned.

‘Reena!’ She sprang forward, ready to run down the beach and scream from the shore.

Aralia’s hand shot out to stop her. ‘Steady yourself. The enemy is on the beach.’ Aralia looked to the left of them. Three men stood on the sand. One carried a bow, another a long chain with a blade at its end. The last stood impassive in the middle, a mute look of boredom on his face.

The blood mage. Ella felt the power emanating from him, felt the strength. It was darker than what she’d felt before.

The first man raised his bow. Aralia stomped her foot forward and snapped out her hands. A crack of lightning hit just above the man’s head—he was protected, like the other thralls had been.

He fired off a shot.

Ella moved instinctively, raising her hands in defence she jumped in front of Aralia. Ella crossed her arms in front of her, palms facing inward as if she were blocking a kick. A burst of flame shot forth—from her arms this time, not her palms.

The arrow’s shaft burned away before it could reach its target, and all that was left was the arrowhead, which fell to the sand.

The bowman didn’t waste time watching where his arrow fell, he already had the next one nocked. The other man sprinted forward, his chain rattling in the air as he spun it overhead, the blade whistling in an arc.

A bolt of lightning cracked at the bowman, striking uselessly.

Ella’s focus shifted to the man with the chain closing in fast. She stepped forward as Aralia had, letting her lead foot drop and thrusting her arms at the chain-wielder. Sparks and flames shot out, contacting the man’s defensive layer of magic.

Lightning struck twice more, and in her peripheral vision Ella saw the bowman collapse just as something whistled by. Aralia gasped behind her. Ella spun around. The witch clutched her side. The arrow stuck through her waist and out her back. Aralia fell to her knees as Ella rushed to her.

‘Leave me!’ the witch screamed through pained breaths.

Steps thudded from behind. A chain rattled. Ella dived to the side. The man’s three-pointed blade sunk into the sand where she’d just been. Ella sprang back up as the man swung his chain again.

The blood mage stood in the background. It had taken two bolts of Aralia’s lightning to get through the shield the blood mage used to protect his thralls, and another bolt to down them—Ella had hit the chain-blade man once already.

She reached inside, begging for light, and light emerged from her outstretched palm. Her powers came more naturally now, almost instinctively. The fear, the adrenaline—the anger. It made her volatile—her powers wanted to come out.

The man’s eyes closed, his steps faltered. Ella called fire next. She heard Aralia’s groans of pain but forced herself not to look as she brought the flames forth, commanding them to engulf her attacker.

The flames hit the protective layer. The man was still blinded by the light she’d sent—whatever magic the blood mage used didn’t seem to protect the man’s eyes.

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