Fearfully Awakened (2/2) || Ruith

With a vivid, fervent glare, Taegen's voice plummeted octaves, assuming a dangerous tone. "Did he look ready to you, Verena?" His face twisted with an almost terrifying anger, the threatening aura he radiated entirely new to me. I was frightened. The blood in my veins swam coldly. And the static exuding Taegen's person caused wisps of my hair to stand.

Verena glowered. "There is no beginning or end on the battlefield. If the prince cannot even defend himself, how can he defend our nation when he comes of age?"

"You let me worry about that," Taegen snarled. "Ruith's capability, his strength, his power, it is all my concern. You do not get a say in anything."

Verena released a formidable wall of wind, putting distance between Taegen and her. "I am here under the king's orders, not yours. And I intend to execute his command to test the prince's strength, even if it means killing him."

Quick-snapping lighting stretched across Taegen's reflective sword. Electricity weaved through his white hair, floating loose strands around him like flames. "The king may be his father, but I am Ruith's guardian. You cannot touch him without first going through me."

"Taegen, that's enough!" I grabbed his arm, snapping my hand back when the heat of his lighting seared my palm. 

And Verena laughed, lifting her hammer over her shoulder with the strength of one arm. "Alright then. I prefer this anyway. Should we continue what you didn't have the nerve to finish all those years ago?"

Taegen was experienced and capable, and I had complete confidence in my guardian to prevail in this battle against Verena. However, his magic was scarce, and because of that, he would undoubtedly suffer injuries fighting a seasoned warrior. I knew their history not, but I felt deep in my chest that I should prevent this fight. Taegen was too angry, and Verena successful at provoking him. This situation could become detrimental very quickly. 

I sought my teacher's intervention; however, he merely offered a disinterested shrug.

"If you don't want them to fight, you need to step in, Ruith," he said.

I glowered at him, making my incredulity and anger known. 

A flash!

Blinding light slashed my peripheral. I returned my eyes to my guardian, witnessing how he sliced his sword through the air, delivering another slash of lighting at Verena. She sprung into the air with a smirk that proved she'd predicted his move. 

Taegen spread his feet and bent his knees. He drew out the remaining power within him and sent repetitive, violent slashes that had Verena favoring distance between them. With a mocking laugh, she leaped easily to avoid them. However, her smile sank when Taegen pushed a whip of magic through her surrounding wind, clasping her ankle midair.

A discreetly satisfied smile curled on his lips when he gripped the rope tightly and swung Verena chaotically through the air. Her hair swam in all directions due to the wind or the violent surge of electricity pushing into her. Swinging his arms behind his head, Taegen lowered the rope. Verena came crashing, the force of her landing damaging a crater into the ground as if the moon had fallen. 

That was when I felt it. Like a candle blown out prematurely, Taegen's magic depleted. He'd used entirely too much. For a while, he waited for Verena to stand through the flurry of dust and earth and combat him again.

But when nothing came from the cloud, he slowly turned his back to it. And his knees buckled. He hyperventilated, taking a labored kneel. Taegen could no longer use magic because it immobilized him. In the past, his core had been weakened significantly somehow, but because Verena had provoked him, he'd abused it and used magic to prove he was still capable.

Now that the cloud of dirt had cleared, I studied the crater, realizing there was no movement within. Did Taegen…? Quicker than the sound could reach my ears, Verena emerged from the deep indent in the ground. The spiky edge of her hammer was charged ahead of her. And I could recognize her intent faster than Taegen had noticed her. In mere seconds, she crossed the arena, her hammer aimed for Taegen's lower back.

Where his elemental core was. 

"Behind you!" I shouted, serrated fear tearing at my throat.

Still kneeling, Taegen had only been fast enough to move his sword to block the incoming attack. He'd successfully redirected the blow; however, two large iron spikes buried deep into his side instead. Blood splattered, dripped, and ran. Taegen cried out as Verena twisted her weapon, intent on digging the spikes deeper into him.

My elemental core rattled while my heart sank to the pit of my stomach and drowned. Stop it. Terror-stricken, I urged my feet to move. I lifted a desperate, pleading hand. Please stop.

Verena ignored my silent pleas. Instead, she mercilessly pinned Taegen on his stomach and formed a fist with a flurry of dark wind encircling it. 

"Stop it!" I managed the voice to shout. 

A peculiar, emotional magic, distinct from anything I'd ever manifested, bubbled inside me. It tore its blistering fangs through my veins, fevering my blood as it exited my skin. A visible aura I could not recognize blanketed me. 

With continuous attacks, Verena succeeded in debilitating Taegen in every way. Her strikes were violent, angry, and too cruel for any elf to perform. I could hear the shatter—the crumble and absolute diminishment of Taegen's magic. He attempted to retaliate, but his decision to prove himself earlier dulled the edge of his blows and weakened his fighting limbs. If he'd tamed his pride, he could have taken Verena with his sword alone. Consequently, he was too fatigued to do even that now.

Anger misted off my skin, mingling with the golden specks in the air. The crimson color it darkened to resemble the only color I saw. 

I formed a trident. 

Took three strides.

"Get away from him!" I roared. With newfound strength, I viciously kicked Verena from my guardian, sending her flying across the vast arena and into one of the stone walls. The air departed her lungs. 

She didn't deserve the few seconds of recuperation as I weaved through tall rocks circling the arena to reach her. I'd hurled my trident prior, and it whistled through the wind it swallowed. I followed after it. 

Verena futilely attempted to unbury herself from the rubble in the wall. The trident pierced her abdomen before any stones crumbled from her indent. It ripped into her armor and flesh with a ragged noise, resembling the tearing of durable fabric. Rocks crumbled from the impact. I suspected the wall would collapse soon, with her pinned to it. With a violent wail, Verena tossed her head back. 

Angrily—brutally, I forced the trident deeper into her so that her cries were louder than the blood screaming in my ears. I allowed my anger to influence me, to control me. If I showed Verena any mercy, she'd only attack Taegen again. 

My eyes searched her limp and bloodied body. They landed on her throat. I could hear the quick pulse—see the fractions of movement behind the tightly woven chains of her collar. There it is. Her elemental core was fatally located where my fingers could readily touch. Honing in on it with my gaze, I balled my fist to concentrate my magic.

It was blistering, searing through my knuckles and palm, and evaporating the blood loss. And so bright was it that the night disappeared as if dawn had taken over before the sun rose again. The rock around Verena melted into pools of molten material. It dripped onto the ground. And it left a trail of fire as it buried into the earth.

I clenched my teeth while I endured the excruciating pain. This was where it had to end. Anyone who attacked my family became an enemy of mine. As I understood what this meant, I shuddered. This was what it meant to protect. Violence indeed kept loved ones safe. My fear of harming others had kept my potential smothered, doused like the flames that consumed and raged through villages. It'd kept me docile.

I drew my hand back—

"That is enough."

I gasped, embers sticking to me as I was pulled from my trance. And I became fearfully aware of what I'd planned to do. A hand came from behind me and closed over the heat of my fist, and they grunted as the magic seared their hand. Taegen. I let my magic scatter and diminish, and then I turned around. 

There my beloved guardian was, standing before me with a ruined hand while clutching his side. A trail of blood from his bottom lip to his chin. 

I took hold of his arm, assessing his condition. "You're okay?"

He angled his head as though my question had bewildered him. "I would never put myself in serious danger while you were still around to protect. If you hadn't interfered, I would've turned the tide on this small feud. Although…I do believe I underestimated her." Taegen then animated with an approving smile, despite his passionate anger earlier. "Verena's gotten much stronger. She'll make for a good sparring partner."

My eyes dropped to my injured hand, shameful tears affecting my vision. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened to me." 

Tremors wracked my body, and my knees gave out. It hurts. Taegen reached for me, catching me in his capable arms with a quiet grunt. Gingerly, he lowered us to the ground and peered down at me. 

A few tears escaped my eyes. "I didn't mean to…please, check on her."

Rocks crumbled, and to my relief, Verena pulled herself from the crater in the wall. Coughing between words, "It'll take more than that to kill me, Your Highness." Her following look was calculating. "But I suppose the king will be pleased.

I cared very little about how my father would view tonight's events. Feeling incredibly weak, I huffed and closed my eyes. It was even difficult to breathe. This was the consequence of tapping into my potential—of abusing my limits and using my magic to harm others. It was not substantial. Why would anyone want to live this way?

"Taegen," I whined softly.

He shushed me and cradled my head. "You fought well. This is the first time you've expended so much magic, so your body will be weak."

I shook my head, wanting to speak again but with my concerns. For him and for myself.

"Sleep, Ruith," Taegen insisted. "You're too exhausted for an assessment. When you wake up, we'll figure everything out together."

Reluctantly, I obeyed. I couldn't fight the sleep that cradled my consciousness. Oddly, I felt relieved that I wouldn't need to seek aid to sleep tonight.