Page 23 of Mantle (IMMORTAL FLAME #3)

Two spirals of raw force were rotating in opposite directions, pushing and pulling against each other like magical gears, one crackling with rose-gold lightning, the other swirling with blue elemental wind.

The containment field shuddered, a sign that it was working.

Another very good sign was the magical level shifting, the pink liquid within moving closer to the center point.

The ground reverberated again, and I spun to see the stone creatures coming for us.

The one Ariana had shot down was getting up from his sprawled position, while two more were moving in.

I jumped down from the platform onto another several feet below, the rough surface shuddering as I landed upon it.

The stone creatures charged.

I met them head on, flame surging from my fists as I slammed into one, then the other, redirecting their kinetic blasts with a molten arc of force that cracked across their stone bodies.

I twisted and ducked under their swings, moving swifter and more fluidly, but just as mightily.

I ripped one off its feet and roared as I tossed it into the other two, downing them all in one shot.

And then I unleashed a concentrated stream of my dragon fire—tight, hot, but precise.

It scorched through their cores, blowing them apart bit by bit, until they were no more than a pile of molten rocks.

A pained cry from Ariana had me swinging around and looking up at the sky.

Holy. Hell.

Those shimmering funnels of silver and white power that we’d all seen her working on lately through Cassius’ training at her family home, were trapping the two Threniths, the storm of Celestial power swirling around them.

But it wasn’t just holding them at bay.

It was tearing them apart, piece by piece. Destroying flesh and bone, and their very lifeforce in the process. They were screeching without sound because of Kai’s spell, and twisting wildly.

The look of panic and devastation all over Ariana made it clear she hadn’t realized it could do that when used as a full-on attacking force.

She’d briefly clipped Nyx with one of the vortexes before and that had done damage just because of the Celestial power aspect touching a non-Celestial being.

But this… it was far more concentrated and also being intended as an attack, not just a creation she’d been working on forming and perfecting.

She tried to pull it back, but she was panicking, hating that she was accidentally torturing the creatures.

“They’re not real!” Kai called out, seeing what was going on. “It’s okay, they’re not real, Ari!”

In the next moment, that was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt as the creatures blinked out of existence like they’d never been, just leaving Ariana’s swirling power in the air.

“It’s coming,” Nyx said, gritting his teeth as he held his portion of the spell steady.

“Now,” Kai uttered a moment later.

And then the containment field dropped, and he reached through and snatched out the medallion, grinning at us in triumph.

“Got it, Ari!” he yelled up to her.

The portal opened up back over where we’d first come in.

“Let’s go,” Kai said, starting to lead the way back down the platforms, as Ariana flew up to it and waited there for us.

Then the ground boomed .

A molten rift opened between two jagged cliffs beyond the pedestal, and something vast and burning clawed its way up.

Some sort of… magma beast.

Its body was a living furnace, skin cracked like volcanic rock and glowing with lava beneath.

Its claws dragged fire through the stone with every step.

Embers burned in its throat.

Its eyes were nothing but white-hot cracks of fury.

Kai cursed.

Ariana called out to us.

Nyx pulled up short on heading to the portal site.

“Go,” I told them, rolling my shoulders, then gathering my dragon fire.

The beast noticed my challenge and ran at me, full force, the ground rumbling, everything melting and crushing from the force of his power and wild movements.

The place was collapsing.

“Run!” I yelled over to the others.

Thankfully, I caught sight of Kai grabbing Nyx and helping him away toward Ariana.

He turned back with Ariana, wanting to help.

But I already had it.

I knew how to end this quickly.

A magma beast—right up my fucking alley.

I concentrated and remained still as it ran at me, closing in.

And then I deployed my dragon fire.

It rose from my chest, a searing beam of fire shooting from my mouth.

It hit the beast in the center of its torso, pushing it back.

It roared in fury—but it didn’t get closer.

I twisted my palms and redirected my fire into a spiraling arc that curved around it, and then with a final push, it disintegrated the being into nothing but ash.

“Damn,” Nyx choked.

“Very impressive,” Kai said.

I smiled and made my way back to them.

“Impeccable control,” Ariana praised me.

“A long way from that class where I nearly set the whole wall aflame, huh?”

She beamed out at me. “An incredibly long way.”

Kai thrust the medallion into the air. “Mission accomplished! To us!”

We all gave a post battle cry of satisfaction and excitement.

And then we stepped back through the portal.

Professor Veyna Morrigan was waiting and actually clapping, her eyes shining.

“Excellent work. Your tactics, your teamwork, your problem-solving, and magical knowledge base were all top-notch. We’ll debrief in more detail once I attend to an unfortunate situation.

In the meantime, please take a well-earned break. ”

She turned then and we watched as she went to Kelsana and her team and began reprimanding them.

I listened in and found out that Kelsana had used a highly illegal Dark Fae spell to violate free will and essentially turn Zephyra and Nexi into automatons who would do her bidding during the mission, while her and Rennick did things their own way.

Apparently, they’d even made Nexi sacrifice herself to one of the monsters in there with that complete control that they’d taken over her mind and movements.

Thank fuck they weren’t actually real or she’d be dead.

But what had been done to her was beyond demented.

Motherfucker. It was everywhere. Power plays. Corruption. Sinister agendas. Dark and depraved politics.

All around us.

I’d had enough of it.

I was fucking done with it all.

Solumira was definitely the salvation to all of that, and I couldn’t wait until we could make it a reality.

No matter how fucked-up the world around us got, how painfully loud, that place would be our solitude, our sanctuary, our very sanity.

And with the four of us together there, I just knew it would be a peace unlike any I’d ever felt before, a peace I’d never thought I’d be able to have.

Until them.

Until being with them had changed everything for me.