The monsters came at Daana from all sides. Teeth gnashing, talons slashing, the shadow beasts tore her flesh from bone. Screaming, Daana kicked and flailed. She threw her hands into the air and pulled, siphoning the surrounding magic as quickly as she could, but her veins did not fill. It was like trying to catch mist in her hand. No matter how far into the aether she reached or how deeply she drew, the thread of magic disintegrated to dust within her grasp. Her power waned, unable to feed.

  A set of crushing jaws latched onto Daana’s ankle and dragged her down. The horde descended. Desperate, she flipped over onto her stomach and dragged her body, hand over hand, across the swampy ground, but it was to no avail. The gnashing teeth and talons pulled her back into the fray.

  Little spell-thief! The wind shifter’s voice pierced her skull like hot steel through butter. Their panic buzzed inside Daana’s head. Reinforcements have arrived! Take everything I have, now! Hurry! Before the coward retreats!

  Clenching her eyes shut, Daana stubbornly lifted her hand and pulled with all she had.

  The fae’s desperate screech grew faint. End him!

  Daana reached and reached and reached, but no magic welled within her outstretched fingers. It was too late. The fae was out of range. Cray had already fled, taking the wind shifter and Daana’s hope of ending everything here and now with him.

  Snapping and snarling, the shadow creatures closed in. Their shifting shapes melded together as one and formed an impenetrable barrier around her.

  It was too much. There were too many. Daana had no escape. The pain crescendoed until every thread of her corporeal being stretched too far, too tight. Her mind, a screaming void of pain and fear, held together by brittle threads of sheer tenacity, snapped under the pressure. The frayed ends unraveled as Daana came apart at the seams. Her pieces drifted away, swallowed whole by the thrumming pain.

  Arms curled over her head, she tucked her broken body into a tight ball and drew in, shutting herself off from the outside.

  It was the moment of weakness the dark entity had been waiting for. Cold ripples slithered and slunk beneath Daana’s skin, spreading poison from head to toe, filling in the gaps between her severed seams. Tugging, pulling, mending, the dark entity put her back together again. When it spoke, Daana was startled to hear not a foreign voice, but her own.

  Alone, we are broken. Shattered remnants without power. But together — the last lingering traces of heat fled Daana’s body as the entity slipped neatly into place — we are strong.

  The entity had been waiting so long for this moment. Daana didn’t know how she knew this, she just did. She and the entity were now one. It knew her thoughts and, for the first time, she was exposed to the inner workings of its own mind. The entity’s excitement belonged to both of them. An eager shiver rippled through Daana’s leaden bones, igniting a fire that burned with cold rage. A tiny, distant voice tugged at the back of her mind, insisting she panic. But she couldn’t. The very sensation blipped out of existence, along with her pain, fear, and doubt. For the first time in ages, she felt relief.

  There was no pain here. No failure. No crushing dread. It was wrong, yes, she knew deep, deep down. But how could something so wrong feel so right?

  Our eyes are open now. Gaze upon our enemy and see them for what they truly are.

  Daana’s eyes opened. A blazing light surged forth from her body, dispelling the shadow horde. Yipping and yelping in surprise, the shapeless beasts drew back. Their glowing eyes burned against the swirling dark of their incorporeal bodies as they watched, cowering in fear, as Daana uncurled her body from the fetal position. Several of the larger beasts edged forward, bloodied teeth snapping, but they didn’t commit to the attack. Their prey was no longer a hapless elf girl. She was something else. Something far more dangerous.

  Daana paid them no mind.

  She stood, slowly, as if caught in a dream, and gazed out across the strange land around her. A blindfold had been ripped from her eyes. The land was simultaneously familiar and completely alien. The invisible barrier separating the world of magic from that of the mortal had faded, allowing the two planes to overlap. For the first time, Daana could see. Really see. A complex tapestry of living magic wove through the air, snaking around the slew of mortal bodies caught in slow motion.

  Time was acting squirrely again. Daana was too enraptured by her surroundings to consider the how or why of it.

  She studied the shadowy beasts encircling her. They were no longer monstrous creatures comprised of teeth and claws, but mere shadows. A mindless illusion born of shadow magic. No wonder she hadn’t been able to draw their power. The beasts had no magic. They were nothing more than puppets dangled on a string. Daana saw the crystalline threads that tethered the shadow beasts together and followed them with her eyes.

  The streetway was more crowded than when she saw it last. Shapes rose and fell over one another all around. Not only had Cray’s witches arrived, but so too had the resistance. Captain Bernstein’s forces clashed with witches and realm soldiers alike. Caught in the fray of battle, both enemy and ally paid her no mind. Daana returned the favor and continued to trace the thread of shadow magic to its wielder.

  The shadowmancer stood brazenly at the center of the street. Shapes danced around her, pining for the opportunity to strike her low, but a circle of roiling shadow beasts kept the witch’s attackers at bay. She stood tall, enraptured in a cloud of darkness, backlit by an unearthly glow. The witch’s hood slipped down over her shoulders, revealing a face mangled by scars and blazing green eyes.

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  Aster. The witch’s name sprang unsummoned from the catacombs of Daana’s distant memory. A long-forgotten envy resurfaced. Ice rippled beneath Daana’s skin at the mere mention of Aster’s name.

  Aster Leoren had been an upperclassmen during Daana’s first year at the academy. Destined for greatness, the shadowmancer ensured everyone else understood their inferiority to her. Daana remembered hiding in the supply closet as Aster roamed the halls, hellbent on tormenting the unworthy. Without magic of her own, Daana had been a favorite target of Aster’s. Not even the Lazuli surname had protected Daana from the shadowmancer’s cruelty.

  Aster cocked her head to the side curiously. Her blazing green eyes searched Daana’s face. Daana had hoped for a glimpse of recognition. A moment of realization followed swiftly by a wave of fear and regret. All Daana got was an arrogant smile instead.

  Unbelievable. After years of torment, Daana’s old nemesis didn’t even recognize her!

  Show her what we’ve become. The thought fanned the cold flames burning inside her chest. Make her feel the same fear she inflicted on us.

  Time snapped back to its normal pace as Daana broke into a run. A surge of light erupted from her hands as she barreled through the shadow horde. The shapeless beasts scattered, snarling and snapping to escape the blistering light. Quickly recovering, the horde reformed and took chase, biting at Daana’s heels. Sharp fangs sank into Daana’s left ankle, but the pain didn’t register. Sensation was merely a blip now. She felt nothing but the rage clawing its way up her throat.

  Wet mud sucked at her boots as Daana slammed her feet against the ground, increasing her speed. Magic zipped back and forth through the air. Daana swept it up as she ran until her glowing hands quivered, filled to bursting with stolen power.

  Aster saw Daana coming. A maniacal laugh burst from her mouth as she threw up her arm, sending a fresh wave of shadow beasts to meet Daana head-on. The horde rose into a wave of inky black and slammed into her. Daana ground her heels into the ground and pushed back. Magic blistered and popped over her skin as Daana edged forward one painstaking step at a time.

  With her hands held in front of her, she touched her index fingers together and focused. A ball of white light formed where the tips of her fingers met. Daana channeled the unfamiliar power flooding her veins, willing the ball of light bigger. The ball grew bigger, bigger, bigger, tearing a hole through the suffocating swirl of shadow. Daana slipped through as easily as water to a drain.

  Free of the horde, she returned Aster’s cocky smile.

  Infuriated, Aster sent wave after wave at Daana. No matter what she tried, how many beasts she summoned from the shadows, their size and intensity, Daana kept advancing. Finally, enraptured in a swirl of cutting teeth and claws, Daana cut through one last time and landed inside of Aster’s protective barrier. The shadowmancer’s hand rose, but Daana was faster. She drew in.

  Threads of dark and light poured into Daana. The surrounding shadows whipped and whirled, cloaking them in darkness as Daana felt Aster’s power fade. The shadowmancer was weakening. Daana felt the shadowmancer emptying. Daana pulled harder, faster. Darkness clouded her vision as Aster’s corrosive powers pooled within her body, becoming her own.

  The dark entity writhed with glee. More, it demanded. Bleed her dry.

  A glimmer of silver steel cut through the darkness. Hot pain erupted from the center of Daana’s torso. The drain stopped. Her fingers itched and curled, demanding more, but no power came. The dark shadows slowly dissipated from her eyes.

  Confused, crippled with pain, Daana glanced down. A blade was struck through her chainmail. The broken loops of tarnished steel ran red with blood. Daana’s stricken gaze moved from the blade to its wielder. Aster was pressed up against her, hands still gripping the tarnished handle. The shadowmancer smiled, her face pale and drained of color, and then pulled, wrenching the blade free in a spray of blood.

  Daana’s trembling legs buckled beneath her. She sank to the wet, bloodied ground. The blistering heat in her stomach spread, dissipating the former cold. Pain returned to her body. She threw her back and screamed, but no sound came forth. Hot liquid bubbled up her throat and over her tongue. It tasted of iron and stomach acid.

  She reached out her trembling hand and tapped into the aether one last time. Her waning powers reached Aster. Desperate, Daana tried to pull, but the opposite happened. As soon as her powers made the connection, the writhing poison housed within her veins surged in the opposite direction. Daana watched, helpless, as the dark entity left her.

  She tried to speak but only a wet gargle emitted from her frothy mouth.

  The dark entity’s survival depended on a living host. It was leaving her, using her own siphoning powers as a means to relocate hosts!

  Aster’s eyes flooded with color as she lifted one hand, watching with fascination as dark lines rippled beneath her scarred flesh. Her expression was void of fear. Her smile returned, wider, brighter, more manic than ever before. “You idiot.” Her voice was distorted. “You took on more than you can handle and look where it got you. You’re dead and I’m more powerful than ever before.”

  Daana tried to scuttle away, but her limbs failed her. She slumped onto her back, unable to move.

  Cackling, Aster stepped closer, twiddling the blade in her hand. “As a thank you, I’ll make it quick. One neat little cut across the throat and all your trouble will be over.” Her eyes reflected the ice in her smile. “It’s the least I can—”

  The sharp point of a sword erupted through her chest from the back. Aster staggered forward with a wet gurgle. Dropping the knife, her hands clawed uselessly at the steel protruding from her chest. The front of her tunic ran black with blood. The blade wrenched free with a grizzly tug before it was brought back down on her again and again between hoarse screams. The shadowmancer crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

  Daana’s vision faded in and out. Groggily, she lifted her gaze to the hazy form standing over Aster’s dead body. The soldier’s tattered uniform identified him as a sergeant, but his horrified expression implied that he’d rather be in just about any other profession. Behind the layer of blood and grime, Daana saw a panic-stricken face, fearful eyes, and the tips of pointed ears poking out from beneath a loose tangle of hair. The man’s eyes met Daana’s. The sight of her snapped him from his daze.

  “Hold on, miss!” He darted forward.

  Daana’s scream caught in her throat when his heavy hands pressed down against her abdomen. She writhed, helplessly, as he cut a strip of cloth from her cloak and bound the wound. Her vision turned black the moment her broken body was lifted from the wet ground. His arms gathered around her. The last thing Daana remembered was the warmth of his body pressed against hers.