Shadows of Stars |Wielder Chronicles Book I|

(24) A Shield in Battle

"This isn't fair!" a shrill scream came from across the Pit. Adira found the source of the voice-a girl she recognized from the cafeteria. "Five on two?" The sky darkened, and rain poured once again, thunder cracking in the air.

Adira sprinted through the mud, feeling it splatter on her legs, arms, and face. She reached Wren who was shaking violently behind the rock. She had never seen someone who looked so frightened. Draping her arms around her, she whispered to her, promising that everything would be okay, that she would be safe and no one would hurt her.

But as lightning struck the tip of the rock they were hiding behind, she knew that she had to do something.

She gave Wren a squeeze, and stepped out into the open. She glanced to her three friends fighting in the mist. Ryder's eyes flicked to hers between the swipes of his arm, and Taliyah was a blur, popping in and out through the fog.

Obsidian was utterly still in the middle - white wisps curling around him. Adira squinted her eyes and saw them. Behind him rose new bodies made of shadow. The audience went mad, and Adira touched her ears to make sure they weren't bleeding from their screams.

Lightning struck. This time only a few yards from Adira. She was blind and deaf, stumbling through the mud until she tripped, tasting the brine as her face hit the ground.

"Adira!" Ryder screamed. She lifted her heads, her eyes open, but she couldn't see him. Only a fading white.

The hairs on her arms rose, her neck tingled. She could feel the air around her charging, the lightening readying to strike again. Rising to her knees, she crawled, letting the mud cover her body. The charge grew thicker, making her gasp for air, but it wouldn't come.

The lightning was going to strike her. She would never find out what happened to Soren. She wouldn't get to tell Ryder how she felt. She was going to die before she saw the sun again and the feeling sucked the life out of her. A strangled sob escaped from her lips as she dug through the mud.

"Taliyah!" Ryder yelled, his voice frantic. "Get to her!"

But there wasn't time. The blinding white that had been fading now re-lit, electrifying the air before the strike even touched the ground.

She didn't want to die. Not that day. A warmth grew in her belly.

She gritted her teeth, digging her fingers into the mud, and pushed the growing tension outwards until she felt it explode out of her.

She didn't feel the charge anymore. She didn't feel any pain. She didn't die.

Cracking open her eyes, the white that had been blinding her faded, although her vision was still slightly hazy. Everything had quieted - the cheering of the crowd, the rolling storm, the mist battle - all was gone.

Lifting her head, she saw a glimmer, separating her from everyone else. She realized the rain no longer fell on her, but instead cascaded around her, as if the glimmer was a barrier. Protection. A shield.

The Wielders in the Pit stared at her, their mouths agape. She was wondering the same as them, she was sure. How had she done it? She didn't channel anyone, for the power, it was just there - buried, but there.

She finally breathed and the shield vanished, its glimmer disappearing with a blink. She could hear again, the crowd still stamping and roaring like wild animals. A charge began to stifle the air around her again, but this time she was ready.

Her arm shot into the air, just as the lightning cracked out of the dark clouds. It didn't strike her though. Instead, it was reflected by the translucent shield she knew branched out from her closed fist.