Every time I thought there was something more, only for him to pull away.
Every time he held me close while sparring . . . only to keep me at arm’s length outside it.
It builds inside me.
And I let it fuel me.
My magics surge—not four separate forces, but one.
Fire. Water. Earth. Air.
They fuse.
Swirling, crackling—bending tomywill.
A storm of elements explodes outward. The ground trembles and the air thickens—saturated with raw power.
Thane braces, fire leaping to his hands—but evenhehesitates. Just for a breath.
Because he’s never seen me like this.
Because I’ve neverbeenlike this.
And this time—I don’t hold back.
The air pulses, alive and electric. Fire climbs up my arms, molten tendrils dancing and coiling with the gusting wind thathowls around me. The earth groans beneath my feet, spiderweb cracks splitting outward. Water pulls from the air itself, droplets forming shimmering streams that spiral through the storm—untouched by fire, untouched by wind, woven into somethingwhole.
Not four elements.
One.
A force. A storm.
Me.
A blinding light flares where they merge—a brilliance that sears across the training field, casting long shadows behind us. The air hums with something ancient, something deep and primal, something that has always lived inside me but has never been unleashed.
Thane takes a step back. His fire sputters in his hands—uncertain. I see it then—the flicker of something close to awe in his eyes. Just for a moment.
And then I release it.
The force erupts from me. A maelstrom—fire, water, earth, and air—colliding, surging outward. The ground bucks, spiderweb cracks racing across the field. Flames roar upward, spiraling into the sky as wind howls through the chaos, feeding the blaze. Water bursts from the air, steaming where it meets fire, turning into a dense mist that rolls over everything.
Thane doesn’t counter. Hecan’t.
His fire flares—not to strike, but to shield.
A desperate shield against the unstoppable force barreling toward him. The protective magics woven into the field pulse violently, ancient wards straining to contain the sheer scale of my power.
And still—Thane holds. But not unscathed.
The shockwave slams into him. He skids backward, boots digging into the dirt as he fights to stay upright. His arms braceagainst the force, muscles straining. His fire holds for a moment—flickering wildly—before the weight of my magics overwhelms it.
But some of itgets through.
A scorch tears across his arm, burning through fabric to skin. A shard of earth slams into his side, shattering on impact. The protective enchantments around him flare blindingly, absorbing the brunt of it—barely—before flickering, unstable under the strain.
And in that moment—through the chaos, through the heat and storm and blinding light—I see it.
