Page 24 of Prince of Blaze and Embers (Emberveil Empire #1)

“ S peak to it. Breathe with it. Feel that connection like it’s the sea's waves washing over you, purifying your spirit, and replenishing what was taken from you.”

Cornelius’ ancient, powerful voice reverberated between my ears as my eyelids were shut tight and I searched deep inside, feeling Eden like a ghost that was never there, but yet, always as well. She slumbered like a magnificent dragon waiting patiently to be awakened.

Eden. She feels as powerful and magical as a waterfall in the middle of an ancient forest. My brain tingles like she’s trying to speak to me. She’s like a long lost friend I never knew, but has walked beside me my whole life.

Holding my hands out wide, the feeling of the Gilded Radiance flowed through me like a second blood.

My feet planted into the stream, the fresh forest air streaming in and out of my nostrils, I felt like a new woman—one birthed from the womb the moment my shackles popped off back in Bramblebash—and I knew and dreamed I’d never go back to the life I grew up in.

My soul was breaking the chains. My dreams were beginning to come true, and the magic inside me beckoned to be set free .

“Open your eyes, child.”

I opened my eyes to Cornelius’ command, and standing before me, twenty paces out, was the hulking ogre with a scowl as mean as sin, and the small, ruthless man Rone perched on his back.

I didn’t flinch, my heart didn’t race, and I didn’t have the feeling to turn and run. It was another of the magical tortoise’s illusions, but it was enough to remind me of what being hunted felt like and reminded me of the imminent confrontation with the Blaze Queen.

“He’s here to take you away.” Cornelius was directly next to me, his long neck guiding his head to my hip. “He’s here to kill Bella and to take you back in chains to the queen.”

My teeth gritted with a clenched jaw. The scabs on my ankles tingled in the cool water, reminding me of so, so many years of no semblance of self or freedom.

The scars on my back tightened as I moved my hands before me, aiming them directly at the giant ogre and his rider.

Their faces twisted in disgust and rage.

The veins in the ogre’s thick muscles bulged, and Rone flicked the menacing whip, causing the scars on my back to shudder in remembrance.

“If you want to keep what is yours, then you have to fight!” Cornelius’ words were as commanding as I’d ever heard them.

He may have been old, but there was a tempered spirit in there.

Wise as he was and humble, his words caused the hatred in me to grow like an incoming storm, causing the calm sea to stir into massive, crashing waves.

Staring at Rone, glaring into his beady, soulless eyes, a light grew from my chest, flowing into my shoulders and down my arms to my fingertips. It was as if gorgeous sunlight emanated from my body, flowing down to my hands.

“Show the queen what it means to try to come for you and for Bella. Show her the rage that’s built up within you all those years.

Show them what will happen if they come and try to take you again, because if they do, everything ends.

Your story, Bella’s life, and every bit of your new freedom dies.

Show them you’re not a slave anymore. You’re not that little girl getting hurt and beaten.

You have power now. You have control, and you’re never going to let that go, ever again… ”

“Never again…” As the words squeezed through my clenched teeth, the surge of my magic nearly buckled me. Feeling like every drop of blood in my body rushed to my fists, the golden light before me erupted into what looked like staring with tired eyes into the sun just after first light.

The Gilded Radiance exploded from my hands like lantern fuel set ablaze.

My magic left my fingertips and shot through the air at Rone like an inferno.

The magical flames tore through the gap between us, exploding into Rone and the ogre, and as it collided with them, they didn’t react or recoil.

Instead, they vanished, disappearing into the air like phantoms.

Shocked, my hands dropped, and the golden flames fizzled, dissipating like drops of water on hot lava rocks. The light faded from my fingers nearly instantly, leaving only a hint of light flowing back up my arms into my shoulders.

“Good, good. Excellent.” Cornelius’ head bobbed beside me.

Where Rone and the massive ogre had stood was transformed into fire. Fire that burned the trees, singed the leaves, and caused smoke to rise into the night sky.

“How did that feel?”

“I—” I couldn’t find the words. All that came to my mind was, “That was the coolest thing I’ve ever felt.” My gaze snapped to his. “I want to be able to do that again.”

“You will. You must form a bond, a connection, with Eden. She will be your guide, and your connection to your Rune Spirit. She will grow strong as long as you keep practicing and… stay alive. ”

The thrill twisted in my body to the staggering reminder of what I was up against. Still a slave, at the mercy of that asshole prince and his powerful dragon. I had no freedom except my magic, which made me feel like I was free; even if I wasn’t.

Someday I’d finally be free, or I’d die trying.

As I glared out at the flames that scorched the ground, sending their heat rising to the forest canopy, a thick raindrop splattered on the tip of my nose. Thunder clapped in the distance.

A stark, drawn-out yawn pressed out from my throat. My limbs dragged once again, yearning for a soft mattress to rest upon.

“Am I always going to get this exhausted using my magic?”

“No,” he said quickly. “And yes. As you get more used to expelling your magic, your body will adjust, and you will retain more of your strength. But…”

“But?”

“But we will increase the potency of your spells, which may negate your body’s resilience to the loss of energy.”

“So I’ll get better at dealing with the zap my magic puts on me, but I’m going to be casting stronger spells, so my body’s going to have to adjust.” If I wasn’t so exhausted, the thought of stronger spells would’ve had my mind racing at the possibilities.

But that late into the night, and after an already body-aching day of shoveling, all I could focus on was rest.

“Let’s go again.” He said the words, and I wanted to resist, but even in my brain fog I knew the queen wasn’t going to give me the time I needed to get as strong as I needed to be. I sighed deeply and shook the fatigue out of my shoulders.

A series of raindrops hit my hair as the sound of fat droplets struck the dry ground all around me.

“Ready?” Cornelius asked in his wise, croaky voice. “This time call your Rune Spirit without my assistance. Now you know how to call forth Eden. So pick a target and unleash her. ”

Beside the dying flames, dampening lower and lower from the raindrops, lay a fallen tree, weathered with aged-worn bark that cracked like a nut’s shell.

“There.” I pointed.

“Very well. Make it a strong one. Your body has to learn to cope with the release of such energy. It’s like teaching your body to run faster and farther. You’ve got to start pushing yourself. We don’t have much time.”

I didn’t respond but raised both arms, pointing my hands at the fallen tree.

My arms shuddered and surged with fresh energy as I felt the connection with Eden, still fresh.

The golden light poured out of my skin as the rain fell harder, and the thunder intensified, bursting in the night sky all around.

My fingertips glowed with the dazzling light, and my mind readied a burst of my magic onto the tree. All I felt was the magic; it coursed through me with a thrilling, surging feeling. It pounded like hot blood. My heart thumped hard like a beating drum in my chest, and sweat wetted my palms.

I was ready to send the magic streaming out of my fingers at the tree, ready to increase the flames, ready to let all the pent-up rage and frustration of such an awful childhood out. I was ready to unleash my rage!

“Ash…” Cornelius said , with a nervous edge in his voice.

It was immediately followed by the ear-pounding sound of Krakos’ roar.

“He’s coming…” the tortoise said, but as the magic drained from my hands and arms, crawling back into my body, I glanced to my side to find Cornelius had vanished.

I swallowed hard as the enormous black dragon flew into the sky directly above, Cade mounted on its back, a furious look harbored in his dangerous eyes.

I staggered back as the winds from the dragon's wings forced down upon me like a typhoon’s fury. Tree limbs broke under the powerful wings and tail of the dragon as it lowered into the forest.

Oh no. He’s going to be absolutely furious with me for being out in the forest again. What do I do? What do I say?

But I knew there was no excuse for my actions. He strictly forbade me from going back out into the Faewood, and I did it almost immediately after.

Just when I thought everything had finally turned around for me…

Krakos landed, his serpentine eyes glaring at me as if it knew as well. Cade leaped down immediately, striding toward me, sword in hand, muscles bulging under his linen shirt, clinging wet to his body from the rain.

He stopped six feet away as all my breath hid deep in my chest. His mouth was a flat line and the wrinkles in his brow furrowed.

His long black hair clung to the muscles in his neck and chest. Lightning struck in the far distance behind him as his sturdy frame didn’t flinch.

Krakos let out a deep growl from deep within.

“Cade…” I said in a breathy, shaky voice.

“I don’t even know what to say…” his voice, however, was as close to a furious roar as he could muster without the volume of his voice rising. “I told you not to return here. And here you are…”