Empire Island, Exile the First

Chapter 26

"Where the hell did you come from?" Mara shrieked as I slipped out of the portal and into the cave.

Bright sparks of energy blasted from the front entrance and I recognized Calla's forceful aura anywhere. I practically tasted her self-satisfied magic on the cloud of smoke that hung in the air.

"It doesn't matter," I said, holding up my hands. "Fuck you is all that I have to say."

I twisted my fingers into a fairly easy defensive glyph that recognized her as a threat and directed my energy towards her. It hit her and she staggered back, but this level of confrontation needed more aggression than a simple glyph.

I spread my arms wide and held them apart so I could build a greater force to hit her with. Blue-green light crackled along my forearms, stirring into balls of incandescent white light that almost blinded me if I looked at it.

I waited until my skin was hot, and I flicked my hands in her direction. Just as she pulled back her own hand clenched into a fist, she was hit hard with the full force of my spell. She didn't have a chance to swing at me, let alone land the blow she'd intended. She screamed with rage and pain as my fiery force crackled along the surface of her clothing, all the way up her body to her face and hair.

I smelled burning and couldn't tell if it was from her clothing or her hair, but it felt fucking amazing to have that kind of control over my power.

I wanted to do it again, but couldn't muster up the kind of energy I needed to create the power again, so I let my consciousness drift downwards into the earth. I plugged in there, and drew up, filling the well inside myself to blast Mara again. So I did, and this time, the burning lasted longer and her screams were louder.

"Save the girls!" she shrieked at Mike as she writhed in pain. "There's still time to save them!"

The girls from the well were clustered together near the entrance but Calla hadn't done anything threatening to them. She concentrated on two of the demons that had held her captive while Mike darted back and forth. He was out of his element, being the kind of man who needed to have complete dominance in order to make decisions. And at that moment, he tried to decide if he should stick around and help, or if he should run for his life and save himself.

"Save them!" Mara screamed at Mike again as the fire I'd thrown licked her face and throat like a lover, burning her with flames instead of desire.

I held my hands up again, pulling them back to throw another fireball at Mara, but Mike moved around me towards the girls and I had to act.

I threw it at him instead, and while it hit him directly, it didn't have the same effect as it had on Mara. He jumped and yelped in pain, but it didn't catch his gray hair or beard on fire. Disappointment surged through me and I pulled up my energy to hit him again before he got the girls.

I didn't know why he tried to save them, though, I was the one who had set them free. I was the one rescuing them from his fucking cult.

Calla called my name and I turned towards her. She struggled with the demons, holding them in place with glowing blue strands, and her eyes pleaded with me for assistance. I crossed the cave with a few short leaps and pressed up beside her, shoulder to shoulder.

"It took you long enough," she quipped, looking at me from the corner of her eye.

"Sorry, I was doing magic guardian shit," I laughed and she nodded. "She's safe, though. That's all that matters."

"Good," Calla said. "Let's zap these assholes."

I copied her movements and studied the glyphs she formed to create the spell. I followed along and almost jumped when thicker, more powerful bolts of blue light shot from my hands. This one was serious, adult level shit. No more kid glyphs I'd been taught as a child, this one was something I should have learned if I hadn't fled my island and shirked my duties.