Page 166 of Prince of the Phantom Sky

Larissa glared at him and shakily raised her hands. Kora froze, wondering what would happen, what magic was about to unfurl. She blinked, waiting still. Nothing happened, yet Larissa gritted her teeth, her freckled skin tensing, before burning.

She was burning alive.

“Stop it!” Kora demanded. “You’re hurting her!”

“Stay back,” Barron warned. “Larissa’s magic can be a bit . . . hot.”

What was she doing? Larissa’s skin was charring, her magic destroying her as she used it. Yet nothing else happened, no embers, no fire. Nothing but crackling scent of a bonfire.

They were surrounded. Barron’s magic leaked around them, tendrils waiting to pounce. Kora kept away, remembering how they’d fused to her before. One touch and they could unleash Kordelia. She couldn’t fight Barron directly, not without risking losing herself.

Kora’s mind screamed, unsure of what to do. Chaos ensued behind them, death marking individual souls as they fell to each other’s blades. Raiden broke out into a sweat beside her, his jaw clenching as tiny sparks flew from his fingers.

A slow yell erupted from Larissa, growing louder every second that passed. Her skin became so charred, smoking and black, her eyes like burning coals. Her hair shimmered like sunlight beaming from every strand. Raiden whirled, his face panicked as he sniffed the air.

“Rai—”

BOOM.

The earth shook.

Both Galenites and Talmon soldiers collapsed to the ground. Kora careened into Aryn, as Raiden fell into the side of the dock, grunting. Mistros City tumbled, previously standing buildings disintegrating, as the Mist returned in the distance, billowing up into the sky, churning with the rain.

Almighty Thanos.

Raiden bolted forward. Something was wrong.

The Mist thickened, worse than before, and it rolled towards them. Kora coughed, her lungs burning as thick clumps fell from the sky, creating a paste on the ground. Larissa collapsed, looking every bit of a human burned alive as she curled up on the dock, shivering in the rain, her legs pressed into her chest.

Raiden turned back, his face terrifying as his stare shifted to Barron, who simply smiled in return.

“Time to sacrifice your island.”

A second boom followed, and it was unmistakable as fire lit up the sky behind the mountains. The ash cloud thickened, descending upon them, choking them all. Kora glanced back to Larissa, unconscious as blood pooled in her ears.

Larissa was Igniso’s heir. Who’d just erupted a volcano on the other side of Galen.

“They’re all going to die,” Raiden whispered.

73

Raiden

The Infernal Highland had erupted. Raiden summoned clean air into his lungs, doing the same for Kora and Aryn as the ash cloud thickened into a dreaded version of the Mist. He blinked against the clumps of ash as Barron laughed maniacally, glancing down at Larissa’s unconscious form.

A fire element, but also a witch. Another magic that was unheard of. Another duality. Witches only used enchantments, they’d never been blessed with a Devani god’s power. Raiden filed that away for later as his head pounded, his veins thrumming with excess magic usage. He was draining it too much.

His ears rang and he wiped them quickly, hiding the droplets of blood from Kora. She was transfixed by the witch, peering at her, before glaring at the collar and chain attached to Barron.

“Get to the ships now!” he yelled into every mind, his desperation pushing it out. “The volcano is active! Get off the island!”

His eyes shuttered. All the civilians. His father. They’d been sent to their death, instead of their salvation. They would perish. They were miles out, closer to the volcano. He couldn’t reach them this far, only his bond with Kora allowed such distance. The eruption would flow through the Aurora Gap, straight to Mistros City. Skybell was potentially safe, depending on how bad the eruption was.

Ash caked everyone, sticking to their hair and clothes. It was fucking bad.

Holy Haizea.

“Bastion!” Erick raced up the dock, miraculously recovered. His blood-stained sword thrust as he charged forward, defending Raiden, Kora, and Aryn. Tarnished steel armour glinted through the ash cloud, his salt-and-pepper hair lank with sweat and rain. Despite recently emerging from his coma, Erick wielded impressive strength and speed.