Page 47 of What Blooms from Death

A light was shining far in the distance, like the only star twinkling on an otherwise empty horizon—one that was growing larger and bolder with every passing second.

“Damn it,” I muttered.

I tried to turn away from the sight, but I couldn’t bring myself to walk any farther.

Now what?

Even without staring directly at it, the glow soon became impossible to ignore. The light flickered and expanded, flickered and expanded, over and over—now a star getting dangerously close to explosion.

Magic.

It had to be Aleksander’s magic; I had yet to see anything else in this realm even come close to the brightness he created.

And I couldn’t just pretend I didn’t see it.

Going against nearly every instinct I possessed, I turned back toward the others and set off at a jog that quickly transitioned into a sprint.

Even running as fast as I could, Phantom kept getting far ahead and having to circle back. Finally, he shifted into a larger version of his canine self and swept in front of me, forcing me to a stop.

(You aren’t fast enough,) he said pointedly.

I hesitated, only until I remembered how much more solid he’d become since arriving in this realm. Steeling my nerves, I grabbed a fistful of the fur around the ruff of his neck and hoisted myself onto his back.

He bolted forward, nearly flinging me off as he did.

It took effort, but after a few seconds, I managed to balance between his shoulder blades and stay there. Keeping my balance required staying low against his body, however, so I was mostly blind as we raced back across the dark landscape, my face buried in his silky, wind-swept fur.

But I didn’t need to see the destruction to know we were approaching it.

I couldfeelit.

It was no longer a mere trembling, but a steady wave of power rippling through the ground, making it buckle and sway. The power was overwhelming, but the heat was worse; my lungs seemed to expand with every inhale of the searing air until they felt close to bursting.

I continued to press my face into Phantom’s strong back as he unleashed a cold wave of energy. For most, that energy was a warning, a disorienting shock to their system. For me, it provided a familiar jolt of comfort—enough to bring me back to my senses. Lifting my head, I squinted in the direction where most of the heat and power seemed to be originating from.

I spotted Aleksander kneeling in the center of a storm of Light energy, his head bowed and his eyes closed.

The others were nowhere in sight.

A terrible thought clutched me—had a part of this world already broken apart and swallowed them up?

Just like the world swallowed up my father and so many others seven years ago…

It all felt so similar to the night in Rose Point—only with our roles reversed. Here Aleksander was, in a world that didn’t embrace his magic, same as I’d been that night. And now the power he channeled was threatening to rip the realm apart at the seams.

But what did it allmean?

I didn’t know what to think, or what to do. But if I didn’t dosomething,then there was a very good chance neither of us would live to figure any of it out.

“Get me closer!” I told Phantom, shouting to be heard over the crackling and hissing of magic.

He hesitated for a beat before following the command, bouncing precariously over the rolling ground, dodging bolts of Light energy as they struck the shaking earth all around us. A particularly violent crack of energy lashed the dirt right in frontof us and Phantom jumped straight up, his reflexes suddenly more cat-like than dog-like.

My grip on his fur slipped, sending me bouncing wildly into the air.

He managed to slide underneath me again just before I hit the ground. I rolled clumsily across his back and slid down his side, planting my feet and somehow managing to stay upright after a few stumbling steps.

Shadows swirled to life on my skin as I drew closer to Aleksander. His skin cracked and light bled through the fissures as if in answer to my power—as if that light had only been waiting for me to arrive, eager to slip free, to tangle with my darkness. AndIfelt a surge of eagerness, too. An unmistakable pull…

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