Chapter 24
Rhydian led Seraphina to the training field, an open expanse behind the palace where the ground was hardened from years of battles fought and won. His excitement was a sharp contrast to the still night air, his heart pounding with an exhilaration he hadn't felt in centuries.
He turned to face her, watching the way her eyes burned with defiance. That fire in her gaze—it sent a thrill through him.
"Am I fighting against you?" she asked, her voice dripping with challenge.
"Yes," he said simply, rolling up his sleeves. "And no one is allowed to interfere. You're free to go all out."
A slow smirk played on her lips, but there was no amusement in it. Only a warning. "All out? You might want to grab a weapon, then. Because in case you haven't figured it out, I only fight to kill."
Rhydian exhaled a short laugh, stepping closer. "Then kill me."
She didn't waste a second.
Before he could blink, she struck. A fist came for his face, but he countered, barely managing to deflect the blow in time. Still, the sheer force of it sent him skidding backward.
He wiped the corner of his lip, testing the faint sting with the tip of his tongue.
"Can you at least let me finish a sentence?" he mused, only half-mocking.
"If I were you, I'd focus on defending yourself."
Rhydian barely had a moment to register the shift in her stance before she lunged again. Fast. Too fast. She landed a blow against his ribs that actually made him grunt. He caught her wrist before the next hit could connect, twisting her off balance and forcing her a step back.
"That's more like it," he murmured, a slow grin spreading across his face.
But she was done playing.
Without warning, flames erupted from her hands.
A blast of fire shot toward him, the heat scorching the air as he dodged just in time. But before he could recover, she was already moving again, her magic crackling wildly.
His pulse thrummed with excitement. This was what he wanted.
Power.
Raw, unrestrained, and dangerous.
But even as he welcomed the thrill of battle, a part of him hesitated. He wanted to push her limits, but he couldn't bring himself to fight her at full strength, he didn't want to hurt her.
Her magic flared, a violent storm crackling in the air around them. The ground pulsed beneath their feet as if the very earth could sense the shift—this wasn't just a witch's power. This was something far more dangerous.
Rhydian felt it with every strike she landed, every burst of energy that singed the air between them. She was powerful—far stronger than her sister. And with each moment, she was growing stronger.
"Still standing?" Seraphina taunted, flames curling at her fingertips like living serpents. "I thought the vampire king was supposed to be stronger than this."
Rhydian smirked, his breath coming faster, his pulse hammering against his ribs. God, why did he like this? The situation they were in—this raw, unrestrained battle—it made his blood boil with a thrill he couldn't explain.
"You'll have to do better than that to bring me down," he challenged, rolling his shoulders.
Her eyes darkened,like she sensed he was making fun of her—and that was all it took her to snapped.
The shift was immediate.
A surge of flames erupted from her, violent and uncontrollable. The force hit Rhydian like a sledgehammer, sending him airborne before he crashed back down with a brutal impact. A deafening crack split the air as the ground beneath them fractured, lines of destruction spreading outward. The grass withered, scorched black where her magic touched, as if even the earth itself feared her.
A charged silence followed.
Seraphina stood at the center of the wreckage, her breath ragged, her body trembling from the sheer force of her own unleashed power. Flames still flickered at her fingertips, wild and erratic, refusing to be quench.
Rhydian rose slowly, brushing dust and ash from his torn sleeve. His smirk returned, sharper this time, eyes gleaming as he took in the sight before him.
"There you are," he murmured, voice laced with satisfaction. "That's the power you've been hiding from me."
Seraphina's gaze wavered, just for a second. Uncertainty flickered in her eyes, like a shadow caught between moments of rage and restraint.
"I…" she started, but the words barely escaped her lips.
Rhydian stepped closer, the heat of her magic still thick in the air between them. It licked at his skin, an invisible force pressing against him, but he welcomed it.
"Stop holding back," he said, voice low, commanding. "Not just with your magic. With your words, too." His gaze locked onto hers, unwavering. "Say what's on your mind. Don't hold anything back." Somehow, part of him wanted to know what she was thinking, her past... and why she hated him so much.
She clenched her jaw. "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
For a moment, it seemed like she might. Something in her eyes—raw, conflicted—suggested she wanted to say something, to lash out, to break past whatever walls she'd built around herself.
But then her body swayed.
Rhydian reacted instantly.
Before she could collapse, he moved, catching her just as she fell forward. Her weight pressed against him, her body completely drained from the sheer force of what she had unleashed. She had passed out.
His arms tightened around her in a protective way, his smirk fading into something unreadable. He realized he had done too much and pushed her past her limit. But as he quietly watched her, he realized something. He had never had this much fun in his life than he did today.