Chapter 25

Annora.

Her name is engrained in my every thought as I help her mount Vesper. I climb on behind her, my arms encircling her slender waist as we begin our journey to the stables.

As I guide us back, my mind replays the way she kissed me. There was something primal in her eyes right before our lips met. Something fierce. Something that speaks to the fiery side of me, the side that conjures magic and unleashes it on my enemies with ruthless precision.

I knew she was different the moment I discovered she wasn't Lyra. I felt that difference in the very marrow of my bones. Felt the heat of it simmering beneath her skin. The truth of it shining in her eyes like the first light of dawn.

And now, I am seeing first hand the proof of that difference, witnessing the power that lies dormant within her. She doesn't know how to control either one of her magics yet, but I feel the way they smolder inside her, like lava meeting the cool brush of silvery light in a cataclysmic collision.

Lava makes ash. Ash destroys.

With power like hers, nobody will ever stand in our way again. If we want peace, we shall have peace. If we want to march against our enemies, we will be victorious.