Silver And Shadow: Twisted Fate

Of Course all that misguided magic reaction was a false alarm of some sort but it was enough to convince Ephraim and Nova to retreat and regroup.

And gave us a bit of breathing space which Thalia intended to use to the fullest to make sure I understand all that I can about my powers and how to control them efficiently to the best of her knowledge.

"Focus on your breathing," Thalia says for what feels like the millionth time. "Magic flows like water. You can't force it."

Easy for her to say. She's not the one sitting cross-legged on damp grass at dawn, trying to light a freaking candle without burning down the entire forest. Again.

I take another deep breath, attempting to channel my energy the way she taught me. The magic stirs inside me; a restless, wild thing that feels more like a tornado than the "gentle stream" Thalia keeps talking about.

Jay watches from the edge of our makeshift training ground, his shoulders tense. He hasn't slept much since the whole 'tear in reality' event that happened three days ago.

None of us have, really, but at least Thalia and I have these lessons to keep us occupied. Jay just... watches. Waits. His eyes constantly scanning the treeline like he expects the entire werewolf pack to come charging through at any moment and the matter of Ephraim and Nova just up-ing and leaving wasn't making it any easier on him.

"You're distracted," Thalia scolds, snapping my attention back to the task at hand. "The candle, Olivia. Not the mutt." (A nickname she uses whenever she wants to get on Jay's nerve)

I feel my cheeks heat up. "He's not a.."

"Focus."

Right. The candle. I close my eyes, trying to visualize my power as something controllable. Something I can somehow direct instead of just… explode things without discrimination.

And I think I am finally making progress.

The energy builds slowly this time, warming my chest before spreading down my arms.

It feels different from yesterday, less like trying to hold back a tidal wave and more like... like...

"Wow!" Jay's voice breaks my concentration. My eyes snap open just in time to see not just the candle, but every leaf and blade of grass within a ten-foot radius floating gently in the air, surrounded by a soft golden glow.

"Well," Thalia says dryly, "at least you didn't set anything on fire this time."

The floating objects glides back to earth as my concentration breaks completely. "Was that... supposed to happen?"

"No." Thalia's studying me with that look again - the one that makes me feel like some kind of science experiment.

"Your magic shouldn't be able to individually affect many things so easily."

"Can we take a break?" I ask, rubbing my temples. The headache that's been threatening all morning is finally making its appearance.

Jay's at my side instantly, one warm hand on my shoulder. "I think you're pushing too hard," he tells Thalia, but his eyes are on me.

"We don't have time for.." Thalia starts, but cuts off suddenly, her head tilting like she's listening to something.

Jay tenses beside me, he sniffs three times. Something changes in his expression; recognition, maybe?... but before I can ask what's wrong, Thalia's pulling me to my feet.

"Lesson's over for now," she says briskly. "Let's get back inside the wards."

"But I thought you said the wards were still in disarray?" The words slip out before I can stop them, and I immediately regret bringing it up when I see Jay's expression darken.

"They're stable enough," Thalia says, but she's moving faster now, practically dragging me along. "Besides, you need to practice maintaining them. Think of it as homework."

I want to argue.

God knows I have enough on my plate without adding magical maintenance to the list… but something in the air has changed.

The forest feels... watched. Like when you're home alone and suddenly get that prickly feeling on the back of your neck.

Just paranoia, I tell myself. But as we hurry back toward our hideout, I catch Jay looking over his shoulder, his jaw clenched tight. And I remember what he told me last night, when neither of us could sleep:

"Wolves are patient hunters when they are calm and organized, Liv. We don't give up easily. We don't forget a scent. And we never stop until we catch our prey."

I really hope he was just trying to scare me. But somehow, watching him scan the treeline one last time before following us inside, I don't think he was.

I am now connected to the magic pathways that start from the wall, going through and around the hideout… powering all the protective wards placed by Thalia. (Doing this somehow seems to stabilize and calm me both inside and out)

"Tell me again," I say, trying to distract us both from the growing darkness outside. "About how all this started."

Jay shifts closer, his warmth a constant comfort despite everything. "The witch-wolf war?

"Yes." I trace patterns in the wave magic in the air, watching tiny sparks of golden light follow my finger. "I feel like I am missing something important."

He's quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "The way my pack tells it, witches were once just... normal people. But they found a way to tap into the spirit realm, to draw power from it."

"Through sacrifices," I murmur, remembering what Thalia told us. "Blood magic."

"At first." Jay's voice drops lower, like he's sharing secrets. "But then they discovered they could bind themselves to spiritual entities. Create permanent connections. That's what started the first witch bloodlines."

The magic under my skin pulses at his words, like it recognizes some truth in them. "But something went wrong?"

"Doesn't it always?" He gives a humorless laugh. "The spirits they bound themselves to... some of them weren't exactly friendly. The first werewolves were created to fight the corrupted witches… to protect humanity from magic gone wrong."

"Yet here we are," I gesture between us, "a Witch and a werewolf, hiding from both sides."

"You're not just a witch though, are you?"

I jump at Thalia's voice. She's standing in the doorway, arms crossed, watching us with those unnervingly intense eyes.

"You're something new," she continues, moving into the room. "Or maybe something very, very old."

There's something in her tone that makes me sit up straighter. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Many things." At least she's honest about it. "But right now, we need to focus on increasing your control over your new power. The wards won't hold forever. Unless you want to sacrifice your movement and just be connected to them forever"

As if on cue, I feel a ripple in the magical barriers surrounding us, like a stone dropped in still water. My connection to them has been making them grow stronger.

I realized it suddenly. "You're using my power to fuel the wards, aren't you? That's why you wanted me to always sit in here after practice."

Thalia doesn't deny it. "Your energy is... unique. The normal rules don't apply to you. Which means.."

"Which means you're using her," Jay cuts in, standing up so fast I flinch. "Like everyone else wants to."

"I'm trying to keep her alive!"

"By draining her power?"

"How can I drain a power that regenerates endlessly?" She challenged Jay. "I'm teaching her to control it… with almost no resources… before it destroys her!"

Their voices are rising, and with them, my anxiety. The magic responds instantly, making the windows rattle. Outside, the wind picks up, carrying with it the scent of rain and... something else.

"Stop it," I whisper, but they're too busy arguing to hear me. The magical current running through the wards is becoming erratic, matching my pulse. "Both of you, stop!"

They fall silent, but it's too late. The power building inside me releases in a wave that makes the entire building shudder. Through my connection to the wards, I feel the forest respond; trees swaying, animals fleeing, the very ground seeming to vibrate with excess energy.

"Olivia," Thalia says carefully, "breathe. Remember what we practiced."

But this feels different from our training sessions.

Bigger.

Jay reaches for me, but Thalia grabs his arm. "Don't. She needs to control it herself."

"Like she controlled it in the chamber?" he snarls. "When you pushed her too far?"

I close my eyes, trying to shut out their bickering, trying to focus on anything else. And that's when I feel it, a presence at the edge of my awareness.

Watching. Listening.

"Someone's out there," I gasp, opening my eyes. "They're.."

"I know," Jay says grimly. He's looking toward the trees with an expression I can't read. Like he's caught between recognition and denial.

Thalia moves to the entrance, her hands already glowing with defensive magic. But whatever…whoever was out there seems to have vanished, leaving behind only the faintest trace of their presence.

And a growing sense that we've just given away far more than we should have.

"Trust no one," Thalia says into the tense silence. "Not the wolves, not the witches. Not even me."

"That's comforting," I mutter, but my attempt at sarcasm falls flat.

The wards stabilize slowly as my panic fades,

The silence following Thalia's warning was a mere breath.

Jay, coiled tight as a spring all day, finally snapped.

"What's your real angle here?" he demands, stepping up to Thalia. "Because all this talk about protection and control... it feels like you're grooming her for something."

I want to tell him he's being paranoid, but the words stick in my throat. Because maybe he's not entirely wrong.

Thalia's expression hardens. "You want to know my angle, mutt? Fine." She spreads her hands, and the air fills with shimmering blue light, forming images I can barely comprehend. "This is what happens if we fail."

The magical projection shows cities crumbling, the sky torn open with swirling vortexes of power. It's eerily similar to the visions Nova showed me, and my stomach drops.

"The balance is already shifting," Thalia continues. "The spirit realm will soon start bleeding into ours. And your girlfriend here? She's either going to be the key to stopping it, or the catalyst that makes it all happen faster."

"I didn't ask for this," I whisper.

"None of us asked for this," Thalia snaps. "But here we are. And unless you want both worlds to collapse into chaos, you need to learn control."

Jay's not backing down. "And I'm supposed to believe you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart? You're a rogue witch. Your kind isn't exactly known for their generosity."

"My 'kind' knows more about what's coming than your pack ever will." Thalia's voice is ice cold. "Why do you think they're so desperate to find her? It's not just about power anymore."

The argument might have continued, but suddenly I'm not hearing them anymore. The world goes fuzzy around the edges as images flood my mind - not Thalia's projections this time, but something else.

I see the spirit realm again, but clearer than ever before. Vast landscapes of light and shadow, beings of pure energy dancing through the air. And beneath it all, a sense of wrongness.

"Olivia?" Jay's voice seems to come from very far away. "What's wrong?"

Everything," I manage to say before I fell sideways. He catches me before I hit the floor, but I barely notice. The vision isn't letting go.

I see war coming; not just between witches and wolves, but something bigger. The spirit realm pressing against the boundaries of our world, and beings that shouldn't exist in our reality is eager to slip in.. through the cracks.

And through it all, golden light. My light.

"It's happening faster than I thought," Thalia murmurs, and there's real fear in her voice now. "We're running out of time."

The vision fades slowly, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion and the taste of copper in my mouth. When I can focus again, I find myself cradled in Jay's arms, his heartbeat a steady rhythm against my back.

"What did you see?" he asks softly.

But before I can answer, a howl splits the night. Jay tenses, and I feel a growl building in his chest.

"That's Lyra," he says, Lyra: his packmate. The one who helped us escape, who I thought was on our side.

"She's the one who's been watching us," Thalia says grimly.

"We need to go find her," Thalia starts preparing for a chant. "Before.."

But it's already too late. Just as usual, she was gone.

Miles away, in the heart of wolf territory, Lyra stands before her Alpha, sharing everything she's learned. About my power, about the spirit realm, about the coming chaos.

And Kael, the wolf who's been hunting me since this all began, makes his decision.

"If they survive.. if the coven gets to them first," Lyra tells him, "everything will change.... all of it."

"Then they won't survive," Kael replies simply. "Gather the pack. Soon, we will end this."