"Devon!" I cried out as the man's fist connected with the remnants of Devon's shield, sending him flying across the room. He crumpled to the ground, unmoving.
I felt something spark inside me—rage, fear, desperation—all blending in a storm that begged for release. The Aether flared within me, wild and unrestrained, and I threw everything I had at the man.
The blast hit him squarely, but it didn't stop him. He staggered back, barely affected, as if my attack had only added fuel to the fire.
"Taryn, stop!" Jia's voice cut through the chaos. "You're just making it worse!"
Her words hit me hard, but I couldn't stop. The Aether was surging through me now, wild and uncontrollable, feeding off the fear and anger coursing through my veins. I was terrified—not just of the man, but of myself. The power inside me felt like a beast clawing its way out, demanding to be unleashed.
Grandmother's voice pierced through my haze. "Taryn, listen to me! You need to control it. If you lose yourself to the Aether, you'll end up just like him!"
Her words were a brutal reminder of the truth. The man before me—this monster—was a warning of what could happen if I let the Aether consume me. His dead, vacant eyes haunted me, a vision of what I could become.
I took a shaky breath, trying to rein in the storm inside me. It was like wrestling with a beast, each moment a struggle to maintain control. The Aether fought against me, resisting my attempts to cage it, but I couldn't let it win. I couldn't let myself become like him.
My pulse hammered in my ears, each thud a reminder of what was at stake—not just my survival, but theirs. Devon, Jia, Grandfather, Grandmother—they were everything to me, my reason to keep fighting even when I wanted to give up.
I turned to face them, my voice trembling but resolute. "I need you all to understand something," I said, the words spilling out of me like an unstoppable flood. "Everything I've done, every choice I've made—it's been to protect you."
Jia's glare was like fire, sharp and scorching. "Protect us?" she said bitterly. "From what, Taryn? From you? From them?"
Her words sliced into me, reopening wounds I thought had started to heal. But I couldn't let her anger stop me, not now. "From this," I said, gesturing toward the figure looming in the shadows, its jerky movements a grotesque mockery of life. "From everything that this power is capable of. I've made mistakes when everything was normal, I know that. And I've hurt you—I've hurt all of you, and you all hurt me, too. Especially Devon and our parents."
My brother shifted where he sat on the floor, his face pale but his gaze steady. The memory of the accident weighed heavily between us, unspoken but undeniable. I had lost control of the power once before, and Devon had faced the price by a killing machine. The guilt still clawed at me, a suffocating presence I could never escape.
"I didn't understand what was happening to me back then," I continued, my voice thick with regret. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone. But I didn't know how to control it, and the power—it was too much."
Jia crossed her arms, her expression hard, but I saw something flicker in her eyes. Confusion? Pain? It was hard to tell, but I pushed forward anyway. "What we're facing now—it's far worse than anything I could have imagined. This isn't just my struggle anymore. This isn't a normal day where misunderstandings can be solved with words. It's survival."
"Jia, move away!" I screamed.
"Get behind me," I said, my voice commanding. "I'll handle this."
"Taryn, you can't!" Jia shouted, her voice desperate. "You'll kill yourself!"
Her words rang true, but I couldn't see another way. I looked at Grandmother, and for a moment, her steady gaze met mine. There was no fear in her eyes—only trust.
"You can do this," she said quietly. "I believe in you."
I took a deep breath, feeling the Aether surge within me. This time, I didn't fight it. I let it flood through me, not with anger or fear, but with purpose. The storm inside me roared to life, and I channeled it into a single, focused strike.
The man was advancing again, his movements relentless. Devon was still unconscious, Jia was barely holding her ground, and Grandfather and Grandmother were doing their best to shield us, but it wasn't enough.
I knew what I had to do, but the thought terrified me. The only way to stop him was to overwhelm him—to unleash a force so powerful that even he couldn't withstand it. But doing so meant risking everything. If I lost control, I might not come back. I might become the very thing I was fighting against.
Hoping that this could just be a dream. All of it.
The blast hit the man with a force that shook the entire room. His corrupted energy twisted and writhed, unable to withstand the purity of my attack.
Then, the silence that followed was deafening. I was trembling, the remnants of the Aether still crackling around me, but I was alive. I had done it—but at what cost?
I looked at the man's lifeless form, a pang of guilt stabbing at me. He hadn't asked for this—he hadn't chosen to become a monster. And yet, he had almost destroyed us all.
"There will be more like him." Grandfather said, his voice heavy.
I couldn't look away from him, the lifeless body of a human that has been consumed with its uncontrollable power. The vacancy in his eyes mirrored the emptiness I felt blooming in my chest. This was the price of power—the weight of choices that couldn't be undone, the lives shattered in its wake. "What have I done?" I whispered, my voice barely audible over the pounding of my heart.
Jia's sharp voice cut through my haze.
"Taryn, snap out of it! We don't have time for this." She sounded angry, but I could hear the fear underneath.
"More of them could come at any moment, and we're in no shape to fight."