Page 187 of Of Empires and Dust
As the voice spoke, the growl in the wolf’s throat deepened, lowering to its chest.
“Become what you are meant to be, young one.”
Ella bent her knees and opened her hands, watching her fingers twist and crack, lengthening as her nails yielded to dark claws. In her mouth, her teeth shifted, fangs pressing into her lips, the iron tinge of blood on her tongue.
She matched the wolf stride for stride, her heartbeat slowing.
Thump. Thump.
In the reflection of the wolf’s molten eyes, she saw her pain, her loss, her anger, and her fear. The night she found out Haem would never come back. The day she watched Rhett die. The moment she realised her mam and dad were dead and what was left of her heart had cracked. The instant she discovered Farda had killed her mam… Each of those moments had changed something in her, broken her, and rebuilt her.
You conquer the wolf by becoming it.
A growl built in Ella’s chest and rose to her throat as she continued to circle the wolf, never allowing its gaze to leave her own, staring into those memories.
You kill the fear by letting it in.
Those memories cycled through Ella’s mind. Again and again, she forced herself to relive them. They were part of her.
You find your path by allowing nothing to stand in your way.
The reflections in the wolf’s eyes changed as it pulled its lips back, snapping. Ella could see herself lying in a bed, arms by her side, motionless.
Without a moment’s more hesitation, she charged.
The wolf launched itself through the air, swiping for Ella’s head with an enormous claw.
Ella twisted, raking her claws along the ground and swinging her free hand at the creature’s side. She found flesh, soft and yielding.
The wolf howled, blood dripping from a fresh wound, and then it came at her once more, jaws snapping. She tried to sidestep it, but the creature caught her with a paw and the pair tumbled to the ground.
Ella thrashed, ramming her claws into the wolf’s side again and again, its weight crushing her. It clamped massive jaws around her shoulder and ripped its head side to side.
White hot pain caused her to shriek, warm blood pumping. The shriek turned to a howl, and she sank her teeth into the wolf’s neck, biting down as hard as she could, fangs tearing through skin and muscle, scraping against bone. She had lost all feeling in her left arm but continued to plunge the claws of her right into the beast’s side while blood filled her mouth. Strike after strike, flesh yielded to claw. And with each strike the wolf continued to rip her shoulder to pieces.
Ella released her bite on the wolf’s neck, grabbed ahold of its shoulder, and tensed her core, lifting her knees. She raked her clawed feet down the beast’s belly, then swung her leg to the side and kicked like a demon.
The wolf released her, howling in pain and collapsing on its side as Ella’s clawed foot slipped from the wound in its belly.
She hauled herself up to one knee, her left arm dangling at her side. The flesh was torn to ribbons, snapped bone protruding, blood flowing freely. The agony was so intense her lungs struggled to take in a breath and she staggered sideways as she tried to rise, pain redoubling.
The wolf dragged itself to its feet, white blood streaming from its neck, side, and belly. In its golden eyes, the only reflection Ella saw was herself.
“Come on then!” she roared, her throat scratching, eyes watering. “Kill me!”
A half-second passed, and the wolf lunged.
Ella didn’t run or twist or dive out of the way. She charged forwards, unleashed a guttural howl, and swung her clawed hand into the creature’s jaw. White blood sprayed, the wolf’s momentum carrying it forwards and smashing Ella into the ground. The pain from her shoulder was blinding, lights flashing across her eyes and her stomach turning. She ignored it all and slashed at the wolf atop her, chunks of fur and flesh coming loose in her hand. She rolled, pushing the beast off her, then leaping on top of it.
The creature stared up at her from its back, eyelids drooping lazily over golden irises. The sound in its throat alternated between a whimper and growl, its fangs bared.
Ella looked down at the enormous creature, her pain numbing, her consciousness fading. And in that moment, she let out a visceral howl, tilting her head upwards, trails of white blood running down her chin.
The wolf in her blood answered her howl, and the familiar red mist descended over her vision.
Ella shot upright,shaking and screaming. She scrambled backwards, her vision blurred, a howl shrieking in her head.
Dull voices rumbled in the back of her mind.
