Milestones Blogfest

This blogfest is brought to you by the wonderful Donna Hole. The link takes you to the blogfest page and to the participants list.

The following excerpt is not a specially created piece for the fest, but an excerpt from my manuscript. It highlights my second protagonist and the way in which she discovers how to defeat an enemy who seemed more powerful than her. She, Eris, has been captured by the Egeal Arrows and their leader, Fist.

Please do not butter up the comments. If there is something you do not like, please say so. Thanks and enjoy!

Enjoy!

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"That’s a Cool Trick"

The Arrows gathered around Fist and joined hands. Their feathery auras, mere wisps on their skin, merged with the sparking violet of Fist’s.

Eris lifted off the ground again, the chair spinning and knocking into the walls and off the ceiling. A pain curled in her stomach and streams of her aura faintly glistened on her skin. “You need your dogs to help you,” she cried out at Fist. “You’re pathetic!” Her next words were stolen from her lips as she hammered down with the force of five auras working her. Her channel surged within, siphoning energy off the Arrows’ magic. Fist’s intense concentration made it more difficult to grab hold of his aura, but she established the connection. She locked on him as she twirled around the chamber.

The chair stopped next to a torch on the wall, the fire licking at her cheek. Eris screamed at the burn, but sucked in Fist’s aura, draining every bit she could steal.

“Pathetic?” Fist howled, less of a man and more of a beast. The darkness in his voice carried a pitch of insanity. “You’ve broken the rule one too many times.”

The chair threw itself across the room, but stopped mid-flight creaking and shaking. Eris closed her eyes and concentrated on the glimmer of her yellow aura charging beneath her eyelids.

“What?” Fist clenched his hands and threw his aura at her.

The purple sparks connected with Eris, but arched over her in harmless chains as she absorbed it.

“Right,” she said. “You didn’t give me the chance, but consider that my warning.” The chair beneath her splintered and exploded to pieces. The ropes binding her hands sizzled to threads and she touched down gracefully with Fist’s borrowed magic.

The Arrows launched themselves at Eris and she responded with a prompt jolt of purple at them. The shock did not break their advance as she thought it would and she dodged under their assault. Fist swung at her, a sweep of purple trailing in the path of his arm as he missed.

Fist planted his stance and poured his aura out. The ground wrinkled with violet lightning like a sheet of water. The Arrows waded ankle deep in the aura-sheet, but did not seem affected.

The purple snaked up Eris, stinging her as it moved higher. She shook it off and backed away.

“My power is absolute,” Fist said through gritted teeth.

He charged, the Arrows at his back and their auras blazing in furious swells. Eris thrust her palm at Fist’s chest and spun off his assault with a sweep kick to the Arrow directly behind him. Her yellow transferred to him and spun around his body. It squeezed on him, eventually reaching the jewel on his choker. A burst of purple issued out of it and the stone shattered. The Arrow fell back into the wave of Fist’s aura-sheet, his body sputtering in the furious power.

Eris whipped around and planted a fist of yellow across the next Arrow’s face. The helpless servant flew off his feet and suffered the same fate as the last. The two remaining Arrows threw wild jabs, their jewels offering infused swings. Their movements came at her lightning quick, faster than their predecessors in the alley.

Fist growled from behind and clutched Eris as she backed into his arms.

She summoned an attack, but Fist devoured it.

He threw her, the force of his toss aided with his special brand of magic. Fist raised his hands, the aura-sheet following his movement. The purple engulfed his body and surged out as he punched forward.

A barrel of violet whorled into Eris as she hit the wall. It pinned her in place as it twisted and dug at the leather protection of her bodice. She forced a scream, but it seized up. She dropped to the ground, her body smoking.

She stole a glance of the room in its blurry state. The power he had was something she had never faced before, nor ever expected to see. Two systems working together. Eris pulled herself to her knees and hugged her waist.

“I gave you fair warning,” Fist said, seeming winded.

Eris rocked and then stared at her hands. A shade of purple glowed on her skin, yellow mixing in it. The Arrows’ laughter fueled her and she stood on weak knees. Their mocking ceased and silence fell over them. She pushed her hands together, fists touching, and the colors jumped over her arms. The turbulent power of her enemy filled Eris, joined with her Seenti. She drew her hands apart and a thin rod built of the combined auras filled the space between. Slow at first, she pulled the rest of the way and revealed a glimmering saber.

Fist showed repulsion in his aged lines. “No, how?” The Arrows slid behind him. “You are able to bend your aura.”

Eris grinned, her lips thin. “I did warn you.”