"The power of an unbound is different."

"Different,” I repeat. “So far, the difference seems to be that I have far less capacity to channel than my peers, but I can touch every element. Maybe it would feel useful if I could openly show my powers instead of searching for subtle uses that won’t be noticed.”

“In time, you will reveal yourself.”

“And then be hunted.” I know from reading the book that unbound weren’t just hunted for the potential to manifest unique and deadly powers. There was something else. Something else I have tried desperately not to think too much about because…

“Because it makes you feel like a monster,” Typhon says softly in my mind, finishing the thought.

I tense, eyes falling to the floor while Voss still scratches down notes on his parchment. "It's just a book, Typhon. I can't believe everything it says. Maybe I can’t really… do that."

"Then allow me to confirm the contents, because I witnessed unbound myself. As the book says, unbound have the ability to tether not just elementals, but humans as well. Just as it was with me, you can require your oaths to be sworn by a human and accept their tether. This joining will also increase your power and grant them a shadow of your own. This was the secret Lorkan Grace and Milena Grace discovered. It was the secret that ignited everything and led to the destruction of your kind."

"I'm not going to tether people," I bite back. From the moment I read it in the book, I tried to forget I'd seen it. The idea felt... wrong. Twisted. Dark.

"Whether you use your full potential or not is of no consequence. They will call you dangerous because they will fear what you could become, should you choose. With the desire, you could reshape this world of yours as you see fit."

"I don't want to reshape the world, Typhon. I just want to fix my own little corner of it. I want my mom and sister to forgive me. I want to survive this place."

There's a heavy shock of protective instinct through the tether. I feel it flood into me so strongly that it takes my breath away. "And you shall survive, because I will protect you. No matter the cost."

I spare a small smile for Typhon who lays in the corner, his serpentine body coiled around as his head rests on his scaled torso. His deep blue eyes gleam, somehow seeming as bottomless as oceans.

I glance at Voss’ paper and see he has drawn four sectors—one for each element. He's taking notes in each, as if keeping separate track of my progression with each discipline.