Chapter ONE - Weebly

vanished from Darrow’s face, leaving only an angry
glare.
“Scalding again? Not very creative, are you?” He
dragged the edge of Ethan’s knife across his hand.
“Fine. Here’s an old favorite for you.”
It couldn’t have been any more painful if Darrow
had taken a bayonet, plunged it through Ethan’s head,
and pinned him thus to the tree. Ethan let out a wail that
echoed across the surrounding fields and beat his fists
against the tree trunk until he thought the bones in his
hands would shatter again.
“Two spells at once,” he heard Darrow say.
“You’re learning. A pity that you won’t live long enough
to put your new skills to use. Your time is up.”
The agony ended. But immediately, Ethan felt a
sudden odd tugging at his chest. It didn’t exactly hurt.
But his heart had begun to labor; he couldn’t draw
breath. A shadow darkened his sight; the firelight faded.
He could barely keep his balance.
And he thought, This is what it’s like to be the
source for a killing spell.