As soon as the orb dipped low enough, Aurora used her last reserve of strength to jump, shoving her hand directly into the storm’s heart.

Her first thought was that the cold she had felt before was nothing to the icy frost surging through her now. Last time, the heart she had taken had been shocked and sad, even afraid. This time, the other soul was nothing short of ravenous. It wanted everything she had—life and power and freedom—and it would do whatever it took to get them.

Strongest heart, Aurora reminded herself. It did not matter if she was cold and tired and weak. She did not need the strongest body to win this fight. She only needed the strongest heart. And the other soul might be hungry for victory, but it was only fighting for its own greed.

She was fighting for so much more.

Aurora had to win so that she could get back to Kiran and tell him she loved him. She had not said those words enough. She needed to see her mother and Duke again. She had so many questions she wanted to ask them about their time together when they were young. She wanted to know everything that Duke would tell her about his life as Finneus. She had to survive to save Jinx and Nova. It was her fault that her friends were in such danger, and she absolutely could not die here and leave them alone. She wanted to hear Ransom and Bait bicker some more, and she wanted to finally get to know Sly better. The wary hunter had been her rock in the palace after Jinx and Nova had been captured, and she had never properly thanked her. She had to do that.

Crying out under the strain, Aurora pushed her hand deeper into that pernicious soul and demanded, “Submit to me. I control spirits, and you will obey.”

The world ruptured with light, and the fierce pressure from her opponent disappeared. Aurora had a moment of wild relief before something new and wrong slid into place inside her. She tried to scream, but her legs gave out, and the world fragmented into darkness around her.

A new type of magic emerged with the coming of the tempests, and its users called themselves Stormlings. But as decades passed in this changed world, the original magics that disappeared did not stay gone forever. Rumors began to circulate of young children with gifts over the elements. The question was whether those powers came from the goddess or if some of the original magic users had survived the Time of Tempests after all. Because the storm seasons did not ease, many believed it was the latter, and that the storms would never truly end until every witch was eliminated. Stormling cities outlawed the use of elemental magics, and those born with the gifts learned to live their lives in secret.

—An Examination of the Original Magics

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