Page 59 of Savage Crown
“My mother will kill me if I lose this hen!” I yelled over my shoulder.
The courtyard air smelled faintly of spilled ale. I sprinted toward the back, where the well sat like a forgotten mouth in the stone. The moment I saw it, every hair on my arms lifted.
An Elite stood over the well, framed in a swirling bubble of blue magic. The dome shimmered like heated glass, vibrating with power. He growled and groaned, shooting jagged lightning-like bolts down into the well. Sparks danced along the stone lip, lighting the courtyard in stuttering flashes.
The guard had followed me, boots pounding, so I spun toward him, eyes wide in feigned fascination.
“What’s going on here?” I asked. “That looks cool.”
I layered my voice with airy innocence, really leaning into the dumb, too-curious girl act.
The guard cocked his head at an unnatural angle. It was like watching a puppet twist the wrong way. Before I could react, pressure clamped over my mind, heavy and suffocating.
‘He’s trying to control you. I can’t shield you through this bubble,’Val said.
Sleep tugged at my thoughts, thick and warm, like someone trying to smother my awareness with a blanket. My knees wobbled.
‘Get inside the Elite’s protection spell! Now, BRYNN!’
Val’s voice cracked like a whip. The command jolted clarity back into me.
I didn’t think. I ran.
The shimmering dome loomed ahead, humming with power. Halfway there, something pressed deeper into my mind, probing, a cold finger tracing the edges of my thoughts. An urge hit me to stop, turn around, and maybe lie down and sleep. I fought the feeling, gritting my teeth as I forced my legs faster.
I leaped.
Instead of slamming into a wall, I slipped straight through the barrier like diving through a curtain of water. The Elite jerked his head toward me, surprise widening his features, and then I crashed directly into him. We hit the stone in a tangled heap.
‘I’m here,’I told Val.
Something cracked in the air above us, and a sudden drain ripped through my body. My vision blurred, and dizziness washed over me like I had fallen underwater. From the well, Valkaryn shot upward as a streak of gleaming power. I lifted my hand without thinking, and she dropped into it, slapping against my palm with the familiarity of an old friend as water dripped down my arm.
Power poured through me, wild, ancient, hungry. My fingers tingled, bones buzzing like they were turning to light. I didn’t have time to marvel.
The Elite beside me jerked upright and swung his fist. His knuckles cracked against my jaw, exploding pain through my skull. My teeth clanked together, and stars burst behind my eyes. I scrambled to my feet, still clutching Val. Heat flared against my fingertips, sharp enough to sting.
‘You’re getting hot.’
‘He’s trying to melt me, the bastard,’Val groaned.
Melt.
He could melt her?
The thought made my stomach churn.
I glanced at him. He stood eerily still, blue magic rippling off his shoulders, making no attempt to rush me. His calm unnerved me more than any shouting would have.
I tried stepping back, planning to retreat out of the dome and think, but I slammed into an invisible wall. Solid. Cold.
Panic spiked. Getting in had been easy. Getting out… not so much.
Hot.
Hot.
Hot.
