61. Callum

sixty-one

Callum

I can tell something isn't right, and it's not just from Mira's fear pulsing through our bond. The brilliant waves of Chromatic hues pulse and dance around them, but I can make out something else sinister growing on the street below.

The ground begins to shake and rumble as Yurghen and Mira engage. Lightning crashes to the ground next to them, blinding me for a moment. My ears ring with the thunderous echo, but I shake off the disorientation. Now isn't the time to falter.

It's Yurghen's dark energy, a swirling mass of black and silver that transforms the makeshift battlefield. The ground is cracked and broken where he stands, his magic blasting out in waves of black energy that taints everything it touches.

Mira stands firm, her body coated in a brilliant aura of red Chroma that fights back against his curses. But she's tiring. I can see it in the way her stance wavers, how her magic flickers like a candle in the wind.

My heart pounds in my chest, a wild rhythm that beats in time with the chaos unfolding beneath me. Tairyn was firm in his instructions. No matter what happens, stay in position.

But as I watch Mira's magic struggle, my heart breaks with the knowledge that our plan may fail. With every second that passes, Yurghen's strength surges, his black energy growing stronger and darker.

Time slows to a crawl as I struggle to make the split-second decision. Do I trust Tairyn and his plans enough to risk letting Mira fall to Yurghen?