Scholomance 9 by Logan Jacobs (read books for money .TXT) 📕

brow and my hands tremble. The light hovered in the air, but it refused to switch course. Samara was pushing against my power, and it made us both shake with determination as we tried to change the will of her curse. My head pounded with agony, and it felt like all my bones were about to break, but I refused to give in. I knew Samara was feeling the same thing, and she was just as determined as I was to win this fight. Neither of us were prepared to let our power falter, and I didn’t care if it took all my willpower and strength to make her fall down on her knees and offer herself up to me. I vowed to become her master, and by the time this fight was over, she would return to the darkness.

“Give up,” the elder goddess hissed through gritted teeth. “You will obey me and fall down to my power--”

“Never,” I interjected, and the flame of fortitude in her eyes burned even brighter.

I focused on the spell, and with all my willpower and strength, I willed the magic to burst into oblivion. I didn’t want to harm Samara, so I figured the best course of action to take would be to completely destroy the curse. With that in mind, I closed my eyes and commanded her spell to do my unholy bidding.

“Motus!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

I opened my eyes, and the spell grew larger like an iridescent cloud and shone brighter than the sun. It burned, and its power felt like it could melt my eyeballs from my sockets, but my eyes never left the holy incantation. Samara’s features were illuminated by the vivid light, and I could see her eyes widen with anger as her spell exploded into a thousand shards of icy glass.

“Noooooo!” the goddess screamed before we both flew backward.

My body soared into the air, and it was like someone had punched me in the gut. Even though we were on top of a canvas of clouds, it was like my body was crashing down on solid stone when I hit the surface. The breath was completely knocked out of me, and for a moment I thought my bones were about to break in half.

“Master!” my women screamed, but they remained in place.

This was my own fight.

I could hear Samara gasp and gulp for air, and I knew she was suffering as well, even if I couldn’t sit up and see her. My body was limp, my throat was raw, and my mouth was dry.

But by hell, I was determined to see this through.

Get up, Cole, the woman from my dreams urged. You’re so close. Don’t give up now.

“I won’t,” I said through the blood in my mouth.

I forced myself to get up, and I pushed down the pain that was flooding through my entire body. When I looked at Samara, her face was contorted into a mask of agony, and blood trickled down her nose. She was red-faced, and her gown was slipping from her shoulders as she struggled to stand up.

“Using my own power against me?” Samara breathed, and her voice was hoarse. “Do you really think that’s going to stop me? Volito!”

A sudden ball of red light seeped from her hand, and when it hit my chest, it made me fly backward even further and crash on the ground even harder. I heard a crunching sound, and it felt like my ribs were broken. I coughed up blood, and my head pulsed with a pounding pain I could not push away. Still, even if I was on the verge of death, I wouldn’t lay here like a limp fawn.

I would fight until the very end if I had to.

So, with all the strength I could find within me, I forced myself to sit up, and when I stared at Samara, there was a newfound hunger and anticipation in her ocean-colored eyes. She was dying to see me perish, but before she could utter another spell, I focused on the clouds and ordered them to obey my will. I yearned for their wispy tendrils to snake around her ankles and bring her down to her knees, and then I made my move.

Motus.

The clouds quickly obeyed my command, and Samara gasped when the crimson shadows wrapped around her and pulled her down. She screamed in anger and thrashed around like a wild animal as the elements continued to keep her prisoner, but my hold on her was strong.

“Stop fighting it, Samara,” I grunted before I rose to my feet and neared her. “It’s over.”

“No!” she cried out, and when I narrowed my eyes at the clouds, they clung onto her skin even harder.

“It’s over!” I snarled.

“You will not use my own kingdom against me!” she bellowed, and her eyes suddenly turned a bright shade of lightning-yellow. “Libertas!”

My concentration was suddenly interrupted like someone took a pair of unbreakable scissors to an iron string and cut it. The clouds swiftly released her, and she tossed back her hair. Then her lips curled into a scowl before she raised both hands in the air.

“Et converteret ad se regnum!” Samara screamed.

The clouds began to tremble, the sky started to crack like it was made out of thin glass, and soon, it fell from above like rain. Everything felt like it was coming apart, like her heavenly lord was destroying everything in its path.

My women gasped in shock and fell over, and Vanessa did her best to stand up straight, but I knew it was taking all her concentration. I was also struggling to remain upright, and when I looked at Samara, there was a wild fierceness in her eyes, one that was on the brink of total madness.

“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded as