Chapter 34 #2
Instead of a ceiling, an endless sky stretched overhead, with star constellations drifting slowly through a deep twilight.
I gazed, awed and astonished.
“What kind of room is this?” I asked.
“I call it my trinket box,” Viktor replied with a proud smile.
Wolfe smirked. “Yet these are no mere trinkets you carry. There are things here from the first age.”
“Indeed. I guess they have become trinkets to me. Come, follow me.” He turned and led us to the center of the room. “Show me your power,” he said to me.
I held out my hands, and the glow of gold and blue emerged. He inspected me.
“You are holding back.” His gaze met mine.
“Um, no. Not really. This is the best I can do.”
He shook his head. “You are forgetting the simplest of things. The Fray.”
“Am I? I thought I was accessing the Fray.”
“No, that is just coming from you. Before you begin, you must tap into the Fray. Feel it, trust it, and invite it to be one with you.”
Magdalena had talked about that. I guess I wasn’t connecting the right way. Or maybe it was myself I didn’t trust.
“Remember what I said about your soul.” He nodded.
I stared back at him, and something clicked in my mind. My thoughts of weakness. When I pushed them away, almost immediately, something deeper flared in my core.
The feeling was so strong and enticing it encouraged me to reach for more. I did and felt that connection to the Fray.
It was like fuel. As the energy flowed through me, that fuel ignited, raw and searching. The glow in my hands rippled outward so fast, Wolfe had to move out of the way. Eventually, it surrounded me in a vast ring of light. Gold with veins of blue.
It flowed out of my hands, no longer connected but still there, surrounding me.
“Now, that is what I mean, my child.” Viktor smiled. “But here’s the thing…” He looked me over. “There’s still more. Much, much more.”
“How do you know?” I couldn’t hide the fascination in my voice.
He gestured to the outline of the magic, where it stopped, where it flickered, where it still reached for more.
“There. These are all pathways. With time, they are endless. You could spend your entire life adding to them and never be complete. Because there is always more. Threads that become the past, present, future, possibility. And so, the Universe goes on.”
I released a slow breath. “You sound just like Magdalena.”
“Hmmm. Then I must be doing something right.”
That made me smile.
He focused on Wolfe. “While we are learning, I need you to anchor her with your bond, so she doesn’t get lost through the currents. What we’re about to do is highly dangerous, but if you want her to get that dragon, it must be done.”
“I’ll do whatever Elariya needs me to do,” Wolfe agreed but furrowed his brows. “But what are you doing? I don’t want her in danger.”
“I’m afraid, young Nightblade, that danger is something we’ll have to embrace. I’m going to converge the threads of time and align her powers. It will be like receiving twenty years’ worth of training in a few hours.”
My mouth fell open. “Twenty years?”
Viktor nodded once. “The danger is being overwhelmed and burning out by that much power. We’re essentially applying too much fuel to a vessel that isn’t ready for it yet. A mating bond provides an anchor to steady you. Strengthen you.”
“I’ll do it,” I said before Wolfe could make any further comments. I looked at him then and nodded firmly. “I must do this. Nothing will matter if we fail here.”
He nodded his understanding. “Then I will be your anchor.”
“Very well.” Viktor set his shoulders back and scanned the haze around me. “There are breaks in your magic that weaken the connection. This is normal but more prevalent in mages raised in the mortal lands, or cursed. You were both.”
“Can you… fix me?”
He grinned. “Fix isn’t the term I would use. It is more the case of bridging connections, then aligning your current power with your potential power. That way, you’ll have access to everything that’s already inside you.”
I was beginning to understand. “So, instead of waiting to learn, it will already be there?”
“Exactly. And that is what will make you ready to bond with your dragon. As it stands now, the creature would neither respond to your call nor reach out for you.”
“Will this really… work?”
When he nodded, relief filled me with more hope.
“I have devoted a significant part of my life studying time magic. I doubt there’s another living soul who is more knowledgeable than me. So, when I say something will work, it will.”
His confidence was reassuring. He also seemed less scary now and more like someone we could trust. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me until you’ve got what you came here for.”
I bit back a smile.
He reached out a hand toward the cabinet across from us. One of the little doors opened, and out flew a silver spindle-shaped object. It drifted right into his awaiting hand.
“This is a Nyethera. It is a tool we use to align. The moment we unlock it, the process will begin.” He held it out to me.
I took it. The metal was cool to touch, but I could feel warm energy inside.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
I looked at Wolfe, who smiled back at me like he had every faith in me that I could do whatever I put my mind to.
“I’m ready.”
Viktor nodded and summoned an energy ball. "Close your eyes. Do not open them until I tell you to."
I did as he said.
“Focus on the sound of my voice,” he murmured, voice lower.
“Feel the connection with your mate.”
I reached for Wolfe. Our bond answered immediately, strong and unwavering.
“Now... reach for the Fray.”
I obeyed.
Power stirred around me, and then within me.
Every thread I had ever touched seemed to awaken at once, weaving together into something far greater. It grew and grew.
“Do not fight it.” Viktor’s voice was firm.
Every thought fell away from my mind and darkness swallowed me.