And I could move then.
Every running step I took caused the ice under my feet to crack. I had only one thought: destroy them all.
There was green and gold.
So much of it.
Lightning arced around me, snapping brightly.
I was going to fucking kill them and—
They were gone.
There was nothing there.
The castle groaned and shifted.
Lightning smashed into the ground and walls, splitting the ice.
There was nothing there.
I was alone.
“Ryan?” I cried out. “Ryan?”
“Sam.”
I whirled around.
Randall stood at the other side of the room.
“Where is he?” I growled. “What have you done with him?”
The lightning-struck scars felt like they were crawling along my skin.
“It was a test,” Randall said, taking a cautious step forward. “He wasn’t really here. It was nothing more than a mirage.”
And even though my heart was breaking because I could hear the truth of it in his voice, I was angry. I was so, so angry at him. “You… tricked me?”
“I needed to see,” he said, “what you were capable of. Sam, can you control it?”
“I’m trying,” I said through gritted teeth.
“It’s so bright,” he whispered. “I’ve never seen something so… expansive. How have I not seen this before?”
“He’s not hurt?” I asked.
He looked startled at this. “No, Sam. I swear to you. Nothing has happened to Ryan. He’s safe. It was a smoke screen. A ghost to bring this out in you so I could see just how far it goes. Now, are you ready?”
The lightning grew brighter and I—
—DIDN’T KNOW what to think about him. About Myrin. About this whole… thing. Why him? Why me? Out of everyone in the world, why the two of us? He had made the decisions he’d made before I ever existed. I am nothing to him. He is nothing to me.
But that might not be exactly right.
I am the strongest wizard in an age, or so it’s been said.
And he wants to consume that strength.