Back to Atlantis by Bar Sagi (best book reader txt) 📗

felt shocked. “The king is alive?” She wanted to ask: His name is Richard?

“Richard is the beast’s prisoner.” Varley smirked. “He has been on the edge of death for years. It is a miracle he is still alive.”

Varley tossed David away, who lay unmoving, like a ragdoll.

Varley turned his gaze on Yasmin, but she barely felt it.

David’s father was alive?

She felt herself get dragged by magic again to Varley, but she didn’t fight until she felt him touch her arm.

Then Yasmin snapped awake, the spell he had put over her gone. She started kicking Varley, punching him, anything to get away.

Varley tried grabbing her shoulder, but she moved. Instead, he grabbed her necklace and pulled so hard, he almost choked her.

Yasmin tried to pull herself away, and she did.

Yasmin fell back on the grass, gasping. She looked at Varley, who also seemed bewildered that she had managed to escape. Yasmin looked at him again, and panicked. Her necklace was in his hand.

Yasmin felt a slight stab of pain in her neck and winced as she stood up. Maybe she didn’t have a chance of beating Varley, but she had to try.

Yasmin felt a rush of power course through her veins, making her scream and drop to her knees.

What was going on? Why was everything hurting so much? She wondered.

She rolled around on the grass, unaware that a small tornado had appeared on the hillside, and it was moving away from them. All she could think about was the never-ending pain in her body. She just wanted to end, to stop living.

Rain stared pouring down on everyone. It turned into hail, and then to snow. A second later the sun came out again, melting everything, shining so bright that everyone closed their eyes.

Varley inched away from Yasmin, fear on his face as he dropped the necklace to the ground.

***

David, meanwhile, stared at Yasmin with horror. “Yasmin!” he shouted, trying to get closer to her. “Yasmin!”

“No, David!” Gloriana shouted, making a protective barrier around them.

If Yasmin had lost control of her powers, she could easily destroy the town. “All of her power rushed into her at once when the necklace was pulled off her! She is dying! And she is unable to control herself. If you get close to her, then you’ll die too!”

“I don’t care!” David yelled, walking toward Yasmin and falling as the ground started to shake. “I have to help her!”

Lava started pouring from the cracks, and David did his best to avoid them.

He watched Yasmin writhing on the ground in agony and felt like crying. Why did she have to suffer? Why?

“Ahhh!” Yasmin screamed, the sound lost in her volume of pain. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think. It was like being tossed in Lava and being burned inside out.

“Yasmin!” David shouted, reaching her. He picked her up in his arms, not letting go even when she was picked up in the air by winds. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth open in a soundless scream.

“Please, Yasmin, don’t die!” he pleaded, wrapping his arms around her neck. “You can’t die! I never got the chance to tell you…” He sobbed, unable to speak anymore.

***

Yasmin was vaguely aware of something or someone holding her, trying to help her. She heard a familiar voice and nearly cried.

“David,” she said, her head falling.

“Yasmin!” David cried as they fell to the ground. “No!” He hugged her even tighter and cried, tears running down his face. “You can’t die! I want to die! I want to die instead… Yasmin, I love you! Please…” He sobbed, unable to continue.

Yasmin could hear David yelling something, but with all the pain, she was unable to process it. What was he saying?

“Yasmin, don’t die,” she heard, and the pain subsided a bit as she tried to hear more, to focus on him. “I love you, please…”

Yasmin felt shocked. Had she heard right? Was her mind playing tricks? Had David Really said that? But he had acted like he hated her for the past six months! So, why?

“David, don’t lie,” she mumbled, opening her eyes. She saw David’s face above her, filled with tears. “It’s mean.”

David touched his forehead to hers. “I’m not lying! Please, please don’t die!”

Yasmin felt the pain subside as her body grew used to all the magic. She reached up and brushed away the tears the kept flowing down his face. The last six months vanished, and all she could see was the face of the man she loved, telling her he loved her too.

Yasmin saw someone knock David out of the way, where he fell, unconscious.

“Shut up, princeling,” Varley snarled, looking down at Yasmin with disdain. “So, you’ve finally gotten all your powers, huh? You’ve caused quite a disaster over here, mage.” He spat the last word at her.

“You…” Yasmin glared at Varley as she got up, her legs trembling from all the magic. She stared down at her hand. It was vibrating, as if she’d had too much coffee to drink. “Leave David alone!”

“David will die after I capture you.” Varley grinned, showing yellow teeth. “Isn’t it fitting, to watch the person you love die, while being unable to help?”

“NO!” Yasmin whisper-yelled, standing ready to fight. “You will have to kill me first!”

“You talk big.” Varley tried to pull her toward him with magic, but she swiped her hand, and he was knocked back instead.

Varley lay on his knees, looking at her in shock. “How…”

“I won’t let you hurt David!” Yasmin gathered her magic power in one hand. Even though all that power made her head spin, she tried to gather as much as possible to use in a spell.

Yasmin remembered Gloriana teaching her the basics of Rune magic months ago. Even though Yasmin had refused to do magic anymore, she had still learned theories.

There was a spell intended to drain someone’s power for a limited time, called the power drainer. Yasmin had never done it, but it had looked hard. She knew the theory, though.

Yasmin knelt on the ground, drawing