A Court of Dark and Decay

Chapter 7- Hold on, sweetheart.

Cassian didn't think twice before he jumped the railing and dived under after her.

He didn't think about what happened in the estate. How he had seen everything her magic had left behind. The rot. The dead plants in her wake. He just dove.

Before he could hit the water though, a white hot ball of power burst from the surface of the water.

Nesta.

She couldn't control her power. She knew she had to go somewhere safe.

Nesta was brilliant.

His wings caught him merely seconds before that white hot power sucked the air from where he was. The power pulled inward, and the waves obeyed. It was like a black hole, dragging in anything within a certain proximity.

Cassian tried to fly up to see just how large that proximity was, but he couldn't get out of the pull of Nesta's power. Not only was it physical pulling him toward the water, it was intoxicating to be this close.

Her power was in the air all around him, singing to him, dancing with him. He didn't think he could resist getting closer even if he weren't caught in the pull.

So he folded his wings in fully, took a deep breath, and dived into the water.

And just before he broke the surface of the water, just before he could touch that hypnotizing white magic, it turned the darkest shade of black beneath the waves and exploded outwards.

That magic was dark, Void. It wasn't natural.

Cassian was thrown from the water, slammed against the rocks by the blast. He shouted in pain as he felt the sensitive wings on his back tear against the jagged edges of the rocks. It knocked the wind out of him, he felt a crack as two of his ribs broke from the impact.

Then he fell ten feet down onto the sand.

Which was odd, as there was no beach here, just water.

Nesta's blast had blown all the water out of this part of the Sidra.

Cassian lifted his head, groaning as he tried to survey the area. He had to find Nesta before the water returned. Much of the water had been blown upwards, and started to fall back down as if it were raining.

He slowly got to his feet, feeling the sand slosh underneath his boots.

Nesta was about ten feet from him, laying on her back. There was some sort of aura surrounding her, but it was fading to quickly for Cassian to tell what it was.

He could already feel his broken skin and bones mending as he stumbled toward her.

She was breathing, but he didn't know if she was conscious, and they had to get away before the waves came and water returned to bury them.

He knelt beside her.

Her eyes were open and she was breathing heavily through her mouth She didn't appear to be injured at all, though she was whispering something over and over that Cassian couldn't quite understand.

He pushed a strand of hair from her face as he grasped her hand and whispered back to her, "I can't understand you, sweetheart."

She tore her eyes from their unblinking stare at the sky and held Cassian's gaze.

He could have sworn for just a moment, her eyes were completely white.

Nesta stopped whispering, seeming to only realize where she was, what was happening.

"C..Cassian?" She furrowed her brows. She sat up and flitted his hand away, ever the independent female. As Cassian stood with her, a sharp pain  made him hiss and drop to his knees.