Free Dire Sparks (Song of the Aura, Book Five) by Gregory J. Downs Page B

opened her mouth, then shut it. Wait one moment. If it was Gramling, he wouldn’t’ve knocked. Someone’s out there, trying to see if I’m awake.
     
    That couldn’t be good. She almost said something aloud, but then thought better of it. She couldn’t run from this problem, whatever it was… and she had her suspicions. Better to wait and feign sleeping than to confront whoever was out there. Or what ever. She shivered, and closed her eyes to slits.
     
    She could barely see in the dark of the room, but it seemed that something was wrong with the machine-lock on her door. All the Acolytes had them, those Golden Nation inventions, and never left them unlocked. Hers was moving… was someone fiddling with it on the other side? Her key hung on a nail beside her bed. How did they plan on…
     
    … then the metal plate and mechanism of the lock sagged, like dripping wax, slithering down the door and melting away.
     
    Pit Striding. Blasted good Pit Striding. Just like Gramling’s. Curse him, if that’s who this is, she thought. Someone meant her hurt, or death… that much was obvious. Elia closed her eyes as sounds of shuffling and a muted thud came from beyond the heavy, blackwood door. She had to prepare the mental part of her summoned flame, before they broke in, so that she’d be able to…
     
    … The door creaked open, inch by inch. She uttered a quick prayer to the Aura, silently gritting her teeth…
     
    Suddenly, two dark shapes crashed into her room.
     
    Elia leaped out of the bed, summoning flames, tossing her blanket in front of her. The fire-ball thrown by the first assassin burned the sheet to a smoking crisp, but it protected her for a vital moment. Her own white flame whooshed into existence, and she slammed all her energy into the closest figure, who was thrown back out into the hallway as a burning corpse.
     
    The second assassin was on her instantly, tackling her to the ground and causing her white flame, her Fellspark, to sputter out. She struggled against him, kicking and spitting, as he tried to bring a flaming dagger to her throat. In the light of the unholy flame, she saw that it was one of the stronger Rain Nymphs, his navy-skinned face contorted in a soundless grimace.
     
    The sight shocked her into action. She spit in his face, willing the saliva to boiling heat. Sea Striding came to her only with difficulty, but her rage fueled the move, and her attacker dropped his weapon, clutching his sizzling face. Elia managed to get a leg free, and kicked him in the gut. He spasmed, trying to reach his dagger again, but she snatched it away and buried it in his shoulder with a scream.
     
    “ Lekor veele!” the nymph gasped, falling to the side with tears of pain running down his face. Elia ignored his words, slamming him to the ground and straddling him as he’d done to her. With one hand she beat off a weak attack from his one good arm, and with the other she seized him by the throat.
     
    Her left hand caught his wrist, and her right hand squeezed. The bigger nymph hissed in pain as her touch grew red-hot, but though his eyes bulged and tears kept falling; he refused to scream.
     
    Her hands burst into flame. The nymph thrashed, but she held him down with the strength of rage. Or was it? She felt as if the blood in her veins was on fire; literally on fire, as if the water in her body had boiled to a point where it had begun to burn. In some corner of her mind, she wondered if she had somehow tapped Sea Striding, using her body’s water to strengthen her… but the thought soon drowned in her sea of rage.
     
    “ You think you can kill me?” she hissed to the flailing nymph, using her native tongue. “I am the Halanyad, fool! The Aura is with me, and you have only a Demon to guide you!”
     
    She barely knew the meaning of her own words, but they affected her would-be attacker hugely. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. His eyes began to steam, and his struggles grew weaker and