So much for magic coming when she needed it. The bitter thought was the ignition strike. Her eyes shot open.
“One more time,” she whispered, knowing that it wouldn’t yield anything but hoping against hope it did.
The spark deep within her was ablaze, bright and hot. Rage fueled it—from her birthday and its reminder of how she was stuck in the North, from the leftover feelings of anger at her uncle’s test—rage at her magic itself for betraying her as it had.
Fire exploded around her hands.
Hotter, brighter—she pushed her magic as though Jax was still levying walls of flame against her. But instead of attempting to shield herself with it, Vi poured all her energy into the tiny ball in her palms. Every ounce of frustration was set ablaze, brighter than she’d ever seen her flames before.
The scales tipped without warning and magic flooded her system. Its white-hot flames roared like an unruly beast. Vi gasped as magic poured from her faster than she could find air.
Without warning, the wall had been broken down within her. This was the power she’d longed for, and now that she had it, she didn’t know what to do with it. It was as though sunlight itself had turned molten and was now pouring from her.
She stared into the bright, shifting light, her eyes blown wide, and in it, she saw a figure come into clarity. Suddenly the world she knew was gone, and something new clicked into focus.
She was no longer in Soricium, but in a stone passageway she’d never seen before.
It was akin to what she’d imagined the dungeons of Solaris to look like—damp, dark, unembellished, rough stone. But there were no cells, just a long tunnel that continued stretching into the darkness in both directions. She turned to face the source of light at her left.
Vi blinked, disoriented.
Waiting with a small ball of flame hovering over her shoulder was… herself. At least, Vi thought it was her. It looked like her, the resemblance as uncanny as looking into a mirror. But there were notable differences. The woman across from her looked hardened, far more toned, and the natural tan hue of Vi’s skin was deepened even further on her cheeks. The large cowl hood that covered the majority of her head cast further shadow.
The woman’s clothes were drab and threadbare. Her hands were wrapped up to her elbows, like bandages, or the wrapped knuckles of a brawler. She stared into the darkness, watching, waiting.
Vi didn’t have to find out what she was waiting for.
Soon, another light appeared far in the distance. As it grew, it illuminated a man.
He had a tousled mess of black hair cut at odd angles that ultimately ended at his shoulders.No… not quite black. It was another hue—a deep plum color off-set just slightly by the light.
A wicked, sickle-shaped scar ran down his left cheek and beneath the high collar of his intricately embroidered jacket. It brought her attention to a pair of piercing green eyes. He stared from underneath long lashes, fixated on the woman.
The mirror of herself spoke, but there was no sound. It was then that Vi realized she hadn’t heard the dripping of water off the dank walls and ceiling, or the crackle of the fire over the woman’s shoulder.
The whole world was muffled. She could see, but not hear or touch.
Can you see me?Vi tried to ask, though she already knew the answer. They couldn’t. Their focus was entirely on each other. Tension filled the air nearly to the point of sparking into magic.
The man spoke and again she heard no sound. But Vi could tell by his expression that, whatever he said, it was serious.
When the woman replied, her free hand rose to her chest, touching her cowl lightly.
Vi’s hand reached upward in tandem, her fingers falling on the watch Fritz had given her.
Looking down, she saw a shimmering glyph hovering above it—weak, frail, and flickering. As soon as her eyes landed on it, the symbols shifted and changed, spiraling in concentric circles. Sounds filled her mind suddenly. It was a maddening cacophony she couldn’t understand, but desperately wanted to.
She hadn’t quiteheardthe symbols, nor had she read them. It was as though the word—words?—had vibrated in the very core of her being. Vi looked back up from the watch around her neck, but the two people had gone blurry and over-saturated. They were fading into white light.
Vi blinked, swaying.
The world came into focus once more, light vanishing from around her.No, it hadn’t been light, it had been flames, hadn’t it?
She slumped against the wall, struggling to breathe. Ash coated her hands up to her elbows, coated her lungs as though she had been breathing fire instead of air. Her head spun.
Vi had wanted magic. Begged for it. She’d anticipated flames like her uncle’s, like those of her forefathers.
She’d never expected to see the future.
