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“No!” Magda screamed.

Standing to her feet, she used the roots the assassin had summoned and grasped them with her magic. She thrust them at the assassin, hoping and praying they would bind around her enemy’s throat. The roots listened to her, circling around the assassin’s neck and nearly imbedding her skin with thorns before they froze.

The assassin had her hand raised, ordering the earth to listen to her.

“A Soul Guardian?” the assassin asked, her voice hard to hear over the water gushing from the pipes. “But you’re not Princess Kiran.”

“No, I’m not,” Magda snapped. She raised her hand, willing the roots to listen to her.

But the assassin was too powerful. The assassin had trained with Soul magic, and Magda hadn’t. The assassin was the one who had control of the earth.

Then the earth turned against Magda. New roots snaked out from the wall behind her, latching onto her wrists.

The assassin picked up Ishani’s axe from the ground and started toward Magda. “The First Prince will be so pleased with me.” She raised the axe, ready to bring it down onto Magda’s chest.

Magda screamed. She was a guardian. She was more powerful than this assassin. She demanded revenge for Aleksy’s and her father’s deaths, and she would have it.

An entire portion of the wall dislodged, knocking into pipes and hurling toward the assassin. The assassin didn’t have time to dodge before the rock slammed into her side, knocking her to the ground. The dirt opened for her to fall in, and then cocooned her body, trapping her inside the dirt wall and burying her alive.

But Magda wasn’t fast enough. Pain flooded her body, and she looked down to see the axe on the ground in front of her, coated with blood, and a slash across her stomach.

The roots let go of Magda’s wrists, and she fell to her knees, splashing into water that was already pooling around her from the open pipes. She clutched her stomach, feeling warm blood seeping across her palm. Water sprayed her across the face, but she didn’t have the energy to shield herself. There was too much pain.

But she didn’t have much time. The water was rising, and Ishani was unconscious.

Magda forced herself to move, trying to ignore the pain coursing through her body. She reached Ishani and looped her arms underneath her shoulders. She yelled in pain as she dragged Ishani through the water and back towards the rocks blocking the stairs. The water was rising rapidly, and Magda left a trickle of dark blood behind.

When they reached the rock wall blocking their escape, she let Ishani rest. The water was already a foot high and lapping at their shins.

“Magda!” Ravi yelled, peering through an opening in the rocks.

A wave of pain raced through Magda’s body, and she caught herself before completely falling. The blood was seeping too fast from the wound in her stomach, and her energy was draining as quickly as the water was filling the cavern.

Ravi was scraping away at the rocks, creating a small opening. Odie was digging at another hole, trying to find a way through. “Can you squeeze through here?” Ravi asked, although they both knew the opening was impossibly small.

“I won’t leave Ishani behind,” Magda replied. Ishani was still alive, her chest rising and falling slightly as she leaned in a sitting position against the wall.

Odie barked, the scratching of his claws signaling that he hadn’t stopped digging at the immovable rocks.

“And your…magic,” Ravi said, as though he still didn’t believe she had magic. “You can move earth, can’t you?”

Magda extended her hand toward the boulders, trying to find the power. As she tried to channel the earth, another shooting pain rattled through her body. She let out a scream and her arm fell back to her side.

“Magda,” Ravi’s voice was pained. “I can go get help, but I don’t want to leave you in case…”

The water was lapping at her knees now, and was starting to spill over to the other side of the rock wall. Magda knew that they were all running out of time.

“It’s alright, Ravi,” Magda said. “Whatever happens, just know that you—”

“Don’t talk like that.” Ravi reached through the crack in the rock, but he couldn’t reach her. “I love you, Magda, and I told you that your battles are my battles, no matter the cost. Don’t worry, I’ll save you.”

Ravi raced away to find help, but Magda knew they were out of time. She bit back tears.

Then Magda heard a whimper. Odie had slithered his way through an opening high in the rocks, jumping down on her side.

“No, Odie!” Magda yelled. She clutched her side as the pain intensified.

Odie nuzzled her, attempting to yank her clothing so she would stand up, but she could barely move, let alone climb over the top of the rocks.