It heated my blood, roaring through me even more at the reminder of what my future held.
Ignoring him, I let my anger stew and threw my energy into the field, letting it take me away to a place far, far from here where there was no starvation or strife or potential war. Just soil, plants, and life. I hummed, caressed, and coaxed the dead roots and plants toward me as I found one after another. I moved along, clearing snow as I went.
Black roots. Chipped thorns. Dry stalks.
The prince’s protective bubble expanded every time I moved even though he stayed where he was, but his bubble grew larger and larger.
I put as much distance between us as I could and pictured this field growing to life once more, kissed by the gods and teaming with crops.
I got so lost in what I was doing that I barely noticed when the prince suddenly crouched right beside me. “We need to leave soon. You should eat before training.”
My stomach growled as though in agreement. “Let me do one more thing.” I dug my fingers into the dirt. I’d felt the touch of a large root, one that traversed most of the field. If I could just reach it, I was certain it could perhaps speed the process up here. “I think I’ve almost—”
A wicked-sounding roar cut through the blizzard, the sound like razors down glass, and the dome around the prince and I shuddered from something large and heavy slamming into it.
I was on my feet in an instant, just as the prince cursed beneath his breath, and his Shield shattered.
“Snowgum!” The prince threw himself over me as a rush of air brushed my cheek.
Something huge flew over us, and then four massive paw prints appeared in the snow only feet away.
That was it.
Paw prints only.
Because the snowgum’s magic had made it invisible.
“Oh Mother, save us!” I whispered.
“We’re getting out of here. Now.” The prince’s arms wrapped around me as his mistphasing magic rose.
But just as fast, the snowgum slammed into us, tearing me from the prince’s arms as the prince rolled to the side.
“My prince!” I called.
He yelled in pain as blood suddenly soaked through his tunic.
“Oh Blessed Mother! Oh Mother!” I scrambled to my feet as the invisible predator sank its fangs into the prince.
A blast of the prince’s affinity had the creature shooting off him even though I couldn’t see it. But I felt it. Power. Air. The rush of something massive being thrown through the howling wind.
The whiteout still raged around us. I could barely see the prince through the swirling snow, but I leaped toward him, using his black tunic to guide me.
I landed at his side, and with a sickening sense, realized it wasn’t only black surrounding him but red. Blood seeped through his tunic, and it was pooling beneath him at an alarming rate.
“Where did it bite you?” I clawed frantically at his clothing.
He groaned and slowly sat up.
“Can you mistphase us?” I tried to help him straighten, but he winced.
“Yes, come here,” he rasped and pulled me close again, but his magic didn’t rush to the surface as quickly as it had the first time.
“My prince?”
He groaned again, and his face grew paler. Muscles quivered in his neck, and his aura grew more and more diminished. A huge gush of blood appeared on the snow beneath him, then a shudder ran through his entire body.
“Prince Norivun!”
His eyelids dropped, and his limbs went slack as he fell in a heap. His full weight hit me like a huge stone.
Breaths coming faster, I struggled to hold him, but he weighed too much and collapsed back onto the snow.
Panic consumed me. “Prince Norivun!” I screamed again and began to shake him.
Nothing.
Frantically, my gaze shot over him as I tried to assess what was wrong.
Clawing at him again, I whipped the tunic out of his belt and lifted the material to his chin. All of my fear collided into epic proportions of terror and despair when I saw his true injury.
A huge laceration slid along the length of the prince’s abdomen. Blood poured out of it as intestines shone beneath. It was so deep and undoubtedly lethal.
“Dear gods,” I cried.
The creature’s claws had torn him open, and all because he’d been trying to save me from the snowgum’s jaws.
“My prince!” I yelled again. My heart exploded in fear just as a vibration of magic rippled through the air.
It was the only warning I got before the snowgum pounced.
CHAPTER 7
The force of the predator hitting me knocked the wind from my lungs. Its hot breath came next, wafting over my skin like smoke. The snowgum’s invisible body pinned me to the ground, my ribs screaming in agony under the feline’s immense weight.
All the while, the prince continued to lie beside me. Unmoving. Possibly not breathing. Perhaps even dead.
My heart threatened to burst, and I only had a second to glance at the prince before the creature shifted its weight and nearly crushed my chest.
I wheezed as my body sank more into the snow. Coldness seeped into my back. And the snowgum . . . I could feel its mouth opening. It was going to eat me even though I saw nothing.
Blessed Mother, I’m going to die. Prince Norivun’s going to die. Cailis will be alone.
Those last two thoughts had panic rising from me like an inferno. No!
Magic erupted in my gut.
I screamed. And then the realm tilted, as though everything were moving in slow motion. A rush of magic blazed out of me. Fire. Air. An inferno of power.
The snowgum roared as my magic burst free in a whip of blazing heat. It ripped beyond my control as one thought and one thought only seared my mind.
We can’t die.
My head whipped toward the prince. I needed to save him. Now.
The snowgum’s hide caught fire. The creature screamed again as its massive body erupted into flames.
My eyes widened at its monstrous size as I scrambled to Prince Norivun.
The snowgum continued to thrash like a demon from the underworld. Fire raged around it, lighting up its nine-foot-tall body with paws like small tables. It rolled in the snow, still roaring, as it slowly doused the flames.
The damage my fire had done cut off its magic, making it visible again, but even though I’d burned it, it was anything but down.
My fingers closed around the prince as an enraged snarl tore from the snowgum. Its massive body lowered on its haunches as it prepared to leap again.
“Prince Norivun! Wake up, now!” I shook the prince, grabbing him by the shoulders so hard that his blood seeped through my fingers.
But he didn’t move.
The snowgum lunged, leaping from its position.
This was it.
We would both die.
Agony like I’d never felt before cut through me, slicing me open as my arms enclosed the prince. Not today. Please not today. I don’t want to die.
My eyes squeezed shut as I pictured my sister. My parents. Tormesh. My village. All of it blended in a kaleidoscope of color.
My sister would be alone.
I can’t leave you.