Chapter 16

The pulse of energy that surged through me was like nothing I’d ever felt before. It thrummed in the air around me, alive, almost sentient, as though the very earth itself was awakening to he blood I’d spilled on the altar. The symbols carved into the stone pulsed with eerie light, casting jagged shadows on the ground. The hum of power vibrated through the ground beneath my feet, rippling into my bones and making my heart beat in time with the rhythm of the earth itself.

I tried to breathe, but the air felt thick, charged. I could barely keep my thoughts straight. 

Marcus was watching me, standing just outside the clearing, his gaze unreadable, his posture still. The sharp glimmer of the dagger in my hand was the only thing that seemed real in the chaos that swirled around me. I could feel the blood dripping from my palm, staining my skin. But it wasn’t the pain I focused on. It was the *energy*. The raw, primal force flowing through me, swirling like a living thing.

At first, I tried to fight it. The sensation was too overwhelming, too much for my mind to grasp. But the more I resisted, the harder the force seemed to push back, tightening around me like a vice. The power was alive, like a fire that wanted to burn through me and consume everything in its path. 

I gasped, my chest tightening with panic. My fingers clenched around the dagger, and the blood that had been trickling from my palm suddenly *burned*—a sharp, searing pain that made my entire body jerk. 

"Tess," Marcus’s voice cut through the haze of power, calm, almost soothing. "Don’t fight it."

I gritted my teeth, struggling to keep my feet under me as the power surged higher. "I don’t know how—"

"You don’t need to know *how* right now," he said, stepping closer, his presence a stabilizing force against the storm of magic raging inside me. "You just need to stop fighting it."

I could feel it now, the energy pulsing through my veins, feeding on my fear, growing stronger with every heartbeat. It was a thing of *destruction*. It wanted to consume, to tear down everything in its path.

The realization hit me hard. This power—this magic—it wasn’t *just* power. It was destructive. Dangerous. A force that could tear apart worlds, if not kept in check.

"You need to learn to control it, Tess," Marcus’s voice came again, this time softer, but no less firm. "You can’t let it control you. You’ll tear yourself apart."

I wanted to scream, to shout at him that I *didn’t* know how, that I *wasn’t ready*. But the words wouldn’t come. I was caught in the throes of it, the surge of magic threatening to crack my mind in two.

Suddenly, the ground beneath me seemed to shift. A deep, rumbling vibration shook the earth, and I staggered back, unable to keep my balance. The air around me seemed to grow heavier, the magic expanding like a storm, dark and wild. I saw the symbols on the altar glowing brighter, their light bleeding into the trees, casting long, monstrous shadows across the clearing.

I forced myself to focus, closing my eyes for a moment. I could feel the pull, the hunger, the wildness inside me—but I could also feel something else, something that didn’t come from me. It was Marcus. His presence, calm and steady, was like an anchor in the storm. 

I reached for it, grabbing hold of that calm. If I let myself be overwhelmed, I’d lose everything. I knew that. 

My grip on the dagger tightened, my blood still dripping down my wrist, but now the burn was less intense, as though the energy were shifting with me. I opened my eyes and locked my gaze on the altar, focusing on the rhythm of the magic, the pulse of power that had taken root inside me. 

Slowly, I exhaled, trying to let the chaos fall away. I concentrated on Marcus’s voice, on his words. *Control it. Don’t let it control you.*

And just like that, the storm inside me began to quiet.

It didn’t go away. The power was still there, still thrumming beneath my skin, but now it felt more like a presence I could control. A presence I could shape. I wasn’t sure *how* I was doing it, but something in me had clicked into place.

The ground stopped shaking. The pulsing light from the altar dimmed slightly, though it still glowed faintly in the night.

I took a long, shaky breath. 

"I… I think I did it." My voice sounded hoarse, but it was steady, and for the first time, the power didn’t feel like it was going to tear me apart. 

Marcus nodded, his gaze never leaving me. “You did. But don’t mistake this for mastery. This was just the first step. The next time, it will be harder. It always is.”

I nodded, my pulse still racing, the adrenaline still coursing through my veins. I didn’t know what else to say, or if there even were words for what I was feeling. But I knew one thing: I wasn’t the same person I had been when I walked into this clearing. 

The power inside me was real. And it had chosen me. 

But at what cost?

\---

The rest of the night passed in a blur. Marcus led me back to the edge of the woods, where the trees opened up to the familiar path leading home. The night felt different now, heavier somehow. I couldn’t explain it, but the world seemed to have shifted in subtle ways, as though reality itself was adjusting to my presence.

I hadn’t said much on the way back. I was too lost in my own thoughts, still processing everything that had just happened. The power. The choice. The fact that I was now bound to something far larger and far more dangerous than I could have ever imagined.

When we reached the clearing where the woods met the road, Marcus stopped and turned to face me.

"You’ll need to keep training," he said, his voice quiet, serious. "What you felt tonight was only the surface. You’re nowhere near ready for what’s to come."

I nodded, the weight of his words sinking in. "I don’t know if I’m ready for any of this."

"You’re not," he agreed bluntly. "None of us are. But that doesn’t matter. The war is coming, whether we’re ready or not. And you’ll need to be ready if you want to survive it."

The war again. 

I had no idea what he was talking about, what kind of war could possibly involve me. I hadn’t even come to terms with the fact that my parents had sacrificed themselves to protect me from something I didn’t fully understand.

But I wasn’t going to survive by hiding. I knew that much. 

I turned to leave, but Marcus stopped me with a final word. "One more thing, Tess. Remember this: power comes with a price. It’s not always something you can see, or even understand at first. But every choice you make from here on out will have consequences."

I turned to face him, a chill creeping down my spine at the intensity in his gaze.

"Just be careful," he added softly, the danger in his voice unmistakable.

I didn’t answer. I didn’t know what to say. The weight of everything—the magic, the war, the choices I was about to make—it was too much.

So, instead of answering, I turned and walked away, the sound of my footsteps sharp in the quiet night. 

I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t sure I ever would be. 

But there was no turning back now.

And whatever price I had to pay, I would have to pay it.