I look away from the dreks, toward that feeling, that pull—
Until I’m looking at her.
She’s standing in this field of ash, dreks screeching.
Fear greater than I’ve ever known crashes into me, seeing her here, in a place that’s going to be full of death. My eyes widen in horror. But then—
The realization sets in.
There’s only one way she’s here.One way she’s using my powers, without the portaling device.
So that’s what this is.
That’s the name of this feeling, of this longing, of this obsession that is both cruel and merciful, both curse and cure.
I’ve never loved anyone, or anything.
But I love her.
I love her.
I smile, even as death rages around us, even as my own is imminent. I can die now, with a smile on my lips.
Because I’ve found it. I’ve found something worth living and dying for. I reach for our shared power, to portal her away, back to safety.
But I never make it.
Talons pierce through my chest. I roar.
It’s answered by a scream, one that threatens to cleave the heavens in half. She’s screamingfor me.
And then, I feel it.
The ground trembling. The world, splitting. Power,pure and utter power, blinding the universe.
I know what it is, andno—
NO.
It is unlike anything I have ever seen in anyone other than myself. I remember Laila’s death. How my shadowssurged. How they ruined everything in their path, how they raged.
Hers are the same. She has accessed the greatest depths of emotion, and she has no control. It’s all coming out, like a dam breaking open, no signs of slowing.
Under this cleaving, unyielding power, every single drek turns to ash. The ground itself trembles. The world goes black, for just a moment, as if the universe itself is shuddering.
I portal to her side, throwing myself through the darkness, through her ruinous power, but it is done. When the world settles, I see I’m too late. The sword is dug into the ground, and her powers—
She used them.
She usedall of them.
She found them in the darkest pits of herself and clawed them out. She followed whatI told her, and used emotion,pain, as power.
Pain can be useful. It’s the strongest emotion.
It’s all I feel as she falls into my arms, her body spent. She’s cold. So cold and fading. I sink to my knees, her body splayed out across my lap, and I grip her face.
“Isla, come back to me. Come back.”
