Page 169 of Elemental Becoming

I grit my teeth, trying to regain control of my thoughts, to remember Valen’s lessons, and Thane’s instructions.

Feel it. Don’t force it.

The Elements do not obey—they do not align.

Breathe.

I suck in a sharp breath, but it doesn’t feel like enough. The Elements inside me are too much. Not in the way of power—I can handle power. But chaos changes everything.

In practice, everything had been methodical, precise. But battle is not precise. It’s messy and frantic and cruel.

And I am on my own.

I don’t have Valen watching carefully, instructing me through every motion. I don’t have Thane standing beside me correcting my stance, reminding me to balance, to focus, to breathe. No oneis guiding me. No one is stopping me if I go too far.

The realization settles cold in my gut. Because for the first time, I’m the only one responsible for what happens next.

A shadow surges toward me, and I act on instinct. I call everything at once. Fire ignites in my palms. Wind surges through me, wrapping the flames into a spiraling inferno. Water condenses from the air, hardening into jagged ice. The ground beneath me cracks, responding to my need.

And for one brief moment, it’s beautiful. A perfect storm of balance and destruction, swirling around me like a force of nature.

But then, it surges too far. I feel my body lock up, my breath seize, my vision narrow.

The Elements keep building. A primal force.

More. More. More.

I grit my teeth, trying desperately to contain it, to force it back down, but the power isn’t listening. It wants to consume. My body feels like it’s splitting apart, like I was never meant to contain this much power at once.

Breathing becomes difficult. I hear voices shouting my name somewhere beyond the storm, but they sound distant. Distorted.

Because I am losing control. And I don’t know if I can get it back.

I am at the center of the storm.

I try to pull it all back, to rein it in, but the Elements do not want to be contained.

For so long, they have been separate. Now they are one.

And so am I. The storm inside me wants to break free.

I feel myself shattering, coming apart at the seams, dissolving into the Elements themselves. Like if I truly let go, I will never be able to come back.

Like I won’t be Amara anymore.

A scream cuts through the storm.

Somewhere inside the chaos, inside the storm surrounding me and living inside me, I see him.

Kieran.

Falling.

The shadows had been coming for me—and he stopped them.

No. No. No.

A pulse of raw, unchecked power surges through me, but I can’t control it. I can’t stop it from unraveling around me. Wind and fire whip wildly through the ballroom while the earth cracks beneath my feet.