Page 66 of Shaped By Darkness

"Blair!" Serena shouts as she stumbles over her feet in her attempt to reach Blair and Ryker.

Blair is unfazed, but Ryker doesn't seem like he's as keen on this conversation anymore. He'll get used to her, eventually. Blair doesn't so much as glance her way, as if he didn’t hear her, but I hear Pike chuckle, which means Rena did too. She'll get him for that later, I'm sure.

"Is it possible for someone to act like a conductor? To amplify someone's powers?" Blair asks, and now he's got everyone's attention.

"Blair, stop it!" Serena finally reaches them and attempts to push Blair away in the direction of the castle. He doesn't budge, of course, but she sure tries.

"I'm not sure what you—"

A wall of fire separates them from us, hot and easily as tall as the trees.

"Fuck!" Storm hisses as we move back a few steps, feeling the heat crawl over our skin.

Serena!

My beast claws at my subconscious, trying to force me to shift, but before I can, the fire is gone. A ring of dead grass surrounds them, proving the fire was there, but that's it.

I'm moving before I can think better of it, and I can feel Storm at my side as we make it to Serena in only a few seconds.

Her hands are still on his back from her attempt to force him to move, but her chest is heaving and her eyes are dark with her shadows. It only lasts a moment, as she stares off into space, almost as if coming out of a trance, then she blinks once, twice, and when she opens her eyes the third time, they’re back to the blue I love so much.

What the hell is going on?

"A conductor..." Ryker says, but this time he sounds thoughtful, and when I turn to look at him, I swear I can almost see his brain working.

I'm so damn lost, and one look at Pike and Storm says I'm not the only one. Before any of us can ask, Blair spins around, pushing Serena behind him as he lights up the trees to the south, the ones closest to the Forgotten Forest.

The trees catch fire despite being lush and green; magic has the ability to do what regular fire can't, but just as quickly as they go up in flames, a gust of wind blows it out.

"Wait!" Ryker shouts, disappearing into thin air only to reappear in front of Blair, hands up in a silent plea for him to stop.

That’s a neat trick.

I didn't even notice the fireball in his hand until now; I'd been too busy trying to understand what it is I'm feeling in the woods. Whatever it is that’s put Blair so on edge, it's strong as hell.

Maybe even stronger than all of us… together.

Blair doesn't throw another fireball, but he doesn't extinguish it either. Instead, he glares at me, and I see the question in his eyes. I'm not the best with people, but after a few weeks with them, I'm pretty sure I've got the gist and also a firm understanding of swear words. Right now I'm on a limited time frame before he ignores my request and does what he feels is best, not only for Serena but his pack.

Why does he care what I have to say?

It doesn't matter; the fact is he does, which means I need to say it.

"They aren't a threat," I rush to explain because I know that's what Blair's worried about. It's why he attacked first without question. Honestly, the fact that he was able to sense them at all is amazing; even I wasn't aware they were there until after he lit the trees on fire.

Now that they've made themselves known, it's impossible not to feel their power, though. It's old and well beyond what any of us is capable of.

The only people I've ever met that come even close are my father, though his is because of his experiments, and Serena.

It's no wonder my father’s been chasing after her all these years.

Blair's eyes snap up, and I can't stop myself from turning to follow his gaze. The best way to explain this is probably to show him, anyway; not to mention, I'm curious.

A woman with fair skin and long red hair walks out into the clearing from beyond the charred trees. Thankfully, the damage isn't too bad; they didn't get to burn for long. She doesn't look old, maybe one or two hundred years at best, but I know better than to believe what I see.

No, if I had to guess, I'd assume she's probably closer to a mega-annum, maybe even an eon.

"Theo?"

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