You Must Know The Darkness To Appreciate The Light

🔆🌙 Chapter 24 I think 🔆🌙

I crossed my arms and sighed. "I can't do it."

The Darkling and I stood at the lakeshore near the pavilions where students practice their summoning, though they had been cleared out as my own summoning could be unpredictable and I didn't want any casualties if I managed to use Merzost, which so far had been unsuccessful.

The Darkling mimicked my stance, also crossing his arms. "The hole you burned in the carpet days otherwise."

"Yeah, well, that's only because you managed to piss me off."

He sighed and pointed across the lake. "Work on your regular summoning by cutting those trees down. Then we'll see."

I nodded and took a step forward, I would prove that I was a powerful as him and that I was ready to use Merzost. I threw my arms wide and brought them together in the motions of the Cut, sending a blade of light across the lake and slicing five trees in half.

I turned around to gloat, but my grin dropped off my face as the Darkling looked thoroughly unimpressed. "That's the best you can do?"

Well, no, it wasn't. I had cut tops off mountains, I had split skiffs in half, but standing here in the grass while getting lectured by the Darkling and my lunch long forgotten in my room, that's all I felt like doing. I shrugged and sent another Cut across the lake, this time bringing halving nine trees.

The Darkling clapped mockingly. "Truly, quite an asset. If we ever get invaded you can bring a tree trunk down on the enemy, squish them to death." In one smooth motion he sent a blade of shadow flying through the air across the lake, bringing twenty trees to the ground with a thundering crash.

I knew this was less of a training exercise and more of a show of power. I crossed my arms again and glared at him. "That isn't fair. You've had centuries to master the Cut and your power."

He shrugged nonchalantly, he almost looked bored. "Centuries or not, you will have to face it, Alina; I will always be stronger than you."

I huffed and scowled at his remark. "You'll always be more arrogant, too. What happened to being equals?"

He narrowed his eyes, staring at me as a stony look over took his face. "We were never equals, and we never will be. Not as long as I am hated by my you, my Grisha and my country because I tried to make the world safer for us, and you are loved simply because you have a different power and you represent light. We,"

He pointed between us, "We could have been equals, but Sankta Alina and the Black Heretic could not."

I didn't know what to say, in only seconds we were in the midst of another argument. I could understand his pain and how he felt, but I would never sympathize with him after all he had done. "People hate you not because you tried to make everything better, but because of how you did it!"

He leaned forward slighlty in challenge. "That's bold of you to say, as you did the same thing. You're just like me, no matter how much you deny it."

I crossed my arms to keep from cutting him in half. "I wasn't the one who created the Fold, who waged these wars that killed our soldiers, who enslaved me and forced me to agree to marriage!"

"I never 'forced' you. I gave you a choice."

"A choice between letting my friends be massacred or marrying you is not a real choice! You never asked!"

"Fine." The calm and collected mask descended over his features again, his posture relaxed snd his voice quieted as if we were simply discussing wheat prices and not having an argument only seconds before.