Free The Destroyer Book 3 by Michael-Scott Earle

wide enough to swallow an adult wolf. I killed a few yesterday, but their flesh tasted horrible, it was tough and filled with bones. Soon I would be at Deadflats and could get a real meal.
    Thoughts of food made me think of water. I grabbed at my last skin and drank a quarter of its contents while my feet continued their forward momentum. Before the Salt Desert, I traveled through hundreds of miles of hilly badlands. Food was almost never a concern for me since I easily killed whatever I happened by, but water was scarce and I could only go a few weeks without it.
    The water from my skin poured warm, but it tasted delicious. I had planned on saving some just in case the city somehow did not have a water supply. I reasoned that it was only a few more hours of travel, and if water was not a traded commodity in Deadflats, then life certainly would be. So I drained the rest of the bladder and picked up my pace.
    There were no trees in the endless wasteland, so the wind had an unfettered path to scream across the desert. Most normal humans would need to duck low in an attempt to crawl under the overwhelming gusts. Even most O'Baarni would have found the intense gales hard to cope with and might have thought about setting up camp for the night. But most O'Baarni only harnessed power from the Earth. They used the magic to fuel their bodies, make them stronger, faster, and heighten their senses. O'Baarni who were more skilled could unleash the Earth externally and combine it with Wind to create Fire.
    I had learned to harness all of the Elements. I had mastered Water during the last battle between the humans and Elvens. Iolarathe had unleashed a surprise attack with three indomitable dragons who were decimating our forces with ease. By pulling the energy out of Water, I had defeated one of the dragons, ripping all the moisture from its massive alien body. Then I quickly learned how to pull Fire and Wind when his sire blasted me with a spray of liquid magma from an angry maw. I defeated him as well. The last remaining dragon, the female Recatolusti’catri, escaped, flinging me from her talon in mid-flight and sentencing me to death for murdering her mate and child.
    Except I did not die. Iolarathe found me. We had made love and were discovered by Shlara.
    I forced the painful memories out of my head. I had not thought about that day for many months, but it refused to be bottled up and discarded. The ordeal had taught me how to pull power from all of the Elements. The Wind that tried to thwart me on this salty plain was quickly harnessed into me and used to fuel my body.
    I still did not know why Entas refused to teach us about the other Elements. He had not seemed surprised or angry when I showed him that I had learned how to pull from Water. He only cautioned me against using it, and forbade me from asking him about it. The other Elements felt different from Earth. Earth was slow, consistent and familiar. It felt as easy and soothing as the beating of my heart. Water and Wind felt chaotic inside of me. They tried to force their way out, like blood gushing through a thousand tiny lacerations. Fire was intense pressure, screaming for release, a breath held too long.
    I had plenty of time to practice using them now. There was no army to manage. No people to train. No enemy to crush under my boot. I only wanted to find Iolarathe and continue to grow in strength and power.
    I began to perceive a faint orange glow across the emptiness. My vision was as keen as an eagle’s and I guessed there were another forty miles ahead of me before I would reach the outskirts of the town. I had chased Iolarathe for so many years now, it was hard to remember my life before this. The years had been spent in solitude, which did strange things to my perception of time. I did not actually know how much time had passed since I killed Shlara.
    I did not want to know.
    Iolarathe remained a few steps ahead of me. Sometimes I missed her by months, sometimes by