The Sage's Vow

10.2 || Relic Dagger

"Hannah!" Josh cried.

He was too far away. The best he could do would be to blast the rocks, which could just make the rocks falling on her smaller chunks. Eytia was closest, but the bolts dripping from the primal formed a cage that only provided an escape forward.

Horror crept through Josh's veins, building into a ball of pressure that threatened to burst as he could do nothing but stare. The rush it caused was so loud that he didn't process the cried words he heard until after the speaker let out a scream of their own.

Kaitlyn crumpled to her knees, one arm propping her up while she held the other out toward Hannah, a light purple glow around her hand. Her face had paled unbelievably in a matter of seconds, and sweat trickled down her jaw.

Josh glanced between Kaitlyn and the pile of rocks where Hannah had been, and the pressure began to release. Although he couldn't see what had happened, the energy from Kaitlyn's hand, the height of the pile, and the odd curve gave him a good idea of what happened. Kaitlyn had created a barrier around Hannah.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Kaitlyn's voice came out strained and through gritted teeth. "Kill that thing so the sprite can move the rocks."

Vanquishing the primal didn't take much else. Eytia caused her leaf blade to sprout spikes. The primal's final cry echoed around them before the rest of its body turned to energy particles.

Josh didn't wait to see the particles vanish into the other realm. He ran around the battle, sparing the fallen dagger a momentary glance as he headed straight for the rock pile.

"Hannah, I'm getting you out of there," Josh yelled at the rocks as he began tossing them away one by one. He'd put a small dent in the pile and could even see the purple edge of an energy barrier when a hand fell on his shoulder.

"Move," Eytia said. "I'll finish from here."

Josh resisted, his only focus on removing the rocks, but then his knowledge caught up to him. Sprites were nature Elementals. Control over nature gave the user bits of control over all the core element, so Eytia would be able to magic the rocks away with ease.

Eytia held her hand out, eyes locked intently on the rocks. "Terrath epistra."

Josh had heard others speak the magical language many times. The words seemed to burst from the Soul-Bound when they spoke it, carrying the power of their wills and commanding the elements. Eytia spoke softly, no more than a gentle caress to convince the workings of the world to do as she asked. Was that all it took for creatures whose very souls connected to the elements?

The rocks gave the smallest of tremors before they rose into the air. Even the smaller pebbles lifted, and one by one, they settled back into the ceiling and walls like puzzle pieces of debris.

More and more of the purple energy came into view, then the top of Hannah's light brown hair, and finally Josh allowed himself to relax when all of her appeared.

Groaning, Kaitlyn released the spell, and the magical field fell away. Hannah had barely managed to sit up when Josh enveloped her in a hug.

"Ow. Yeah, I'm okay, but ow. I think I bruised my shoulder, and you're hurting it more."

"Whoops." Josh pulled back, taking extra care not to touch either shoulder since Hannah hadn't specified which one. Even as relief flowed through him, he fixed his expression into a glare. "What were you even doing here? That was insanely dangerous!"

Hannah looked away. "I—"

"You have brought a friend with you," Eytia said, cutting Hannah off.