Page 19 of Wrath Of Suns And Shadows (The Osparia #2)

Chapter Eleven

Emelyn

O ver the last few weeks, Marlena had become a part of my morning routine, watching the sunrise with me.

Sometimes, Shay would join us, but most mornings she chose to go for a ride over sitting on the shore, and I didn’t blame her.

Since coming here, I loved sneaking away and going on rides with her occasionally.

It reminded me of all the times Ace used to fly over Draynua when we were younger.

Crow’s shadows checked in here and there, but I hadn’t seen him much.

The distance between us affected me more than I led on, but I did my best to focus on the positives.

Today, I received another letter from Ace.

He told me he missed me and hoped that I’d come back soon.

It had been so many weeks since I’d seen him, I’d lost track of how long it had been.

I missed him dearly. Normally, I’d send a letter back right away, but today our messenger bird took a little longer than usual and I was running late.

I’d send him one tomorrow morning. Or even better, maybe I could convince Shay and Draken that we could take a break and go see everyone.

I shoved his letter in my pocket as Marlena and I made our way to the other side of the beach where we always practiced for the day.

I sat next to her as she ran her fingers through my silver strands and braided it down my back for training, just like she had done every day.

Marlena had become my biggest fan on the sidelines during my training sessions.

Over the time I had been here, it had been nothing but swords and fire. Learning how to control it had become easier for me over the last few weeks, while during the afternoons, I would deep dive into the history of the Peacebringer.

I had learned a lot. Some of the oldest tales and fables talked about how the Peacebringer wasn’t just the wielder of elements, but of all bending. Draken explained it was possible that the first Peacebringer could have wielded all elements.

Water, earth, fire, air, light, and darkness were the main ones. But who knew what other ancient types of bending existed when our world was first blessed, like extensions of the ones we knew of today.

However, people wrote those tales in old storybooks. The words were fading and hard to read, and even Draken, who hadn’t been alive when the gods had blessed this plane, couldn’t know if they were true or not.

I rolled my shoulders and got into my fighting stance. Today was one of my last tests.

Shay and Draken both stood a few feet away from me as I shook out my limbs and made the blood course faster through my veins.

“What are the rules?” I asked as I rotated my neck.

“There are no rules this time,” Draken said as he unsheathed his weapon. It was a beautiful long sword that he kept strapped to his human form. The long blade looked as though it came out of a dragon’s mouth as he tested its weight in his hand at his side.

“What do you mean?” I asked. Here, there was always a rule.

Usually when I would bend, it could only be fire or wind.

I had had no luck with earth yet. Draken wanted me to use the elements I wasn’t familiar with.

I still needed practice on both air and fire, but I noticed my progress with using them especially fire since practicing with Draken.

“You can use whatever bending you want, but you’re going against all of us,” Draken said as he wagged a finger between himself, Marlena, and Shay. My brow furrowed.

“What? I can’t go against Marlena. She’s—”

“Old?” she chimed in as she stood. “That might be true, child, but this old woman still carries some tricks up her sleeve.” She pulled two small daggers out from the long, droopy sleeves of her shawl, adding emphasis to her statement as she cracked a smile, and I shook my head with a grin of my own.

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” I said.

“You should be more worried about yourself,” she quipped back and stepped up closer to Shay. I looked over at Shay. She was already in her fighting stance, but even under her leathers, I could see the bump of her growing belly.

“And what about Shay? I can’t—”

“Aim for everywhere but the gut, and we’ll be just fine. Now, get ready,” she said, and all three of them got into position.

I pulled my axe from my side and strengthened my stance.

“What do I get if I win?” I asked.

“What do you want?” Shay questioned.

“If I win, I want to go visit all our friends back home,” I said, and she smiled.

“ If you win ,” Shay said smugly, as if she could already taste my defeat rolling over her tongue, “then we will go.” She said it with a grin, and I nodded in agreement.

Draken, taking a step forward, was my only sign that the battle had begun.

He twisted his blade, creating a ring of fire and sending it in my direction before coming for me with his blade.

I smothered his fire with my own and blocked his blade as it came down on me.

Shay came from behind, thinking I wasn’t paying attention, but I dropped to the ground and swooped my leg out, knocking her back to the sand before blasting Draken away from me with a blast of fire from my palm.

My skin burned, but it wasn’t the normal level if pain that would come from being hurt by the flames.

This was a powerful burn that tingled under my skin.

The sensation was almost comforting, but it didn’t compare to when I let my cool water coat my hand and sizzle it out.

I believed that no matter what bending I learned, water would always be the most tranquil.

It was the one my body was most in tune with, so it made sense.

Shay got to her feet, and I blocked every swing of her sword with my axe or with the water that had coated my arms like thick armor. Bright orange light was coming for me as I twisted out of the way, but Shay didn’t relent. She kept coming for me.

Finally, Draken joined her with his own sword.

My eyes followed their every move as I blocked and pivoted out of blow after blow until Draken lit his sword aflame, and every time he would thrust it toward me, fire would come for me too.

My arms burned, not from my fire, but from the amount of his.

The heat of it was causing my water to evaporate before I could bend it back again to protect me.

I screamed out against the pain as I swung my blade forward, and he had to jump away to avoid being sliced through the gut.

The cool breeze against my searing arms made me whimper with relief as my water slowly coated them again.

I didn’t have time to recover as Shay’s blade sang against the wind by my face as I ducked out of the way of her attack, causing me to stumble.

She took advantage, and so did Draken. I didn’t have time to get my bearings.

I kept stepping backwards as I dodged their attacks, but they were overwhelming me, and I didn’t have the upper hand.

Marlena began throwing daggers, and I hissed when one hit me in the upper thigh.

I grunted out in pain again whenever another got me in the shoulder.

I twisted far enough away to assess myself, and I could see Draken and Shay winning this battle.

Again. Just like all the other times we had done this test over the last few weeks.

The only difference this time was that Marlena was involved in this one, but even if she wouldn’t have gotten me with the daggers, Shay and Draken were overpowering enough on their own.

The thought of losing for the hundredth time made me hopeless for a moment, and I was one stroke of the blade away from giving up, but then my frustrations rose. I would not lose again. I was desperate.

A strong power surged through me and fire blasted from every direction at my feet as I brought whips of water out of my hands.

The power within me stirred and twisted in my chest. I recognized it as the power of the Peacebringer.

A part of me that had always been there had woken, and a sense of peace encompassed me. And then I let it have all of me.

I opened my mind and my heart to its power—its energy soared through my veins, becoming my own.

The glow from before started, and I was sure my eyes were as bright as the blinding electricity that danced through the skies in the distance.

More long arms of water stretched from my back, and all of them hit the ground and lifted me from the sand, making me look like a spider as they began taking steps for me.

Shay and Draken were on the ground in the distance.

My fire had blasted them yards from me. The whips of water moved me swiftly toward them, and I could feel the sense of fear rolling off them, but respect shone in their wide eyes.

I could hear the quickness of their breaths and heartbeats.

Even the faintest beat of the babe in Shay’s womb echoed in my ears.

I could almost feel their sweat as if it were my own, slipping down from their brows.

My body was hyperaware of everything as the power thrummed through me.

I watched everything happening through my eyes, but it was like half of my soul was still sitting in the back seat of my mind. My body and my powers were protecting me.

I had opened myself up to it, but I still didn’t fully control it.

Draken crouched in front of Shay, leaving his sword discarded to the side.

“You can let go now, Emelyn. It’s okay,” he said, his words soft but stern.

My head cocked so animalistically to the side that it made my stomach churn.

I could see why Ember had wanted the Peacebringer dead all those years ago.

In this moment, I realized just how powerful it—I was.

I was something terrifyingly beautiful.

What the emperor wanted the Peacebringer for, I didn’t know, but we needed to be sure he never got his hands on this power—this gift.