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Unlike Amelia, the other two Wielders did not hide their Shadowflame. Both had four signifiers each. Somehow, Mira had gotten all five. “Do you know how I acquired my signifiers?” she asked.
“The first one you got during training with Dawson,” Harrington replied. “Go on, try it out.”
Her knowledge of signifiers was only peripheral. Staring at her hand, she couldn’t make sense of the various lines and symbols on her fingers. What was her predominant sin? What was her spirit signifier? She had no idea. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“Destroy that vase,” Harrington challenged, pointing at a large ceramic vase on a table.
There was no turning back. Whether she wanted it or not, she was a Wielder, and these powers were part of her. It was time to learn how to control them. “What do I do?”
“Just call upon your signifiers,” Amelia said. “They will answer.”
Mira had never used Dark Magic, at least that she could remember. All she had to do was focus on the vase and it would perhaps explode? She wasn’t sure how any of this worked. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on her powers. Her White Magic was there, humming in her veins, but how did she use her dark power? In her mind, she found a dark strand and pulled on it. The Shadowflame on her hand moved, and she used her fingers to direct her powers to the vase. Nothing happened.
She pulled the thread in her mind more firmly and then power spun from her with force. Dark shadows exploded in all directions. The Wielders dropped to the ground. The windows of the house exploded in unison. Books and papers swirled around them.
Terrified, she stared at her hand as Dark Magic kept flowing.
Evren clawed his way to her across the carpet. “Tell it to stop,” he screamed over the howling winds.
“How?” It was difficult to breathe let alone speak in this storm of her own making.
“Focus on the power and let it go.”
She closed her eyes and searched for the strand of dark power.
“Just let go,” he said again.
When she found the Dark Magic in her, brimming with power, she released it. Just like that, the wind stopped.
Harrington helped Amelia up, and Mira looked at the devastation around her with horror. Furniture lay broken. Windows were shattered. “I’m so sorry.”
Harrington simply chuckled. “Sorry? That was brilliant.”
Next to her, Evren brushed broken pieces of glass from his black jacket. “I don’t want to say I told you so, but she clearly isn’t in control of her powers.”
Harrington ran a hand through his windblown hair. “What are you talking about? I asked her to destroy the vase with Dark Magic, and look.” He pointed at the broken vase. “Let’s see what else she can do.”
“Absolutely not,” Evren protested.
All that power had come from her. Staring at her right hand, she could still feel the cool magic tingling in her blood.
Broken glass crunched under Amelia’s steps. “Anyone think to ask Mira what she wants to do?” The Wielder girl checked her appearance in a mirror that had survived the storm.
It was clear that Mira could not just easily use her dark powers. Not only had she forgotten how she acquired them, but she also had no memory of how to use them. She would have to start from scratch and relearn how to wield them.
“I am not going to use any more Dark Magic today,” she answered, and Harrington sighed in disappointment. “Can you tell me about the day Dawson erased my memories?”
Amelia swept debris off the couch and sat down, crossing one leg over the other. “I heard some commotion in the courtyard between Dawson and Sullivan, so I ran over.”
“Who is Sullivan?”
“A Caster. Who wouldn’t matter if he wasn’t dating your friend Ella.”
“Oh! Oliver.”
“Yes, that one.”
“Apparently Dawson arrived at Ivercrest with you unconscious in his arms. His face was white as a sheet when Sullivan saw him and asked him what had happened. Dawson said you had found out about him transmuting your emotions for him and wiped your memories, but something had gone wrong. He wanted to get you to Obryn, but Sullivan made him hand you over to Rylan. He carried you to the infirmary.”
