It happened so fast, I barely had time to breathe.
One second, we stood victorious, the trial complete. The next?—
My magic surged.
Not like before. This wasn’t a controlled vortex or a taste of Kaelith’s Storm-born gift. This was a flood, a tidal wave erupting from the center of my chest, yanking through the tether that bound me to Naia and Tae like a live wire gone wild.
Naia’s eyes snapped to mine, widening in alarm. “Ashe?—!”
Her hand shot out, palm open, as if she could physically stop what was happening. She reached through our bond, her magic lashing against mine, trying to calm it, tame it?—
But it only fed it.
No—it redirected it.
Straight into Tae.
He arched back like something foreign had struck him, his mouth opening in a silent gasp as his eyes rolled white and power cracked around him like lightning across dry earth.
Then—
Boom.
His magic exploded.
It rippled outward like a shockwave, slamming into every rider on the Ascension Grounds. Crownwatch, Warborn, Stormforge, even Iron Fang—all of them dropped like marionettes with their strings cut, knees slamming into the dirt with cries of pain or shocked gasps.
Even Major Ledor went down, his eyes wide, palms splayed as if bracing himself from a blow that came from inside.
Kaelith!I called in panic.
But she was already moving.
You must disconnect,her voice roared through me.Before you shatter him!
Then she cut the tether.
It felt like being ripped from the inside. Like a string pulled tight between hearts had just snapped.
My magic vanished. Instantly. Not drained, not quieted. Gone.
Tae screamed.
A raw, agonizing sound that tore through the stunned silence like a blade.
He collapsed beside me, crumpling to the earth as the rest of the guild groaned and began to rise on shaking legs. I dropped to my knees, reaching for him.
“Tae!”
His body was trembling, his hands clenching into the dirt like he couldn’t tell what was real. Sweat poured down his face. His magic—normally like a gleaming thread of thought—was like shattered glass. Sparkling. Dangerous. Broken.
Naia knelt beside me, face pale.
“What was that?”
I didn’t know.
But as I looked down at Tae, limp and whispering something I couldn’t hear, one thing was clear.
