Dark magic pulsed around Rasla, and the tower that loomed at his back seethed with the same darkness. I was determined to drive it from Guild City. From the Shadow Guild tower. From my friends.
I could grab a potion bomb from my bag, but it would do no good. I was sure of it. The power was within me, the magic of Orion’s Heart, and it needed to go somewhere. The atomic bomb feeling intensified.
Rasla saw me and charged with a roar. I hurled myself at him, grabbing tight to him as my magic erupted. His grip sliced at me, sending electric pain through my limbs, but I was stronger. My power blasted into Rasla. He shrieked, flailing backward.
Before my eyes, he turned to ash and blew away on the wind.
But the Shadow Guild tower still vibrated with dark magic. The curse was alive and well.
“Why didn’t it work?” I cried.
The sounds of battle around us faded. The Obsidia had disappeared along with Rasla, but some of the dark magic remained, polluting the tower in front of us.
It called to me, singing a siren song that I couldn’t resist. Desperate, I hurried to a window on the first floor and scrambled through it, cutting my hands on the glass shards. I barely registered the pain.
“Wait up!” Mac’s voice sounded from behind me.
But I was already inside. Grey followed. We stood in a large, empty room that looked like it had housed only rats for the last four hundred years. Dust and barren stone walls echoed with Rasla’s evil curse.
Mac climbed in behind me, then Seraphia, Quinn, and Eve.
“I feel drawn here,” Quinn said.
“Me, too.” Eve stepped deeper into the tower.
“I feel better.” Mac’s voice had brightened. “The curse. I don’t feel it as much.”
“Neither do I,” Eve said.
“We had to come in here,” Mac said.
“It’s still polluted, though,” I murmured. I could feel it like I could feel the pull of gravity. “His stain is still on this place.”
I walked forward, searching for the source of whatever called to me. An enormous fireplace beckoned from the far side of the room. A black gem was set into the stone mantle, gleaming dully with evil. My magic surged to the surface, and my palms itched to touch it.
“Your eyes are going wild again, mate,” Mac said. “Neon green.”
The black stone beckoned. When I pressed my palms against it,
I could feel the darkness inside the stone, inside the walls. But goodness, too. I pushed my magic into the gem, willing it to drive the curse away. Warmth flowed through my muscles and bones, along with a sense of rightness.
“It’s working!” Mac said
I studied the stone in front of me, watching in awe as the gem began to turn dark red again. Slowly, the curse leeched from the walls, until the entire building felt…normal.
Exhausted, I pulled my hands away.
“Are you all right?” Grey gripped my shoulders, supporting me.
I leaned into him. “Yeah. Tired, but fine.”
“Your eyes look normal again.”
“I feel a lot more normal.” Finally, I was able to look at Grey properly for the first time.
He looked like hell. Pale and covered in deep gashes, blood covering most of his clothing and skin. His eyes were dull from pain or blood loss. Or both.
Fear shot through me, and I spun. “Where is Michael? We need a healing potion for Grey.”