The Dragon Races- Part 19

Alaric waited for a few agonizing moments before Karila turned back to Therin. He used the opportunity to rush over to the blonde, pushing the thoughts of his older brother aside.

"You okay?" he asked, and Everlys glared at him. 

"That's literally the worst question you could ask someone who clearly has an injury." The vexation vanished from her eyes, and she nodded.

"We have to fight her." A shadow of determination crossed his face. The expression vanished as Everlys cradled her right arm and the hand she primarily used to fight with. 

"That line is seriously cliché." she murmured, stifling a yelp as he helped her stand. "But I have to agree."

She glanced at her knives, and one slowly lifted off the ground.

"Take it." she muttered, standing up and extending her left arm as the other flew into her hand. Everlys twirled the knife between her fingertips, planting her feet in the ground and throwing it towards the Shifter.

The angle and speed were perfect. 

It would have implanted between Karila's shoulder blades, causing her to fall forward and break the stream of dark energy she was using to overtake Therin.

But the Alderonian turned a fraction of a second before, holding her hand up and stopping the knife centimetres from her palm. 

"You really underestimate me, don't you." Karila whispered. The sound of metal scraping against stone echoed in their ears as it dropped to the ground with a metallic clang. The two were frozen as she turned to them. 

Therin collapsed in a trembling heap, and Alaric was sure that Everlys moved an inch closer to him. He looked around wildly for anything that could possibly help, eyes falling on Seridian and Feralith. Why weren't they doing anything? Why did they look like statues?

Alaric screamed as a blast of dark energy narrowly missed them. It hit one of the archways, and dust filled the ruins as the beam coiled around the stone, causing it to turn a sickly dark gray.

Stop freaking out and use the knife! 

He glanced over at Everlys, who was clearly in no condition to fight. She nodded, and Alaric lunged. He flinched as a beam grazed his shoulder, raising the weapon and cutting an arc through the air. Karila hissed, grabbing his arm and reaching for his neck with a clawed hand. 

Alaric thought back to his training, recalling every drill his father had made him run. He twisted under her arm, throwing the knife and wincing as Karila fell to her knees. Blood seeped through the dark fabric of her jacket and stained the stone ground crimson. 

Alaric watched as Everlys guided Therin over to his dragon, stroking Feralith's muzzle before appearing in front of him. 

"We need to go." she whispered, helping the Foranian stand up. She extended her hand towards Karila's body, flinching as the knife flew back into her hand. Everlys wiped the glistening blood off on her jacket, squeezing Alaric's hand to snap him out of his glassy-eyed trace. "Come on."

Seridian let out a low growl, standing after Alaric climbed on to his back. He held on to the dark green spikes on the dragon's neck, tightly shutting his eyes as Seridian launched off the ground. Feralith and Alasdaire followed close behind.

You saved all of us. Everlys's voice was soft, even though it echoed in his mind. And my wrist is going to heal.

You're a Telekenetic.

She gave Alaric a nod, the glisten in her eyes one of pride. But it vanished almost instantly. 

My sister was, too. And a Shifter.

The two of them fell silent. 

Alaric's eyes narrowed as he tried to make out what the mass of bright white in front of them was. 

"Ice." Everlys answered to his silent question. The three dragons dipped down, landing on the snow after a few moments of rushing wind.

She hopped off of Feralith's back, slowly making her way towards the massive sheet of ice.

"You...can't follow us." Everlys said softly, turning back to look at her dragon. The creature took a step forward, pressing her forehead to the Sinistrian's. Feralith took wing to the sky, Alasdair following. Seridian remained for another moment as Alaric met the dragon's eyes. Alaric nodded as if giving him permission to leave him. He had Therin and Everlys- he was going to be fine. 

The three watched as the dragons circled above, slowing becoming three small specks as they vanished into the clouds.

"It's getting late." Everlys's voice broke through the thick silence. Pink and purple stained the horizon, the sky a darker shade of blue form when Alaric had first set out to find the blonde.

He walked over to Therin, placing a comforting hand on his arm.

"We'll get out." Alaric hoped his voice wasn't as shaky as it sounded in his mind. "And you'll see her again." Therin looked up at him with a nod, taking in and exhaling a breath. 

"Yeah." 

"I'll teleport us across." 

Alaric turned to face Everlys, shaking his head. "That takes up way too much energy." The three of them had jut fought Karila. There was no way he was going to let her do such a risky thing. 

You don't have to worry about me- I'll be fine. Everlys paused, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. It is kinda cute, though.  

Alaric's face reddened, and he looked away. "Still." he muttered. Everlys rolled her eyes, touching her arm to Therin's. She glanced at Alaric before reaching out to take is hand, closing her eyes as the three of them vanished in a flash of white.

The blonde staggered as they appeared in the middle of the freezing tundra, leaning against the jagged rock on her left for support. She didn't let go of Alaric's hand, and he tried not to think too much of it. They needed to find Eriene. 

"She's in that cave." Therin pointed to a deep indent in the stone a few hundred feet in front of them. 

"I'm going in." Everlys murmured, standing up and brushing the snow off of her jacket.

"But you-" 

"I'm the only one here who's stable enough to Cloak themselves. I'm going." 

She didn't wait for Alaric or Therin to say anything. Everlys hugged her right arm close to her body, meeting the Foranian's eyes once before vanishing. Soft footprints appeared, though they were soon covered up by the beating snow. The two of them crept forward behind the invisible Everlys, Therin holding his arm out to stop Alaric from going any further as they reached ten feet of it. 

The footprints paused as Everlys reached the cave's gaping mouth. 

They waited a moment. Then two. Three. 

A muffled scream echoed from inside. Alaric ignored Therin's protests, weak masses of pale green energy swirling around his hands. 

He looked over at the blonde who's translucent guise had melted away, leaving her in full view of the two contestants. 

Fire flared around her fingertips. As she lifted her arms, the entire cave filled with the crackle of flames. Blue-tipped flames that the male morphed into ice as it neared him. 

"It's good to see someone's come to join her." Calder said with a laugh, pointing his chin to Eriene. 

Alaric looked over at his former classmate. Memories of their time in Emran filled his head, but he shook them away just as he had done with the images of Altair. Eriene stared at him with a perplexed expression that soon turned to fear.

"You need to leave. You-" Her sentence cut off as flames licked the ground around her. 

"You don't stand a chance." Vatra moved her hands in slight motions to bend the blaze to her will. It hissed on the snow as it formed a cage, blocking off the exit into the tundra. The fire cooled, just as lava would, solidifying into a hard, glistening substance. 

"What are you?" The question escaped Alaric's lips before he had the chance to hold it back. 

Normal Fire Elementals can't create flames when there's no source, especially in conditions like these. Normal Fire Elementals can't create flares that freeze instead of burn. 

Vatra gave Alaric a cold smile. Her eyes flickered from amber to dark blue and back again. "I'm a mix between Flames and Ice. A Frostfire."