Chapter 27: Growing Powers

Chapter 26:

The glass vase burst before Elara could stop it. Tiny bits flew everywhere as she jumped back.

"Sorry!" she cried, looking at Lyra's angry face.

"Focus, Elara," her aunt said. "You have power, but no control."

They stood in a small room in the Ethereal Conclave's hideout. After fleeing the Harbingers three days ago, they had found safety here. But Elara felt anything but safe.

"I'm trying," she said, wiping sweat from her temples. "It's hard."

Since their escape, Elara's skills had been growing faster than she could handle. Yesterday, she had set her food on fire just by feeling angry. This morning, she had made it rain inside her bedroom because of a bad dream.

"Try again," Lyra said, putting another vase on the table. "This time, don't just move it—lift it gently."

Elara took a deep breath. She felt the magic boiling inside her like hot water. Through her blood bond, she could feel Thorne and Sebastian watching her from the doorway, their worry mixing with her own.

She reached out with her mind, trying to touch the vase without breaking it. The glass shook, then slowly rose an inch off the table.

"Good," Lyra nodded. "Now—"

A sharp pain shot through Elara's head. The vase shot up and smashed against the ceiling.

"I can't do this!" Elara shouted, grabbing her head. "It hurts too much!"

Thorne was at her side in an instant, his warm hand on her back. "You're pushing too hard," he told Lyra. "She needs rest."

"There is no time for rest," Sebastian said, stepping into the room. "The Harbingers won't wait while she takes a nap."

Kaela peeked in from the doorway, her eyes wide with worry. Since waking up yesterday, Elara's sister had been quiet, trying to understand everything that had happened.

"How's your head?" Kaela asked softly.

"It's fine," Elara lied. The pain was getting worse every day. Sometimes it felt like her head might crack open.

"You're not fine," Thorne growled, feeling her pain through their bond. "None of us are."

He wasn't wrong. After the fight with the Harbingers, they had all changed. Thorne's eyes now glowed golden even when he wasn't in wolf form. Sebastian couldn't stand in full sunlight anymore without his skin smoking. And Elara—Elara was becoming something none of them understood.

"I had another vision last night," she revealed. "I saw Orion at the Temple of Three Moons. He was using my blood to open some kind of door."

Sebastian's face darkened. "That confirms our fears. He's trying to complete the prophecy without us."

"But he needs all three bloods willingly given," Thorne said. "How can he do that without us?"

Lyra paced the room. "There are ways to trick magic. If he has samples of your blood from the fight..."

"He could fake a willing sacrifice," Elara ended, feeling sick.

Kaela stepped fully into the room. "What happens if the prophecy is completed?"

Nobody answered right away. Finally, Sebastian spoke. "According to the Harbingers, it would tear the veil between worlds."

"End this world and start a new one," Thorne added.

Elara touched the scar on her palm where she had accidentally cut herself during their escape. It still glowed dimly with power. Through that small hole, she had felt something waiting on the other side of reality—something hungry.

"We have to stop him," she said.

"How?" Sebastian asked. "We barely escaped last time, and they weren't even trying to kill us then."

"My powers are getting stronger," Elara told them. "I can feel it."

To make her point, she focused on the broken glass on the floor. The bits trembled, then rose into the air, spinning slowly. With a push of her mind, they came back together, making a perfect vase once more.

Everyone stared in shock. Even Lyra seemed shocked.

"How did you do that?" her aunt whispered.

"I don't know," Elara revealed. "I just...wanted it fixed, and it happened."

Thorne and Sebastian shared a look. Through their bond, Elara felt their mixture of awe and fear.

"The blood bond is making you stronger," Sebastian said. "It's making all of us stronger."

Thorne nodded. "I haven't needed to change form with the moon. I can control it now."

"And I walked in sunlight yesterday," Sebastian added. "Just for a minute, but I didn't burn."

Lyra's eyes widened. "The prophecy is happening anyway. You three are becoming what you were meant to be."

Before Elara could ask what that meant, pain burst behind her eyes. She fell to her knees, crying out as images flooded her mind.

Blood on stone. The moon going black. Orion stands before an open doorway, his arms spread wide. Something huge moving on the other side, pushing through...

"Elara!" Thorne and Sebastian reached for her at the same time.

When their hands touched her skin, the pain vanished quickly. In its place came clarity—and power. Elara gasped as energy rushed through her body, making her skin glow with silver light.

"He's doing it now," she said, her voice eerily calm. "Orion is at the Temple. He's opening the door."

Without thinking, she grabbed Thorne and Sebastian's hands. A circle of light formed around them, getting brighter by the second.

"Elara, wait!" Lyra shouted. "You don't know how to control this yet!"

But it was too late. The power was moving on its own now, reacting to Elara's need. The light flashed brilliant white, and suddenly they were no longer in the room.

They stood at the door to the Temple of Three Moons. Wind whipped around them as storm clouds gathered overhead. In the middle of the stone circle stood Orion, his hands raised toward the sky.

"You're too late, sister," he called over the roaring wind. "The door is already opening."

Elara could see it now—a tear in the air above the altar, widening with each second. Through it came tentacles of darkness, reaching for this world.

"We have to close it," she told Thorne and Sebastian. "Together."

They moved forward as one, their link humming with shared power. Orion turned to face them, his eyes sparkling with an unnatural light.

"Don't you understand?" he shouted. "This is our destiny! What comes through will make us gods!"

"Or destroy everything," Elara answered.

She lifted her hand, and fire bloomed from her fingertips. Thorne shifted partly, claws extending from his human hands. Sebastian's fangs lengthened as his eyes went blood-red.

"Last chance, brother," Elara warned. "Step away from the door."

Orion smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I knew you wouldn't understand. That's why I brought insurance."

He stepped away, revealing a figure tied to the altar. Elara's heart stopped.

It was Kaela.

"How did you—" Elara began, but Orion cut her off.

"You're not the only one who can teleport," he said. "Now you have a choice, sister. Join me willingly, or watch your sister become the final sacrifice."

The tear in reality grew wider. Through their bond, Elara felt Thorne and Sebastian's resolve to fight. But she also felt something else—a pull toward the door, as if it were calling to her specifically.

"What's on the other side?" she asked, taking a step forward despite herself.

Orion's smile widened. "The answer to everything. Our true home."

The darkness reaching through the tear suddenly changed, changing into brilliant golden light. It reached for Elara like a loving hand.

And deep in her heart, she felt a terrible recognition. Whatever waited beyond that door—she knew it.

It knew her too.