I lower my palm to the floor, unsure if she’s using her power or if I’m going willingly. My claws slice out of my fingertips, raking against the stone as I slowly crawl to her, pulled by that ethereal thread tying our souls together.

I stop at her feet, and Dagny crouches, formless black smoke billowing at her back, gradually taking on the appearance of feathered wings. She leans forward as far as her chains will allow her, cupping my chin in her small, clawed hand. My head tips back, and the weight of her malicious sneer hits me full force.

Dagny tilts her head as her canines lengthen, her razor-sharp claws scraping the skin of my cheek, leaving tiny red gashes in their wake. “What was it you said to her earlier? Oh, I remember!” Her palm tightens painfully around my jaw as she jerks forward, stopping when our noses barely touch. “You said she can only harm you if you let her. Isn’t that right?”

This time, when she smiles, I have no doubt what emotion is hiding there—it's the same one I see every time I stare into my reflection, the same thread that holds my soul together. Malice.

“Seems you’re not quite as clever as you think.”

An explosion of power smacks me in the chest, vibrating through my body and turning my bones to dust as I’m propelled backward through the air. I smash into the opposite wall, sending rubble and dust flying from the force of the blast. My skull is the last to impact, echoing throughout the room with a sickening crack as stars swim behind my eyes.

I slump to the floor just as the dungeon door slams open, followed by an unmistakable utterance of rage. Slaine.

“Malice! What have you done?”

6. Dagny

6

Dagny

As soon as the bond with Fenryr snaps into place, I cease to be.

Well, at least that’s what it feels like as I float aimlessly in the endless void of my subconscious. It’s a lot brighter here than I expected, and every few seconds, my senses are consumed by a brilliant explosion of color, a kaleidoscope of hues that dance and converge and burrow into the deepest parts of my psyche.

Every time I try to move, the invisible hands holding me in place turn to stone, keeping my body curled in the fetal position, blocking out all sound save for the irritating rumble of someone’s voice.

Voice… that voice… it sounds familiar…

I blink rapidly, attempting to clear the fog of confusion coating my mind. Where am I? What happened to Malice? To Fenryr?

Slowly, the bleak nothingness fades away to the sight of four stone walls shimmering with a beautiful onyx hue. It’s like I can see the magic living in them, breathing life into the stone and lacing the atoms with a strange, humming power.