A Court of Fire and Ash

Aelin

I knew that fire.
My fire.
I knew how it behaved.
How it attacked.
How it killed.

It was the part of me I had never been able to escape.

I knew every move it made before it did because it had done the same for me.

It was easy for me to dodge and to attack.
My body finally was alive in this world.
It was whole without my missing power.
Stronger.

And the woman became tired.
She wasn't trained.
She only had her power to rely on and I knew it would drain.
Especially without the source she so desperately tried to get from me.

But she seemed to know too.
Because suddenly a wall of fire blocked my way.

I didn't have that much power left in me.
But I had to use every last bit I could spare.
I screamed as my power arose and broke free.

It aimed for the wall that came closer and closer.
Power met power as it sallmed into the wall.
But I couldn't stop it.
I wasn't strong enough and there was no way my power could attack the woman.

I was trapped and helpless.
I screamed in despair.
Feyre couldn't help me either.

I noticed the irony.
Me being defeated by the one thing I had defended myself with all of my life.
My fire killing me.

My fire.

Wait.
It was my fire.
And I still had the source inside of me.
I was the source.
Without me the fire was nothing.
But I was everything without the fire.
And I was in control.

I pulled at my source, something I had never really done before.
But as the source came alive I felt unstoppable.

And then suddenly I felt the source taking back its power.
It rose through me and filled my veins.
And I could pinpoint the exact moment when my fire was fully mine again.

I didn't hesitate.

First the wall stopped moving.
Then it broke and transformed itself into something new.
Something better.
Fiery arrows targeted the woman.

„No! No! That's not possible! How did you do that?”
But I didn't answer her.
I just let the arrows fly.

She didn't even scream as fire met flesh and she collapsed to the ground.

She was dead.

And now I had to worry about something far more important.

Feyre sat on the ground and didn't move as she stared at me with shock in her eyes.

„Feyre? Are you alright?”
„How... What are you?”
„I'm Fae. Just a different type. I will explain it later but that's not important right now. We need to check if you're alright. Can you stand up?”

She nodded but as I helped her to get up she winced in pain.
„Are you sure you can stand?”
„Yes it's just that damn pregnancy. My back hurts all the time. It will pass,believe me.”

„Okay, I need you to tell me what was in that drink”, I asked after freeing her from her fetters.

I just assumed that something must've been in that wine.

„I think it was ashwood. Just a small piece is enough for Fae to get hurt. It blocks my bond to Rhys and takes my powers away. That's why I couldn't help you, believe me I wanted to and I would have if my powers weren't gone.”

„Don't worry about me we are alive that's what matters. Feyre, do you know where we are and how we can get away from here?”

„We are still in night court area. They couldn't have taken us far away in that short amount of time. Velaris is in the west we'll just have to follow the sun. It's nearly dusk and the sun always sets west.”

We walked until the sun went down.
But we couldn't continue walking all night so we searched for a cave and when we found one we rested there.

Feyre fell asleep just a few minutes after we had entered the cave. It didn't take much longer for me to fall asleep.

I woke up because someone started shaking me.
As I opened my eyes I saw Feyre, who was bent over me.
„What's wrong?”
„My water just broke.”