Page 44 of Up In Flames
Luckily, I wasn't very good at it.
I tried the spell a few times, but each attempt only made the man stagger, not die. I grew frustrated.
“Why can't I kill him?!” I screeched. “I'm competent with Death Magic.”
“You are competent with aversionof Death Magic,” Death said. “I never fully revealed it to you.”
“What?” I growled. “Then what did I move that tree with? What did I use to sense the heartbeat of that bird?”
“The tree was moved with Earth Magic and you sensed the bird through Spirit,” Death said. “Your power to combine magic allowed me to give you a mere touch of Death so that it would alter the elements slightly. More importantly, it openedyou to me without scaring you with the coldness of my magic. Every spell you cast made you more vulnerable to me.”
“But you still needed my permission to take control,” I said.
“Will is the greatest power of all. I wore you down until your willpower wavered and you accepted me. Once you lowered your inner wards, you were mine.”
“I see.” I crossed my arms. “So I know nothing of Death Magic? It was all lies? All that stuff about death being integral to life?”
“No, of course not. That was the truth. Truth works so much better in a deception.”
“I want to be angry with you, but I'm too impressed by your cunning,” I said.
Death chortled. “Thank you, Ember. Now, I think that's enough for today. You can study the book tomorrow. I think I rushed things. You need to acquaint yourself with my magic before you use it.”
“Yeah, all right,” I grumbled.
“Don't be so impatient,” Death said. “True power takes time.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
That night, Aranren and I informed Death that we would be needing the night alone again. He gladly, and maybe a bit smugly, gave us the privacy we demanded. Of course, it wasn't to have sex. We sat before Ara's fire, sipping hot chocolate laced with a mellow alcohol from Ruva, and discussed our escape.
“We can do this,” I said eagerly. “You heard him. Death said that our wills are the strongest magic of all. We just need to reassert our willpower.”
“Don't you think I've been trying to do that?” Aranren said with far less enthusiasm. “I've secretly fought him from the moment he took me. Every time he uses me to kill or hurt, it—” He broke off and shook his head, swallowing roughly.
“Maybe it's keeping your fight secret that has failed you.”
“What do you mean?”
“We need to revive our wills,” I said as I leaned forward. “We're not going to do that subtly. We need to dig deep into ourselves, find the strength, and fight him with all we have.”
Aranren stared down into his mug.
“Ara, we can do this.”
He looked up at me with a resolute expression. “All right. I'm willing to try anything. But first, I think we should practice. We must use these moments he gives us to meditate and search ourselves. We won't be able to fight him if we can't reach our will to do so.”
“I agree.” I set my mug aside and slid onto the rug. “Let's start now.”
Ara's expression faltered. “I'm not sure how to do this.”
“I once fought you in our minds,” I said. “I saw the real you then. It was the first time that I realized you were not entirely in control.”
“What did you see?” he whispered as he slid gracefully off his chair and onto the rug, his silk robes settling around him like water.
“A skeleton covered you. Well, not a normal skeleton. It was like skeletal armor. Bones formed a cage around you. A massive skull over your head. Gauntlets over your hands. The bones were everywhere. I see it even outside our minds sometimes when you use his magic.”
“Death,” Ara whispered.
