Power welled up inside me. Immense, beautiful, and sparklingpower. As had happened when I’d been following Kole in the village, my magic breathed a sigh of relief.This, it seemed to whisper,this is what you’re made to do.
Dozens of foreign consciousnesses hummed back at me, and that was only in my initial surroundings. I tethered my magic to them, penetrating their minds and grasping hold of their essences.
The sound of a stampede came from my left, and morehowls and screams rose. Whatever they were, they were coming, but they weren’t in my vicinity yet. They were still far off.
Stop whatever is hunting me, I commanded the creatures I’d taken control of.
All of the animals rose from the Wood’s floor like sentries coming to life. Creatures of various sizes with a range of intelligences and magical capabilities marched toward the rumbling ground.
Hisses came next as slithering snakes appeared on the Wood’s floor, wiggling from underground burrows to answer my call.
Sweat beaded on my upper lip as magic cascaded out of me. Yet even though I had to concentrate, I didn’t feel any hint of fatigue. The opposite happened. Power surged through me, as though multiplying as I used my forbidden magic. It was as if my magic was rewarding me for commanding it as it’d always sought.
Howls and screams tore through the air just as a herd of horrifying-looking animals burst through the foliage—not like the creature Kole had fought but still just as terrifying. They ran on two legs, backs hunched over, arms short and stubby but talons on their ends. They were hairless and eyeless, yet they seemed to know exactly where I was.
I zoomed ahead on my carpet and commanded my sentries to attack.
A clash of hairless bodies and fur came from my left just asmy controlled creatures formed a wall at my side. More screams rose, and I dared a look to see what was happening.
My jaw dropped.Hundredsof animals were fighting, more sentries appearing as they answered my magic’s call.
Teeth gnashed. Claws tore. Maws ripped.
Blood began to soak into the Silventine Wood’s soil, bathing the ground scarlet as I took more control of those around me, and then I pushed my magic to extend farther until it ensnared the hairless creatures too.
The fighting instantly stopped, and sheer magic pounded out of me.
Hundreds. I had hundreds of animals under my command. Yet I felt like I could control more. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands. Power soaked through my essence, intoxicating in a way. My magic was even stronger than I’d ever imagined it could be, but my uncle’s teachings from my childhood came back to me just as fast.
“You must never control others, Prim.”
But I knew here in this deadly Wood, even my uncle would understand. It was either kill or be killed, and I had no plans to die today.
I zoomed forward even faster, watching the seekerill’s needle to ensure I was still going the right way.
Directly in my path, the heads of two larpanoons appeared, lifting from where they’d been smelling something on the ground. They were only five paces away.
My magic surged toward them, and when I pierced theirminds, they roared in anger. The shock of it nearly made me tip off the carpet.
More sweat poured from me, but I pushed my magic to its max. Worming my way through the magic encasing the larpanoons, I forcefully took control of them too.
Limply, the feared predators fell to the ground, growing entirely docile, and I flew right over them.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I looked at the seekerill again. It vibrated more sharply than it ever had before. I was so close to the Stone.Soclose.
But then I felt it.
An ancient presence.
A magic unlikeanythingI’d ever felt before.
A slumbering entity seemed to rise up all around me, brimming with power and might, anger and hatred, and a terrible wrath and vengeance like I’d never felt before.
Ancient magicexplodedin a shockwave through the trees.
It was the only warning I got before chaos unleashed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
