Page 583 - Fourth Wing

“She’s too fast!” I doubt the dagger has struck anything vital from its

position, and I fight through mouthwatering nausea to balance the only
venin blade I have left and yank hers out. But something isn’t right. The

wound begins to burn, and I immediately battle to keep my balance as acid

races through my veins. The tip on the knife is no longer green as it falls
from my fingers.

“Such untapped power. No wonder we were called here. You could

command the sky to surrender all its power, and I bet you don’t know what
to do with it, do you? Riders never do. I’m going to split you open and see

where all that astonishing lightning comes from.” She waves the other

dagger at me, and I realize she’s playing with me. “Or maybe I’ll let him do
it. You’ll wish for death if I hand you over to my Sage.”

She has a teacher?
She’s a damn student, just like me, and I’m lethally outmatched. I can

barely keep track of which hand her blade is in. My arm has its own

heartbeat, and my side screams.
“Level the playing field,” Xaden orders. He’s split his power and

shadows rush in from the cliffs at my left, throwing the world around me—
and the venin—into a cloud of complete darkness.

And I have the power of light.

I’m the one in control now, and I know the terrain of Tairn’s back like my
own hand. Moving to the right, where I can feel the slope of his shoulder, I

take up a fighting stance, grip my dagger in my good hand, and let my

power explode through the dark, illuminating the sky for one crackling,
priceless second.

The venin is disoriented, her back turned toward me. I plunge the runed

dagger between her ribs—right where Xaden showed me all those months
ago—and yank it out so I don’t lose it. She staggers backward, her face

turning an ashen gray before she falls from Tairn’s back.
I falter, swaying as the acid in my veins burns brighter, harsher,