Page 30 of Forged in Fading

Boden somehow managed to grin, actually grin, beneath the ice crusting his mouth. He tried to speak, but the sound came out muffled. If she were a better person, she could have tried to see if she could free him, but she much preferred him like this, unable to utter a single word.

Her magic shouted at her now, commanding her to liberate it from its chains. Alvara directed a torrent of snow into the trees, and the incessant pounding of her power lessened with each flake.

Boden cracked the ice at his feet with his earth magic while he pried at his frozen mouth, flaking off small chunks until his lips were free. “Magic is tied to our emotions—good gods, that’s cold.” He shivered and wiped his face with the collar of his tan tunic. “For some elves, like you, it is even more intricately connected. Your magic only manifests when you’re angry, because that is the only feeling you’re willing to admit.”

Alvara thrust her hands into her coat pockets to fend off the frost swallowing her skin. “That was your grand plan? Anger me until my magic comes out?”

“It seemed to work rather well if I do say so myself. I sincerely apologize for what I said, but I believe it just shows that⁠—”

Alvara let her anger fuel her magic one last time and formed another ice bind, much thicker this time, over his lips.

“Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?”

Boden glared at her and tapped on his frozen mouth with an exasperated look that said, Undo it right now.

“I’m so sorry, I can’t understand you for some reason.” Alvara knew she was channeling her inner Lermi, but she couldn’t stop herself.

A clump of earth exploded over her head, and she yelped as she dusted off the dirt. “Fine.” She focused on dissolving the patch of ice, but as her emotions faded, so did her powers. Boden crossed his arms and watched her as she struggled to latch onto anything of substance. “I wish I was joking, but I think you’re going to have to wait for that to melt.” Except it wouldn’t any time soon, not in this weather.

He ran his hands through his hair and tugged at the chestnut strands with a slight shake of his head before lifting a finger and disappearing into the trees that led to the city beyond.

At least she had gotten rid of him for a little while. She ran her thumbs over her mother’s earrings. What would she think of all this? Her father would surely be scribbling away at his journal, documenting every moment as part of a story to be told one day.

The sunlight dappling through the desolate branches, the pecking of a bird at a tree’s bark—he would write down every minute detail while her mother accompanied him with unending patience. Eloisa would…well, she would be helping Kat and Boden. Risking her life to save others.

A burst of wind flapped Alvara’s braids. She didn’t need to look to know who had caused it.

“Alvara, Ravanel. Ravanel, Alvara.” Boden gestured to the Malvan elf she had hoped she would never see again.

Ravanel just watched her, his head of sleek black hair tilted to one side.

“Nice to meet you?” Alvara wrapped her coat around her exposed throat.

He stood as still as an ice carving. Did he not need to blink? “She didn’t deserve the cheese.”

Boden threw his hands up. “Vitharen help me. You have something you’d like to say, don’t you, Rav?”

Ravanel arched a brow at his friend, who mouthed something back with extra emphasis. “I’m not going to apologize.”

“What he means is that he is very sorry for trying to kill you.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Rav can be quite a pain”—a quick gust of wind knocked Boden to the ground, and a hole appeared beneath Ravanel’s feet, sinking him waist-deep into the dirt—“but he can also absorb your magic if you lose control.”

Wonderful. As if the ability to strangle someone from a distance wasn’t enough, the elf who wanted Alvara faded could also drain her powers whenever he felt like it. Though, admittedly, that part didn’t sound so terrible.

“Time to begin. Why do I make you angry?” Boden asked, while Ravanel crawled out of the ground with predatory grace.

“This again? Do you not have any other methods you can try?” Alvara didn’t take her eyes off the Malvan elf.

“Unless you can show me that you are able to draw from your power at will…” The earth rotated under Alvara’s feet until she was forced to look Boden in the eye, and she dug the toe of her boot into the ground, even though she knew it would do nothing to him or his magic. She couldn’t access her own magic on command, and he damn well knew it. “Then this is the best place to start. It will be much easier to find the source of your power while it’s actively being used, which seems to only happen when you’re angry or overwhelmed. We have to recreate one of those feelings so you can focus on cutting off your flow of magic when you need to.”

Alvara had told herself she would do whatever it took, and she meant it. She would play along with his silly little game. “How much time do you have? You work for the king who killed my family. You imprisoned me. You knew my father was going to fade and did nothing to stop it⁠—”

“Actually—”

His interruption only fueled the storm swirling inside of her. “You claim you were helping me escape, but you seemed all too happy to turn me over.”