"Again."
She obeyed, this time keeping some back.
"Now, take theirs and do the same."
The men had crept closer. Her father fell back, and she took a deep breath before approaching the men. She felt Jule's presence without seeing him.
"I'll go," Darian said, stepping in front of her. He drew a knife and lowered his stance.
Yully pulled what she could of his energy into her body. As if feeling what she did, Darian lunged at her. The magic took hold of her, and she danced away from his strikes as if they were in slow motion. His knife blade grazed her once and turned into a feather that he flung away. He snatched her throat, and she closed her eyes, pulling his magic into her and using it to fling him away.
Her father laughed coldly. The magic made her head spin, but she focused on the two most powerful sources: Damian and Jonny. A large form stepped in front of them suddenly, blocking her. She stared at the towering man with red eyes, not sensing him at all.
Worse, she was losing her grip on the magic within her. It shouldn't have been flooding her like it was, as if someone there was feeding her while Darian seemed to be sucking it out of her, despite her attempt to restrain it.
"I'm not done yet," Darian said and rose from the ground. "You got a piece of me, but that's it."
He pulsed as strongly as the two blocked men with the power he'd absorbed. Yully faced him, unable to pull his power without touching him or reverse the drain he had on her.
"Again," she said. She stretched her senses and pulled everything to her. The ground around the monument was rich with the long dead whose souls were trapped.
Amplified by magic, Yully's fighting skill was inhuman. Jule watched the beautiful woman knock Darian to the ground for a second time. Her hair glowed as if it were on fire, and she floated, her slender form clad in simple leggings and a tunic. Her movements were faster than any Guardian's. She fought with tenacity born of desperation. His newfound power had broken whatever barrier the Watcher put between them. Their bond was stronger than ever, and Jule's body bristled with magic that felt both foreign and familiar, like a memory long ago forgotten.
Xander stood before the Black and White Gods, the only thing keeping Yully from stealing their magic. The Other on the other side of the monument watched with a cold smile, his gaze traveling upwards.