Page 165 of The Last Syphon

Inara kept her gaze below her in between jumps. Maybe it was the severity of the situation that kept the nausea at bay. Honestly, she didn’t care much about the why. She was just glad that her body was acclimating to the manoeuvre.

Something caught her eye below. They jumped again. She finally realised what it was, and panic clutched her chest.

STOP!

Fraener listened, pausing their next jump. Prince Walder and Tydus continued on, not noticing what she had. There was a village down there. Several villages, right in the line of fire. The rot was hurtling towards them, and it would kill everyone in its wake.

Cursing, she leant left, and Fraener turned, taking them back the way they had come. Fast. Fast. Fast, she chanted, the urgency pounding in her bones flowing right into the soul-link. Fraener pumped his wings harder.

They had to get there first. Fraener dived. Inara gripped the horns in her hands tightly and tucked her elbows in at the same time he did his wings, and they went speeding towards the ground. Wind smacked her face. She called a shield up to protect it so she could see properly.

The rot rushed forward, tendrils of darkness reaching out almost like fingers, looking for something, anything to consume. Fuck. It was almost upon them.

They weren’t going to make it.

Go! Go!

Inara had to make a difficult choice. There were several clusters of homes, all spread out over a far distance. She couldn’t possibly save them all. Not from what was coming for them. She had to pick. Guilt hit her hard at the decision, but she had no other option.

Inara pictured in her mind what she wanted Fraener to do. Acknowledgement hummed back.

The rot was almost there.

He curved.

Just a few feet now.

Inara leapt off his back, landing harshly just before one of the villages.

Darkness slithered up to her foot.

Magic exploded out from the centre of her chest and a bright, beaming shield snapped into place around her and the village. The darkness slammed into her shield with a terrible boom and an unbearable pressure bore down on her, making her grit her teeth.

Fuck.

Behind her, villagers emerged from their homes, horror filled eyes watching on, unsure what was going on. What to do.

Fucking same.

The darkness pounded against her shield, demanding entry. It began to move, as if searching for a way in, and Inara commanded her magic to completely curve around the village, trapping it in a protective dome. Terrorised screams filled the air from the other villages miles away as the rot swallowed them and their homes whole. The guilt returned tenfold.

Fraener circled above, looking for a place to land.

There was no way Inara could keep this up for long. Not only was the darkness beating against her shield, it was also feeding off it. Taking its power. Draining her. She could feel it, her magic slowly fading out of her body.

Is this what it felt like when she took power from others? It wasn’t fucking pleasant.

Inara had to get the villagers out of here right now.

An idea formed in her mind, and she had no choice but to do it. She didn’t have the time to think of anything else.

Using her hands, she pushed her shield out wider. The darkness pushed against her, but she refused to relent, her arms shaking as if she were pushing against two giant, heavy pillars. Finally, she created enough room for Fraener to land.

Come!

Fraener dived. She commended her shield to let him through, and like always, it obeyed without question, allowing the dragon to slip right on in. He landed next to her, the ground trembling.

More screams surrounded her, but this time, from the villagers she was trying to save. Fraener lowered himself until he was lying flat on his belly, trying to make himself seem as least threatening as possible.