The gaping voids where their eyes should have been were like endless pits, darker than the night sky that loomed above. Putrid black liquid seeped from these empty sockets, yet somehow, the creatures could still navigate the forest around them. Their mouths were jagged gashes torn across their faces, needle-like teeth protruding from uneven lines. I couldn’t help but imagine the terror of having flesh torn by those razor-sharp points. The only remotely normal feature they possessed were their pointed, onyx-colored ears-the ears of the Fae. But these were no ordinary Fae.
In that moment, the certainty of death settled over me. Leonardo and Andrea would never know what happened to me. There would be no remains, no trace of me left behind in this world. My immortal life would flash out like a tiny, insignificant spark, snuffed out horrifically by these nightmarish creatures. The pain, the terror-they would make sure my end was anything but peaceful.
Reaching out to the earth felt useless, not when that ancient presence was already hunting me, lurking below the surface. Instead, I searched for the sun’s warmth-the same heat that had saved me before. It was night, so the warmth was faint, but it was still there, a distant lifeline. Yet, just as quickly as that warmth came, it vanished, smothered by a biting cold that crept from my wrist down my arm, leaving a chill that felt almost malicious.
“We can’t shift either. Whatever those things are, they’re draining the magic away,” Blue whispered, fear clear in her voice. She was my rock, my unbreakable spirit, and if she was shaken… it could only mean something was very, very wrong.
A shiver overtook me as I noticed frost beginning to form on the hem of my tunic, spreading along my fingers and toes. I could see my breath misting in the air as the cold settled in, not just from the creatures, but from something else. Just as the realization struck, everything around us exploded into chaos.
A gust of wind, colder than anything I’d ever felt, swept across the clearing, smacking the creatures in the back. The frost crawled up my legs, but it didn’t stop there-it latched onto the creatures as well, freezing their tar-like skin in patches. If I had to sacrifice a toe or two to escape these horrors, it was well worth it. Hope surged in my chest, fragile yet blazing, as my eyes searched the trees for the source of this freezing power.
A flash of chocolate-brown hair appeared, darting between the trees, and my heart leapt with a wild beat of hope. The bitter, putrid smell and the monsters around me faded momentarily as that hope grew.
Suddenly, a blinding cold burst shot through the clearing. Frost coated the earth, and shards of ice erupted from the ground, slicing through the creatures, dark blood spraying into the air as they shrieked. The creature’s clawed hand slipped from my wrist, and in its absence, I felt something sinister release its grip on my soul.
A scream ripped from my throat, but this time, it wasn’t one of fear-it was one of defiance, of rage. These creatures had nearly cost me my life, my hope, my chance to return to those I loved. This wasn’t how I would die, not in this godforsaken forest.
The fury within me surged, and before I even realized it, my magic called out to fire, powerful and reckless. Emiliano had warned me how dangerous it was to let emotion control magic, like throwing a live grenade with no idea where it might land. But I didn’t care. I would burn these creatures down to ash.
The air grew hotter, thick with humidity as sweat trickled down my neck. The frost that coated my body melted, evaporating in a rush of steam. My scream became a roar as heat pulsed from me, igniting the clearing with a searing brightness that turned night into day. Rays of green, white, and red flared from my body, filling the forest with the blistering crackle of pure flame. I was no longer just Isabella, no longer just Fae or shifter-I was raw, living fire, a ball of light and heat fueled by fury and desperation.
I lay flat against the earth, listening to the creatures’ shrieks of pain, the putrid smell of burning flesh thick in the air. As their screams faded and the fire died down, the sky returned to darkness, revealing the stars and the cool, gleaming moons. The power in my veins ebbed, leaving me empty, raw.
It was an extraordinary feeling to wield such power, but the pain that followed was excruciating. I felt like I had been wrung dry, my body as parched as sand under a merciless sun. Light flickered before my eyes, dancing above me, blinding spots like I’d stared into the sun. My skin steamed in the night air, and I wondered vaguely if I was burned, if my skin bore the raw, red patches of sunburn.
My body felt too heavy to move, every muscle leaden with exhaustion. But then I heard soft footsteps approaching, and my heart raced anew. That hint of chocolate hair came into view, and I held my breath, hope flickering once again.
Those eyes… a clear, pale gray, like rain on a cloudless day. Gentle, calm, as though unburdened by the harshness of the world.
The face before me was almost exactly like Leonardo’s-full lips, a strong nose. But it wasn’t him standing there. I realized in a daze that this was his kin, perhaps his sister, cousin… or maybe even his mother.