“Esther!”
Somewhere, distantly, there was a small voice, but Esther struggled to understand just what—or who—it was. It tugged on her memory and on her heart, but she was finding it hard to concentrate on anything but that…
Power.
Esther had never felt so much of it, and never to this depth and intensity. It was like the first time she had run away from one of those awful group homes that she and Finn had been placed in.
Finn… Her mind poked at her.
It was like the first time she had driven a car. The first time she had told a boy that she had loved him.
“ESTHER!”
The first time she had been old enough to not need guardians and had walked out into the world on her own. This power was all of those things and so much more.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
She felt invincible, unstoppable. Really, she knew that there was no end to this kind of power. It was a magical current straight to another realm, and it was pouring into her, filling her, opening up possibilities within her that she wasn’t even aware of…
[CELESTIAL ENGINE ERROR!]
There were flashes across her inner vision, but Esther didn’t know what they meant. There were flaring purple words talking about ‘upgrades’ or ‘ascension,’ but they would dissolve into venomous green. Something was happening to her soul, and she didn’t know what it was.
“Give me the prism, Esther! You have done enough. Get it for me!” She could hear Sesuuk shouting beside her, and when she turned to look through the burning green glow, she could see that he was attempting to push himself clear from the cavern wall. He reached toward the rapidly flashing Prism of Fire.
He wanted it, but why? Esther couldn’t see a reason why she should care at all what the Lamakai wanted…
Sesuuk had never wanted what she wanted, had he? He had never wanted just what was best for her, despite his words. Not like her brother had.
Her brother...
“ESTHER!”
There was another shout, and Esther suddenly knew who it was. It was Finn. He had come for her. He had come to save her.
She turned away from Sesuuk, now seeing the chaos all around the cavern. There was an army of undead Lamakai rising from the ground, and a giant skeleton snake-man was lifting her brother aloft, intent on dashing him against the wall.
“Finn!” she shouted in alarm.