Page 168 of A Fate in Flames

Belshin’s palms swept outward in a brutal arc, his entire body coiling like a spring before releasing.The pit erupted in a maelstrom of wind and debris.Air slammed into the ground with the force of a war hammer, launching grit skyward in a roaring halo that scraped against the stone walls like claws on bone.

The crowd jerked backward from the railing as the gust hit them, hair whipping across faces and clothes snapping like flags in a storm.They recovered quickly, surging forward again with bloodthirsty grins and shrieks of approval.

Witnessing his powers for the first time, watching how the air answered to him like a living weapon, was as terrifying as it was thrilling.

Jasila’s five bodies darted through the maelstrom, each a blur of black leather and lethal grace.They flickered, multiplied, collapsed back into themselves like shadows dancing.One illusion threw herself directly into the whirling storm, her mouth open in a silent scream as a blade of compressed air carved through her chest.She burst into shards of prismatic light that scattered across the pit like dying stars before dissolving into nothing.

Belshin’s lips pulled in something that wasn’t quite a smile, his head tilting as he tracked her remaining forms.His pupils narrowed into icy slits.

“Clever girl,” he muttered, and even from this distance the respect in his expression was clear.“But not clever enough.”

His feet spread wider, chest expanding as he inhaled, deep and controlled.Air rushed toward him from every corner of the pit, dragging loose dirt across the ground in spiralling trails.The very atmosphere bent to his will, his ribs expanding beneath pale skin.

With a single, devastating exhale, he sent it all outward in an expanding ring of razors.The wind screamed as it carved through the air, sharp enough to slice flesh.Fast enough to blur.

Three illusions dissolved in flashes of brilliant light, their forms unravelling like smoke.But the real one—Heavens, the real one—dropped to the ground, one knee gouging a deep trench in the dirt as she skidded.Sand sprayed around her in a golden arc, and when she looked up through the chaos, her eyes were wild with bloodlust, and her smile absolutely feral.

Dust coated her leathers, and a thin line of black blood traced down her cheek where the wind had kissed her skin, but she was alive.

“My turn,” she snarled, and suddenly the air around her shimmered like heat waves.

Jasila charged, her form splitting until ten identical figures raced across the pit with deadly grace.All bearing the same savage smile.

She—they—moved faster than I had ever seen her, covering the distance in mere heartbeats.With a flick of her wrist, something shifted in the air.

Belshin’s eyes rolled back, pupils disappearing into milky white nothingness.

She had stolen his sight.

But Jasila wasn’t done.As he stumbled, disoriented, she gestured again and his hands flew to his ears, face contorting in pain.She’d taken his hearing too, leaving him blind and deaf in a world of attacking shadows.

My hand flew to my mouth, stifling the sound trying to break through.I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the brutality unfolding below.

The ten Jasilas surrounded him, striking from all sides.Even blind and deaf, Belshin fought like a man possessed.He caught one by the throat, only for her to dissolve into light.Spun to block another’s strike, but his hand passed through empty air.A third landed a vicious punch to his gut, knuckles driving deep into the soft flesh below his ribs.

He doubled over with the impact, grunting harshly.

Jasila appeared in front of him, her elbow connecting with his jaw in a crushing hit.

His head snapped back with sickening force.He staggered, feet sliding in the dirt, but still didn’t fall.Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin onto his chest.

For a second, I thought it was surely over.He was broken.Beaten.

Then his lips curved into a terrifying grin.

The moment his sight returned—pupils bleeding back into those pale irises—everything changed.His head snapped toward her, realisation dawning on her face just a second too late.

Wind exploded from his body in a shockwave that flattened every illusion in an instant.The gust wrapped around Jasila like invisible chains, lifting her off the ground and suspending her midair.She struggled against the wind, but it held her fast in a prison of swirling currents.

With a sharp flick of his fingers, Belshin slammed her into the ground with bone-jarring force.Hard enough to crater it.Dust billowed up around her broken form.

Before she could recover, he was there, hauling her up by the leathers and driving his fist into her ribs with a sound like breaking wood.

From behind him, she conjured two more illusions.They struck—one from the left, fists connecting with his ribs, and the other diving straight for his back.

He spun just in time to catch the first by the throat, but the second’s fist slammed across his shoulders with a solid thud.

He snarled, spinning with a gust that shattered both mirages into fragments of light, his silver hair whipping around his face.