Page 165 of Gift from the Source
I am Willow Vito.
True Primary to the strongest Nexus in Elementra. Light Bender, Mind Transferer, Shadow Walker, Dragon.
Seven gifts. Seven bonds. Four elements.
Last of my kind.
The last of my line.
I bellow in agony as I grip the Gods Binding tighter.
Leaning over it, my tears flow fast down my face. They drip onto my blood-stained hands, yet they aren’t clear.
They’re the color of a soulless abyss.
Blacker than the night I’m screaming my soul into.
“Blood of my blood,” I roar, fighting off the call of darkness.
My veins bulge with the abundance of gifts trapped within me. The corrupt power that’s wielded this object wrongfully claws at my chest. It begs for a host.
That host is not me.
It’s no one in this realm as this is not a blessing for us.
Breathe.
“I, granddaughter of Malvolio Choice,” I exhale on a shaky whisper as I lay my forehead to the Binding. “Accept the wrongful power placed upon this gift that is not meant for us. It courses through our veins, yet I command it free. It is not a blessing bestowed upon us by our creator.
“Elementra, I call for you. Save space and welcome them home in the beyond. Reveal the way and I will release it. I will serve you as you have served me. Free me from this confinement.”
My painful gasp echoes around the eerie silence of my mind. The inhale seems never ending.
The black smoke escaping the globe it was confined to chokes me as it rushes down my throat.
The last remnants leave the Binding and it shakes viciously in my hands as though it’s attempting to escape me.
And I allow it to.
I rip my palms free from the relic and lose control over my body. My head falls back, arms splayed out, and a harrowing wail tears through me.
A blinding ray of white light erupts from my body.
It pulls out all the essence that doesn’t belong to me.
It’s painful, soul-wrenching.
A small taste of what those whose gifts were wrongfully taken experienced in their last moments.
“They are home, Ultima unum.”
Elementra snaps the final tie between the power and me. I fall forward, barely catching myself on my hands. My face sits mere inches away from the relic and its real power pulses around me.
“Willow,” four incredibly concerned voices shout seconds before I’m hauled into a lap.
“What the fuck was that, V?” Draken growls. His trembling hands rub up and down my arms and his dragon’s rumble vibrates my back.
“That was her perfectly cleansing the Gods Binding.”
