Beyond the Sapphire Gate: Epic Fantasy-Some Magic Should Remain Untouched (The Flow of Power Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Sixty percent will go to you, of course. Sixty-five, if you push,” Atoi forced a wide smile upon her lips, though it remained far from her dark green eyes.
    Crystalyn realized what Atoi wanted a quick sell. Even if she agreed to her offer, Crystalyn was certain she’d receive little, if anything from it. Now that they’d spoken of negotiation, the moment Atoi left her sight with the candle, she’d slip away. Worse, the girl would lead her into an ambush. “The candle isn’t for sale, little one. It’s mine, give it to me.” Holding her hand outstretched, she waited, redrawing the symbol back to its original gray pattern with a white outline. After all, she didn’t want to damage Atoi too badly.
    Atoi hesitated then slowly extended her right hand.
    Crystalyn brought her symbol out to hover before her.
    Atoi’s aquamarine eyes widened.
    Stepping forward, Crystalyn grabbed the candle as she released the symbol outward.
    Atoi’s free hand slipped into a slit in her dress, coming out as a metallic blur, stabbing upward.
    Crystalyn’s symbol spun and separated into stacked concentric circles of black then rippled outward, dispersing a deep faa-rooooom sound.
    Atoi’s knife froze scarce inches from Crystalyn’s hammering heart as the first of the circles slammed into the girl, ripping her from the ground. The second and third circles hit her in mid-air, flinging her faster backwards end over end. Two thirds of the way along the alley, Atoi landed with a dull thud . Sliding a dozen feet on her side, she crashed into a line of refuse barrels, the jeweled dagger still clenched in her hand. Gray dust exploded upward, hanging in stasis, before billowing down to coat everything with thick fallout.
    Crystalyn gazed transfixed at the limp form. Have I killed another person?
    As panic bloomed, Crystalyn squashed it. She couldn’t go through that again. The blackness had nearly swallowed her last time. A single, monumental moment of uncontrollable panic could lock her inside her mute, screaming mind with no way out this time.
    She paused to assess the situation with cold logic. What had gone wrong? For all her careful redrawing, the symbol had struck with much stronger force than she’d expected. The symbol had been under the Aggression heading, yet it was only supposed to be a minor pushback, meant to knock an opponent away. Why so much power? Was she stronger than the book’s author was? No, if anything, she felt weaker. Even the black candle seemed heavier in her hand; though it gave off faint warmth… wait! The black candle…could it be augmenting her…her… ability? It was the only logical explanation. Sweet Mother! Now she had a weapon better than Atoi’s bloody dagger.
    Spying a pile of pallets stacked haphazardly at the back of the alley, Crystalyn brought out the symbol. Adding her touch of complexity, she combined it with another, changing the white outline to gold, the gray to silver. Sending the now golden stacked circles soaring down the alley, they slammed into the pallets, generating a thunderous boom. The pallets burst into grainy particles. Behind them, chunks of stone and clay shingles rained from the wall and roof, clattering to the ground. Reverberating from the wall, a concussive wave swept toward her, blasting dust and debris higher than the alley walls on both sides.
    Before she could think to run, raw energy knocked her to the ground, swiping oxygen from her lungs. Many heartbeats passed before the wave slackened enough to let her gasp for breath. She struggled to her feet. The throbbing in her head matched her racing heart, bringing on a nosebleed, this time. Well, that was dumb, she thought. She could’ve killed herself. She could see the holofeed now—“Crystalyn Creek commits magical suicide by being stupid.” Wiping her bleeding nose with the back of her hand, she looked for something to stop the flow. Her eyes fell on the swordsman’s corpse. A brown tunic clothed the man’s torso,