The Nation Charmer-Book 1

Chapter 22

Picture of Olive again on the side. :)

Chapter 22

          Small fires burned over the grassy plains near the old castle. Smoke filled the air. Not a single sound could be heard all around the clearing.   

              Ella blinked hard to clear her vision. Black spots danced in front of her eyes. She struggled to resist the urge throw up.

              A faint gasp brought Ella back to reality and she scrambled to her feet, ignoring the aches and pains from the battle that had happened the day before. The war had been one of the hardest Ella had fought in.

             Ella stood up, swaying slightly as blood flowed to her head. Leaning on her staff, she limped over to the source of the groans.

            Edith was lying there, her fingers splayed out in every direction. She was clutching her staff in her right hand. Her legs were twisted in a strange angle and ice was creeping up her arm.

            Ella winced as a memory dawned on her. After the battle, the enemy magicians had captured Rosalie and Niccolo and bore them off. They had set fire to the whole place. Edith had quenched the flames, sufficiently saving all the surviving magicians.

           Unfortunately, not many of them had survived. As far as she could see, Ella was the only survivor. She couldn’t even see Olive, her best friend and partner.

           Corpses littered the ground. Most of them were mangled and oozing blood. Others were in statue form, dead because of overuse of magic.

           “Hhoisha fhesta!” Ella intoned. (Fire ball).

            Ella brought her palms together and pressed her hands against Edith’s arm. Flames melted the ice and, as a result, the ice worked faster.

           Ella growled and forced herself to create more fire. Flames melted the ice faster but Ella was physically drained of power.

           Smoke curled from her fingertips but there was no fire. Panic filled her. If she didn’t save Edith, no one could claim the other Magicians of Water. As a result, they couldn’t really kill Varmer. It was her job to save Edith.

           Ella focused on her power. If she used her body temperature to ignite, surely she could save Edith? Ella concentrated on her fiery aura. Flames burst into existence along her arms. Thank goodness her clothes didn’t catch on fire either. That would have been pretty embarrassing.

           Cupping her fingers into a circle, she blew hard. Sparks flew and the fire along her body hit Edith. The ice melted and then redoubled its attack. Ella winced at the force of it.

           She stumbled to her knees, desperately trying to keep from spontaneously combusting or losing consciousness.

           Edith blinked her blue eyes open. Although she knew she was dying, her steely gaze had not faded. She locked eyes with Ella and held her gaze.

          “Give this to Dahlia,” she whispered, handing Ella her staff. “When her staff breaks, give this to her.”

           “How do you know that?” Ella asked, troubled.

            As far as she knew, Edith was not a diviner like Luna. Edith was the original Magician of Water and had the power of extra fast speed.

           Edith attempted a weak smile. It came out more like a snarl and Ella cringed at the sight of it. She tried to summon more flames but her aura was also becoming exhausted.