The control Kyan has as he also launches his magic with a subtle flick of his fingertips. As fearful as I am at the moment, this is a sight to be seen, something spectacular to witness as well as terrifying. My heart hammers in my chest.
Everything feels like it moves in slow motion. Darkness meets light, and I gasp as the two collide in an explosion of power. Eziah is blasted backward. His body flies past me, and I cup my mouth in shock as I watch my brother fling back, smashing into a tree.
He growls, getting to his feet, and I try to escape Jonah, who doesn’t let go. I elbow him in the stomach, making him grunt and race toward them. Both Eziah and Kyan lift their hands to attack, and I scream, holding my hands up and running between them.
Fear of Kyan getting hurt, fear of Eziah underestimating Kyan. Eziah runs at me while Kyan looks more like he is taking a casual stroll in the park, unperturbed by Eziah’s wrath. He holds no fear.
Eziah is blinded by his anger, flings his magic at Kyan and Kyan screams at me. The sound echoes in my ears. “Ella, move!” he screams, and I glance at him before turning to see the blinding light headed straight toward me.
The next moment, I am tackled. The air is knocked out from my lungs when Kyan gasps, and pain shreds through me.
I look down at my body in search of any injuries, but I’m unharmed; it is Kyan that took the blow of power. His arms wrap around me as he spins. His back arches and he lets out a menacing roar. Only to notice when he straightens up, his eyes are pitch black and demonic-looking, as he looks at me, making a shiver run down my spine.
When he is hit again by Eziah’s magic, he jolts against me, his pain bleeding into me, yet he still doesn’t move. Next moment Kora shoves forward, tossing him away when the next blast of power hits me instead. We take the brunt of it, and I feel like my entire body catches on fire. I groan in pain. Eziah falters as I hit the ground. The energy ripples through me like a slow pulse, morphing and burning the darkness that taints me.
However, Eziah’s out of control. He is consumed by his own power as he raises his hands once again. He charges at Kyan, who is getting to his feet. I see Jonah go to tackle Eziah, coming up behind him. Eziah flicks out his hand. I scream, throwing my hands out in panic when energy bursts from me.
Tossing everyone and everything within fifty meters of us back. I had no intention of doing that, and I’m shocked by the power that surges from me. Eziah and Jonah are launched backward, along with everyone watching. It is at this moment that a cold trickling sensation rolls over me. The darkness seizes me. The cold tickle of it slivers over and through my veins.
“Mara, let it go, let go!” Kora screams at me, and I laugh as the tickling sensation washes over me.
I notice Kyan, out of the corner of my eye, reaching out to me, being the only person remaining near, the only one untouched by the power of my darkness. Everyone regathers themselves, picking themselves up off the ground. Kyan crouches beside me, gently talking to me.
I giggle, a shiver runs up my spine, and my vision darkens. “Ella, focus on my voice,” Kyan whispers. All I can focus on is the orbs surrounding me, lending me their energy. So many of them, and my eyes go wide as I glance at them.
This feels so amazing. I feel anything but weak. The power is seductively enticing, offering to fix everything when shadows start seeping out of my fingertips. I giggle, watching them sliver across the ground like tendrils.
Kyan is talking to me, and my imaginary friend’s voice is behind my ear, but I pay no attention, absorbed by the pleasurable feeling of the orb’s energy fueling me. I feel invisible, powerful, and oh-so strong. My magic is sweet and addictive.
The surrounding shadows grow more extensive, taking humanoid shapes, and their whispers grow stronger. Telling me to give in to them, whispering sweet nothings, but also whispering the secrets of their pasts. A golden hue in the distance catches my attention before feeling the ripple of its energy, so much weaker, unguided, and tired.
Kyan steps closer when I feel his dark delicious aura wash over me. “Give it to me, Ella,” I laugh. Give him what? What could I give him? His words make no sense when I see the golden light. It is headed in his direction, and I snarl, tossing my hands up, the shadows exploding from me. Kyan yells, tackling me to the ground. His weight is crushing, and it enrages the darkness.
Kyan
I have never seen anything like it. Only Kaif can contain the shadows like that, manipulate them. Yet here Marabella is yielding them like they can’t touch her, like they don’t possess the power to end the world. Her eyes are a demonic black, and the shadows caress over her the same way they do me. But I keep mine contained. Only Kaif could safely use and manipulate them. Eziah, despite his power being infinite, is also subdued by her. One thing about power is that it is addictive.
Unless trained and aware of what you contain, it can quickly take control of the holder. Which is exactly what is happening when he turns his anger on me again.
Marabella notices it and turns. Her mouth opens, and she screams. The shadows erupt from her as she unleashes them. The shadows of my ancestor’s magic, of Hades’s magic, erupt from her, and I tackle her.
Her back hits the ground. I land on top of her and I slam my palms down on either side of her head.
“Slazic Enuntoo,” I grit out when Eziah’s power suddenly engulfs us, yet doesn’t touch us.
The shadows become trapped in the force field I have created, stopping them from escaping and reawakening the dead. The shadows are unnatural and capable of wreaking havoc on earth. She has no idea what she has just unleashed, and if I can’t get her to pull them back in, she could kill us all.
Marabella laughs as the darkness of my family’s power tickles her. Her body writhes beneath mine. My shield is blasted by a powerful force, gold engulfs us overhead but doesn’t touch us, while the dome of my shield is becoming engulfed in the shadows as they consume it, wanting to be let out.