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"Stop it," Santiago said.
I hissed through gritted teeth, sweat beading on my forehead. With a deep breath, I focused my thoughts on the power that coursed through my veins, willing it to come forth and protect us. The surrounding air vibrated with energy.
"¡Sólo un poco más!" I urged myself, sweat pouring down my face as I strained against the overwhelming force of the rupture. The remaining hundred and twenty competitors stumbled and scrambled over the rocky terrain, their panicked screams joining the cacophony of destruction.
I screamed in horror as I saw the lava surge forward, defying my control. The heat radiated from its molten surface, causing the air around us to shimmer and distort.
My heart raced as I continued to pour all my strength into moving the lava away from the competitors, but it was a losing battle. The pressure intensified, and my limbs trembled with exhaustion. Despite my best efforts, I could not prevent the impending disaster. We had come here for glory, to prove ourselves on the tournament grounds. But they did not go out in a cry of triumph—the scores did not matter—more than a hundred people went out with a whimper.
"¡Carmen, debemos irnos ahora!" Santiago pleaded, his eyes filled with pain and urgency. "¡No hay nada más que podamos hacer!"
"No. ¡Todavía puedo intentar!" I insisted, refusing to accept defeat. But deep down, I knew he was right. The untamed power within me was slipping through my fingers like sand, and every moment we stayed put us both at risk.
"¡Carmen, escúchame!"
I shook my head, shining brilliantly while I fought to hold back the tears that threatened to spill over. Losing so many lives, their dreams and hopes snuffed out in an instant, was almost too much for me to bear.
My strength sapped, and I felt my grip on the lava lessen. Just as I was about to succumb completely, another roar shook the air, entirely different from the eruption's rumbling. A pair of wings rose from the plumes of smoke, and a wyvern with golden scales broke through the clouds. The massive beast swooped, and the shadow it cast was larger than the sun. Its wings seemed to glow like a golden, shimmering silhouette that reminded me of a glowing ember.
Its enormous head with intelligent, glowing eyes scanned the battle ground, looking for something while its wings beat the air with an echoing crackle.
It didn't take long for its gaze to stop on me.
The wyvern's shriek was so loud that it resonated in my bones, the sound of a thousand trumpets all blasting in unison. It loomed overhead, a monstrous shadow cast by its enormous wingspan. As it swooped down towards us, its razor-sharp claws outstretched, I felt a surge of protectiveness rise within me.
"¡Cuidado!" I cried, pushing Santiago out of the way just as the wyvern snatched us both into its grasp.
We hung perilously in the air as the creature flew away. My heart was a thunderous drumbeat echoing in my ears as I turned to see Santiago hanging on for dear life.
He was watching the ground, and we were over water in no time. Magda's lover uttered a guttural groan of anguish, wrenched a jagged-edged weapon from his waistband, and plunged it deep into the wyvern's talon with every ounce of strength left in him.
The beast screamed in agony, its claws loosening for an instant—long enough for us to break free and plummet toward the sea below. My insides twisted in knots as the violent wind tore past us, and there was scarcely any time to prepare myself for impact before we slammed onto the ocean’s surface with bone-jarring force.
We sank into the murky water. I inhaled the acrid liquid and felt it sting my eyes. Salt flooded my nose, and I gasped for air. Large bubbles formed before my face, separated by a veil of salty water that cut me off from the world above.
At first, I thrashed. I didn't want to die like my brother. Then, in a moment of total clarity, I realized I had made a mistake.
I mean, I had made many in my life but…
Some people said their lives flashed before their eyes in such moments, but I didn't see anything like that.
I saw Magdalena smiling at me, holding me close and comforting me when I needed it most. I saw Antonio, even though he had hidden information from me. Maybe he had wanted to kill me, and maybe he didn't.
But I... loved him.
I loved Magda.
I had robbed myself of seeing their faces while telling them.
I looked up just in time to see a massive rock plummeting through the water toward me. The air from my lungs exploded from my mouth, sending bubbles streaming toward the sky. Barely dodging out of the way, my leg caught on something. My heart hammered against my ribs as an explosion sent another rock crashing through the water.
Right at me.
Chapter30
She’s A Problem
ANTONIO
