Page 149 of Labyrinthine
Mallen shouts. I hear his voice but not the words. My magic surges again, wild and panicked, tearing at its leash. I choke on fumes and force it down. Not yet. Not like this.
I wheel my horse, searching for Marcus—he’s gone. Swallowed by smoke.
“Mallen!” I scream.
He turns toward me, ash streaking his cheek, eyes burning.
“Stay with me!” he yells.
But the world is disintegrating. Another explosion tears through the north wall of the square. Flames leap higher. The buildings are catching now—crimson tongues racing across rooftops, devouring timber, destroying homes.
I look up.
The smoke churns through the heavens like a storm. Somewhere above it, the stars are gone. The gods are blind to what’s happening beneath them, and darkness wraps around me and writhes inside me, shivering against my skin. My magic wants out. It wants to answer whatever power my father has woken.
A scream tears through the night.
Not human.
Not animal.
It rises through Starsfall’s capital like a jagged blade drawn across stone—a wail of power so raw it rends the air. The horses rear. The ground shudders. Buildings fall and there’s no way forward. Through the gap in the buildings, a narrow street curls upward—there’s an alley open to my left.
Toward the palace.
It’s clear. For now.
And suddenly—so suddenly it makes my chest ache—I feel it.
Not fire.
Not dread.
But purpose.
Like the hands of the gods wrapping around my throat and dragging me forward.
A calling.
Not just to fight. To end this.
To be what I was born to be.
I don’t think. I won’t flinch.
I kick my horse hard and break from the square.
Flames lick my skin as I ride. Screams echo behind me, but I don’t look back. I can’t. Every step forward is a choice. Every heartbeat is a countdown.
Mallen’s voice rings out, panicked, furious.
“Azhara!”
But I’m already gone.
Smoke claws at my throat as I charge the rise. Behind me, Starsfall burns. The screams, the crack of splintering stone, the roar of flame—they blur into a single sound: fury. Above it all, I hear Mallen shouting my name again, his voice hoarse and ragged with disbelief and rage.
He’s losing me.
