22. Ella

Chapter 22

Ella

Ella had missed Rylee’s apartment. She’d missed Rylee’s plush, velvet teal couch. She’d missed the gorgeous splashes of pink and blue and white that fused together to create the painting that hung above the sofa. She’d missed the marble coffee table and the blue, gold, and cream stripped carpet. She’d missed the way the atmosphere always smelled a tiny bit like chocolate.

Most of all, she had missed her big sister who now sat beside her, her heroine, an angel without wings, the only deity she believed in. Even if she couldn’t truly feel her through the astral projection, sitting in Rylee’s company, even as a ghost in her world, was more than Ella had felt in so long.

“Damn.” Rylee whistled through her teeth. Ella had just finished telling her about her final conversation with Kellen. Rylee raised her hand for a high-five, shouting, “I’m so fucking proud of you!”

Ella laughed, trying to return the gesture, but her fingers went through Rylee’s hand.

“I don’t know what to do now,” she grumbled, resting her cheek in her palm. “Every fiber of my being is begging me to go to him, but how is that right? He’s been a massive dickhead and made the first four weeks of my time in Cavale absolute hell, yet now that he’s decided he doesn’t hate me, I’m supposed to just spread my legs and act like nothing happened? Fuck that!”

“Fuck that! ” Mason, Rylee’s husband, echoed from the kitchen. “You deserve better, El. I’m proud of you for sticking up for yourself.”

“Thanks, Mase.” Mason finally emerged from the kitchen with a mug of hot chocolate for his wife, cheeks flushed from the steam blowing up from the heated beverage, his black hair pulled back in a messy bun.

“Thank you, baby.” Rylee accepted the mug, then pouted at Ella. “I wish you could have some with us.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.” Watching her siblings enjoy their drinks and exist in front of her, not through a phone screen but really in front of her, even as a hologram, was enough to complete her joy.

Rylee sipped her drink, then asked, “If Kellen comes back to you and apologizes for what he’s done, what will you do then?” Ella threw her head back against the couch pillows and groaned up at the ceiling.

“I don’t fucking know!” she cried, Rylee and Mason laughing at her dramatics. “It doesn’t make sense for me to start anything with him, with anyone in Cavale. I’m not staying. The second the school year is up, I’m getting the fuck out of there. Why put myself in a position to lose something if I don’t have to?”

“Because you want to, El.” Rylee nudged her. “You want him, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“How can I want him, though?” She lurched into an upright position. “He’s been a terrible person for the majority of the time I’ve known him. What does that say about my morals?”

“He hasn’t been a terrible person for the majority of the time you’ve known him.” Ella squinted her eyes at Rylee.

“He tried to drown me, Ry.”

“Weeks ago, because the Primordials are conditioned to hate humans and he didn’t know yet how amazing you are. Look, I’m not excusing what he did. If we ever meet, he’ll need to kneel at my feet and beg for forgiveness if he wants my approval, but I don’t think you can entirely blame him for his treatment of you at the beginning, given the way the Primordials are taught to view humans. You know him far better than I do, and for you to have any interest in him, when you’re the pickiest person I know, tells me he’s worth something. ” Rylee scooted closer to her. “He hasn’t been all bad to you, El. He’s defended you multiple times against Daniel, Oliviana, and with that rude father today. In his own limited way, he’s actually been trying to make an effort with you. It’s not the words you want to hear or deserve to hear, but I don’t think that’s nothing.”

“You’re such a lawyer,” Mason laughed at her. While Rylee flipped him her middle finger, Ella chewed her bottom lip.

“Do you think I was too hard on him?”

“Absolutely not,” Mason asserted. “You had every right to say those things, and he needs to apologize.”

“If he doesn’t apologize,” Rylee continued, “then you have your answer and you’re better off for it. If he does apologize, and he really means it, I hope you don’t shut it down completely. Let yourself explore it a little. There would be no harm done, and you might get something great out of it, even for a short while. You owe it to yourself to see.”

Ella wasn’t ready to capitulate. “I’m counseling his siblings,” she reminded them. “It’s a huge ethical dilemma.”

“A forbidden romance? Oof!” Rylee squealed, fanning herself. “Even sexier.” Ella rolled her eyes.

The sound of a fist pounding into a door—followed by a strangled holler that sounded like a garbled rendition of her name—pierced the ether, hacking through this beautifully crafted illusion and raining an anguished ballad down onto their heads.

“ Noella, open up!” the distressed voice yelled.

“Is that Kellen?’ Rylee began hitting Mason’s arm and kicking her feet at the cushion, shrieking, “Oh, it’s so on!”

“I’ll check in later,” Ella promised, then yanked her finger out of the astral projector, demolishing the illusion so she abruptly returned to her apartment in Cavale, where she’d been squatting on the couch, Freya licking the bottom of her feet. She set the astral projector aside and scrambled off the sofa, hurrying to meet the voice.

Ella was not prepared for the Kellen she found when she opened the door.

Kellen’s face was not a man who’d come to grovel for her forgiveness. It was a man who was experiencing, piece by piece, the disintegration of his sanity, panic blistering in his emerald eyes.

“What’s wrong?” she gasped, left winded by his haunted expression.

He gushed out in a frenzied breath, “My mother’s here for the twins.”

Ella didn’t think. She didn’t hesitate. She ran into her apartment, poured some water and dry food into Freya’s bowls, grabbed her jacket, slipped her feet into her shoes, and scurried to meet him at the door.

“Are Jare and Laya waiting outside?” she asked him, locking her door behind her and zipping her coat.

“I don’t know where they are.” Ella whipped around to face him.

“You don’t know?” she spluttered. “You didn’t get them yet?”

“No. Dyer just called me. I was on…” He tripped over his words. “I was on my…my way…to talk to you.”

The implication of that struck her in the heart. She felt the impact of it crash into her as if he’d thrown a physical object at her chest. He was coming to speak to her. To apologize. To give her what she needed.

He rushed on, “I was coming to talk to you, and I got the call, and I didn’t…the first thing…I just…I just needed to…you…I…I…”

“Hey,” Ella whispered, framing his face with her hands, stroking her thumbs across his cheeks. “It’s okay. We’re going to go get them now. They’ll be fine. Everything is going to be fine, okay?”

“I need you,” he groaned, like it was essential for her to hear him say that at least once, in case he never got the chance to say it again. Ella swallowed the lump digging into the walls of her throat.

“I’m here,” she breathed, her thumb tracing his trembling bottom lip. “Let’s go get them together.”

“Don’t leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Kellen.” There was so much for them to still discuss, but right now, none of that mattered. “Let’s go get them together, okay?” She wrapped her arms around one of his, shepherding him down the hall, her pace quickening once Kellen seemed able to keep up with her.

They began sprinting through campus—then, when Kellen determined Ella was lagging too far behind and wasn’t running fast enough, he grabbed her waist and tossed her over his shoulder, racing across Delmarth with her dangling from his back and his hands cradling her hips to keep her from slipping off.

“Is this really necessary?” she hissed, bobbing on his shoulder.

“It’s necessary to me,” he answered, though that could have meant a million different things that Ella didn’t have time to carefully analyze.

Kellen lifted her off his shoulder and set her down on her feet once they were in front of the Varmin student housing.

“Go get Jare and Laya,” he directed her, shedding his jacket. “They’re in room three-seventy, third floor. I’ll be fucking shocked if they’re not in there, but if they’re not, we’ll scour the whole campus until we find them.”

“What’re you going to be doing?” she fretted.

“Shifting into my Varmin form so we can get the fuck out of here the minute you come downstairs.”

Ella paused a moment. “I’ve never seen your dragon form before.” She couldn’t hide her excitement.

“Go, Rose,” he demanded, shooing her towards the door, then threw in a clipped, but sincere, “Please,” at the slow raise of her eyebrows.

Ella rushed inside, taking the stairs two at a time and springing herself forward with the help of the railing. She skimmed the tiny numbers on the doors, finally landing in front of room three-seventy, where she proceeded to bang her fist into the door in a synchronized succession, not relenting until Laya answered.

“Ms. Rose?” Laya squeaked, sounding a mixture of confused and thrilled.

“Is Jarion here?” Ella asked, peeking over Laya’s head to see into the room. Jarion lounged on his bed, bulky headphones shrouding both ears, his head bumping to the tinny music blasting from the speakers. Ella slid past Laya into the room, slapping her hand at the end of Jarion’s bed to rip his attention off his phone.

“Ms. Rose,” he spluttered, yanking the headphones off. “You scared me.”

“Sorry. Grab some clothes to sleep in and toiletries,” she ordered both twins. “We need to go. Now.”

“What’s happening?” Laya demanded, her voice cracking. Ella’s heartbeat hammered in her ears. She didn’t want to tell them, aware of the emotions she’d be engendering in them, but they deserved to know.

“Your mother is here.” Nothing could’ve set the twins moving faster.

Laya’s movements were quick and erratic, stuffing random clothes and anything possibly essential into her backpack. Jarion’s breathing grew labored, his pace more slow, fumbling his items as he hurried to pack them away. Ella ended up taking over for him, directing him to sit in a chair and quietly asking where certain things were located so he wouldn’t need to fuss over anything.

“Where’s Kell?” Laya asked, her tone of voice strong with determination, like she’d given herself a task and couldn’t see beyond that into her own feelings, wouldn’t allow herself to go there yet.

“Outside. Shifting.”

“He sent you to come get us?” Ella nodded. Laya’s eyes glimmered with the emotion she was expending energy compartmentalizing. “I’m glad,” she whimpered. Ella squeezed Laya’s shoulder.

“Is that everything?” Ella asked Jarion, whose breaths were so tortured that they sounded like they were corroding his lungs. Ella dropped to her knees in front of him. “Jare, look at me.” She cupped his face, guiding his eyes to meet hers. “We’ve got you. Okay? Kellen and I have you guys. Nothing is going to happen to you. We won’t let her touch you.”

Jarion choked on a sob. “Promise me?” Ella stretched up on her knees to plant a kiss on his head.

“I promise with every fiber of my being, Jare, your brother and I will do everything in our power not to let her touch you,” Ella swore against his forehead. Jarion squeezed her so tight that she coughed out a wheeze. “Shall we go?” Jarion nodded, gripping her wrists like he needed her hands on his face, like he needed the extra warmth to remember how the function. “Let’s go meet Kellen downstairs.”

Laya, ever the sweetheart, offered to take Jarion’s backpack for him so Ella could keep her arms around him.

When they cleared the stairs and shoved past the front door, they met the humungous, glorious dragon sitting on the lawn. His massive form was cloaked in glossy, obsidian scales, imbued with a resplendent gold sheen. Enormous, pearly eyes sat high within Kellen’s horned, bony skull, one gargantuan central tusk jutting out of his forehead, just above thick, rounded ears. A string of small crystal growths trickled across the jawline, several rows of sharp teeth leaking out from the sides of his mouth. Four powerful limbs carried his cumbersome body and ended in huge nails resembling onyx. His wings, which at their full breadth were the same width of the entire Varmin sector, were scythe-shaped, sharp hooks growing from the endings of each bone, almost giving it a feathered look, the sheath framing his wings tinted orange, glowing as if fashioned from fire.

Where one might have been overcome by fear from beholding a creature with such an imposing presence, Ella felt nothing but reverence, in awe of the unfathomable power emanating from the regal beast.

Familiar, molten emerald eyes landed on her, over where her arm surrounded his shaking brother.

Is he okay? Kellen’s voice saturated her mind, his eyes soft despite the rest of his appearance being so gruesome.

He’s terrified, she replied, not wishing to lie to him.

Kellen tucked in one of his wings while he unfurled the other towards the asphalt, creating a gradient for Jarion and Laya to climb. Ella would have offered to help them mount their brother, but the twins seemed to know what to do, how to carefully ascend his wing without hurting the delicate membrane that composed the center of it, which under the spotlight of the sun almost resembled the texture of gossamer.

She lingered close to Kellen, her eyes keenly tracking the twins’ trajectory up the bulky figure.

Something leathery kissed her cheek.

Ella twisted her head to the side and found Kellen’s face right there. The world seemed to collectively suck in an anticipating breath as the monstrous dragon sloped his head and nuzzled her neck in a manner one could only describe as loving, the corners of Ella’s eyes burning at the romantic gesture.

Is this Kellen, or Coz? she asked, then raised a hand to caress the curved scales, trailing her fingernails along the growths.

Both, Coz’s gravelly voice answered before the dragon sighed a heady moan at her amorous touch.

Where does Kellen go when you take over his body?

I’m here, sweetheart, Kellen purred in her mind, heat flooding through her veins at the sound of his voice, pooling in her cheeks. When I’m in my humanoid form, Coz stays curled up inside my chest. When I shift, we switch places, though I always maintain control of our mind, even when Coz takes over.

So you’re sitting inside your own chest right now? The dragon cuddled closer to her in answer. Ella wondered what that felt like for Kellen, to be essentially imprisoned inside himself, what that felt like for Coz to be caged inside a body that didn’t belong to him. How do you maintain control of your body if Coz takes over?

It’s part of the Varminia curse from Aros, Coz explained. If we possessed the ability to take complete control of our hosts, it would be too obvious that their Varmin forms are separate beings. It’s why we’re prohibited from engaging in any behavior that could reveal our identities to our hosts. We’re supposed to stay inactive so our hosts always believe their Varmin forms are a part of them. We will always be subservient to our host’s desires, as it is the only thing that can breathe life into us.

That’s so sad, Ella mused. The dragon licked her affectionately beneath her ear. It reminded her of Freya. If you’re prohibited from making yourselves known to your hosts, why did Jarion’s dragon make himself known to us? Why did you?

Nivrun made himself known because he was growing impatient. Nivrun must have been Jarion’s dragon. And I… Coz’s voice trailed off before he declared, his tone whetted by silk, I made myself known for you, Noella Rose.

The words slithered down to Ella’s heart, yanking at the strings, tattooing over the soft tissue.

Don’t ask him to explain what that means because he won’t, Kellen grumbled, which led Ella to suspect they’d had this conversation before and Kellen came up empty-handed of any real answers.

Ella elevated her eyes to Kellen—Coz’s back, searching the reptilian skin for signs of Jarion and Laya. She found a wink of their coloring between Kellen’s wings, a small smear of brown amidst the black scales, with specks of pink and green mixed in for Jarion and Laya’s backpacks. Ella braced herself for the climb, her legs buckling at the thought of being suspended a thousand feet in the air without the protection of a roof that accompanied flying on an airplane. There was no shelter available on the back of a dragon, no access to any anti-anxiety medication to calm her nerves.

She focused on Jarion and Laya, on the need to get them to safety, to combat the overwhelming flurry of panic kindling in her chest, forcing her feet to move towards the wing to begin her own ascent.

Suddenly, the wing lifted off the ground before she could step on or even jump to grab it, pulling back to meet where his other wing had begun hoisting off the ground in preparation for take-off.

What’re you doing? Ella asked Kellen, watching her only chance of joining Jarion and Laya on Kellen’s back swing away from her. I can’t climb on now.

You’re not sitting up there, Kellen replied.

Then where am I—

Suddenly, a clawed hand seized Ella around her waist, enclosing her in his fist before Kellen leapt off his hind legs and launched them all towards the heavens, his wings beating with a thunderous roar that echoed from all corners of the sky. The ground fell away beneath them, shrinking into a diminutive structure before dissolving into the horizon. Then, all Ella could see were billows of vapor, a backcloth of blue sky with sinking sunlight fracturing through the hue, and a blur of trees flitting below her feet, crowned with yellow, rotting leaves and crooked branches.

Ella had no time to react apart from screaming. She quickly grabbed onto Kellen’s thumb to stop herself from losing her balance and plummeting to her death, careful to avoid the jagged talon at the end of the digit.

I’m going to kill you, Kilic, she snarled at him, tunneling her nails into his claw, not that she could actually pierce him hard enough for him to truly feel it. You don’t deserve quick. It’s going to be slow and agonizing.

Kellen’s voice was outlined by roguish charm. Why does it sound like you’re flirting with me, Rose?

Because you’re a fucking asshole who hears what he wants to hear and not what’s actually being said to him!

Oh, I hear you, sweetheart. You want to take your time with me. Trust me, I want the same with you. Ella raked her fingernails over the leathery scales, seeking to draw blood, but she barely left a scratch. Kellen’s laughter permeated her ears, hugging her bones. Are you trying to tickle me, baby?

I hate you, Kellen Kilic, she growled, repeating it over and over again, willing it to be true even as her heart jolted at the way he called her baby for the first time. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

I love the way you say my name, Noella. His voice left her mind to refocus on their voyage. Ella didn’t want to admit to herself that she missed his voice the moment it no longer cluttered her ears, how the absence of him left her with a gaping hole in her chest where he should have been.

The wind whipped through her hair, tugging at her clothes. Ella dared herself to peer over the edge of Kellen’s fist and watch the kingdom of Cavale undulate beneath them. She admired the tiny villages dotting the landscape, the rivers snaking through the countryside, glimmering like silver ribbons, the forest resembling a verdant carpet in the way it stretched out, treetops swaying in a choreographed dance with the wind. If Ella wasn’t so enraged with Kellen for not giving her the respect of a warning before he grabbed her and took off, she might’ve found the experience enjoyable.

Kellen’s wings thrashed within the powerful stream of wind, creating blustery gusts that rattled the earth beneath her feet. From behind them, Ella heard a menacing screech, jarring the peaceful scenery into a turbulent state that compelled her to turn within Kellen’s firm grip and search the clouds for an intruder. In the distance, gaining on them, she found a silver adversary to rival Kellen’s gold, the dragon sleek and agile, clearly feminine. Eyes of piercing ice, baring no humanity within them, scrutinized Kellen’s moves, plotting her path forward with calculated precision.

Is that— Ella started, but Kellen cut her off before she could finish the question.

My mother, he confirmed, his tone thick with worry. I need to get us to our house. The wards around the house are spelled to keep her out.

How close are we?

Not close enough. Ella hugged one of Kellen’s claws, this time not angrily, but to offer her support.

His mother’s massive chest expanded, as if drawing from the very essence of the kingdom. Flames flickered inside her maw like stars in a celestial ballet. Roars erupted from deep within her throat, a primal symphony of fury before the tempest released. A torrent of searing flames cascaded forth, the air crackling with the intensity of the inferno, the very fabric of reality itself igniting as the upwelling of fire rushed for them. Kellen banked to the right and twisted his body away from the flames, performing a series of aerial acrobatics that defied the limits of Ella’s imagination to keep the fire from touching them. His fingers nearly crushed Ella’s waist from the tautness of his grip, ensuring she couldn’t fall out when they rotated upside down. Ella’s hair spun in random directions around her before plopping back messily over her shoulders.

Jare and Laya! she gasped when they were once again upright.

They’re holding on, he assured her. Kellen’s powerful muscles flexed beneath her. I need to do something.

Do what? She didn’t like the tone he’d used when he said that. She disliked the tone he used to utter his next words even more.

Please don’t hate me for this, Noella.

Kellen, what’re you—

Kellen swung his massive body around so he now faced his mother, then proceeded to let go of Ella.

Ella plunged towards the earth, the wind belting her cheeks from the velocity in which she plummeted at so she couldn’t find the ground beneath her, couldn’t see anything beyond the tears blearing her vision. She only fell for a total of five seconds before Kellen’s back foot caught her, but those five seconds felt like an eternity. Once Kellen had his front hands free, his claws extended like razor-sharp billhooks and clashed with his mother’s in the middle of the ether, the two massive dragons crashing into one another and releasing a cacophony of metallic, belligerent clangs. The collision of their bodies sent ripples through the wind that created seismic tremors in the earth below. Sparks spewed with each strike, illuminating the clouds with fleeting bursts of light.

His mother’s tail thrust in the direction of Kellen’s side, aiming to sink the sharp talon at the end into his stomach.

KELLEN! Ella yelled in warning, unsure if he could see his mother’s tail heading right for him, his focus absorbed in trying to shunt her backwards. Watch out for her tail! She’s about to stab you!

Kellen’s tail whipped through the air like a whirling cyclone and snatched her tail before the talon succeeded in impaling his side. He wrenched down with all his might to pull her body away from them, his mother shrieking a startled cry as she nosedived for the earth, giving him enough time to flap his wings harder and renew their journey to the house, propelling them at a swifter speed.

Kellen flung Ella through the air like she was a ragdoll, passing her back to his front hand.

Thanks for the warning, Rose, he expressed. I owe you one.

WHAT THE FUCK, KILIC?! she bellowed, slamming her weak fists into the back of his hand. YOU DROPPED ME!

I’m sorry. At least the apology sounded genuine. I needed to move you to free my hands.

I GOT THAT, BUT A LITTLE WARNING WOULD’VE BEEN NICE! Ella’s breath hadn’t returned to her.

Concern graced his voice. Noella, are you afraid of heights?

YES! NOT THAT YOU FUCKING ASKED BEFORE YOU GRABBED ME AND TOOK OFF!

She couldn’t stop panting. She couldn’t see through her tears. Sobs clogged her throat. Bile tickled the back of her mouth. She clamped her lips shut before she spewed vomit onto the clouds, then shut their line of communication down because the process of producing words was making her more nauseous.

Hold on, baby, Kellen assured, sensing her nausea. We’re almost there.

Her heart betrayed her by reacting to the way he again called her baby , fluttering against her ribcage.

Calm down, stupid heart, she reproached herself. We hate him.

I heard that, Kellen drawled, an invisible smile coloring his voice.

He gracefully maneuvered through the open sky, avoiding clouds as though they were corporeal obstacles blocking his path to freedom. The landscape below became a blur of vibrant color smothered in a gilded sheet of descending sunlight. Ella could almost feel the adrenaline course through Kellen’s muscles, emitting a sharp, blistering heat from the inside out, like his blood had transformed into a liquid fire in his veins. The air grew thinner at their escalating height, his wings straining against the resistance of the wind. She heard Kellen’s mother’s wings hacking through the breeze behind them, using the airstream to claw her way back to them. Kellen pitched forward, vibrating from the surge of energy he expended sustaining the distance he’d placed between himself and his mother.

Sparks dripped from his mother’s serrated teeth before a cataclysmic explosion of fire gushed out of her open mouth, warping the clouds from the intensity of the unfettered wrath. Kellen’s tail coiled into a ball to avoid the flaming deluge, the heavens seeming to recoil along with him from the sheer force of his mother’s fiery breath.

Noella, cover your face with your arms, he ordered.

She quickly folded her arms around her eyes, crinkling herself into a ball inside Kellen’s fist just as he swerved his head to the side and released his own outburst of fire. She watched through the cracks in his fingers as his flames twisted and writhed across the ether like serpents ablaze, streaking crimson with an undercurrent of blue, so the flames appeared almost violet. They snaked out to meet his mother’s flames, the infernos blasting into one another. Kellen’s firestorm was the more potent of the two and extinguished his mother’s fire the moment his converged with hers.

“KELLEN!” Ella heard Jarion yell, the first she’d heard from the twins the entire flight. “I see it!”

Ella squirmed out from the protection of Kellen’s fist, peeking over the side to glimpse the grounds underneath. Nestled amidst a variegated meadow, a quaint cottage stood as a time-worn sanctuary, its weathered exterior exuding an undeniable charm. The thatched roof, adorned with patches of vibrant wildflowers, added a touch of whimsy to the humble fa?ade. A winding cobblestone pathway sprawled out from the opulent gate guarding the property to the entrance of the cottage, veering off in the middle to create a different path that led to a lively garden bursting with an array of blossoms, containing garish red roses that climbed the lattice pergola arching above the garden.

Ella marveled at the beauty of the home, felt her heart called down to the estate below. This was the kind of home she used to dream of living in, the kind she thought only existed in fantasy books.

“SHE’S GETTING CLOSER!” Laya shrieked from above. “GO, KELL! GO!”

Kellen flew towards the cottage at a breathtaking speed, allowing the current to pilot his course to give his wings a rest.

Noella, I’m going to enclose you in my fist so you can get through the wards, he told her in advance.

Oh, so NOW you decide to warn me, she hissed, but welcomed his fingers bowing above her head to secure her inside his hand, protected on all sides by his leathery scales and soothing warmth.

When Kellen made contact with the invisible wards protecting the property, she couldn’t see it, but she felt it in the atmosphere, felt the impact of his large body breaking through the forcefield, vacuuming the wind into the electromagnetic shield so when they passed through the wards, the world fell silent. The moment Kellen’s tail successfully entered the shelter, all sound and oxygen returned. The wind breathed a sigh of relief along with them. Ella watched Kellen’s mother smash her body into the wards, unrelenting, thumping against the forcefield that refused her entry.

She can’t see us anymore, Kellen explained to Ella. She can’t see the house. We’re safe now, sweetheart.

Ella burst into tears, wilting against Kellen’s hand. She watched his mother concede with a defeated roar and push off the forcefield with her back feet, finally flying away in the opposite direction.