He lifted one meaty hand, fist closed, and Devin reacted on instinct. He knew the feeling of power rising up in him now, and once more the world around him seemed to slow as he saw it, understood it, saw all the things that he could do in it. He lifted one hand, feeling the power pulse up inside him, and it took all his control not to fling all of it the way he had with the wolves. Even so, it was enough to send his father flying back, tumbling into his chair and then over it, to lie looking up at Devin from the floor.

Get out! he yelled. Get out, you monster!

***

Devin left, mind still reeling from what had happened, barely able to comprehend how quickly hed gone from asking questions to not having a home. Yet in another way, it wasnt quick, because it felt as though this had always been coming, as if everything had been heading this way Devins whole life.

It didnt make anything feel any better, and he rushed out into the street, not knowing where he was going or what he was doing. And yet he did feel driven by something pulling him this way. What, he was not sure.

He was so caught up in the shock of the last few seconds that at first he barely noticed the fog that had swept up, surrounding him until he couldnt see the buildings on either side, and the world became a thing of shadows and echoes.

The city around him faded, so that Devin barely knew which way he was going. He could hear the sounds of it at first, but now even those started to be swallowed by the fog. Mists were common enough in a city intersected by so many river branches, but this… this felt like something different.

How long he walked, Devin didnt know. In a space like this, it seemed that time itself stood still, so that he walked forever between one heartbeat and the next. He thought again of his dream. And he felt that force pull and pull him.

And then he spotted something ahead where the mist thinned. It seemed to summon him.

He started toward it and eventually came out into a clearing. It stood in the midst of thick sections of what seemed to be a forest, far from any spot most people would find, and there seemed to be a cave entrance there. Someone had pushed rocks in front of that entrance, rock after rock until it was tightly sealed.

Devin could hear sounds coming from within, and he guessed that they must be those of an animal, except that they were like no animal he had heard before. There was snuffling and roaring and scraping there, as if something was trying to get out.

Except… he had heard those sounds before. Hed heard them in dreams. It sounded primal.

Dangerous.