The air was electric with tension as Zara locked eyes with the Order man. For a moment, the madness of the auction dissipated and was replaced by a chilling silence. The Shard of Aether, which throbbed on stage behind him, seemed to hum with a power that thrummed deep within her chest. It wasn't an artifact. It was alive—alive with the same energy that coursed through her own veins.
She felt herself being drawn to it, urging her to claim what was hers.
Zara darted out in a spurt of speed, her own darkness forming up into a blade in her hand. The man retaliated back, his own power igniting to life. His attacks came swift and fatal, but Zara was faster this time through, the Shard's energy coaxing out her best. Punches clashed and exploded into storms of light and darkness, every blow sending shockwaves crashing across the room.
"You can sense it, can't you?" the man snarled, smiling as he deflected her blow with a brilliant force shield. "That's why the Order is so eager to take you in. They want you to release the Shard's full capability."
Zara said nothing. She couldn't. Her focus split between pushing away the man's attack and monitoring the Shard. But the harder she struggled, the more it seemed clear: the Shard wasn't enhancing her powers—it was calling to her. Challenging her to explore something more, something she'd only begun to scratch.
The man seemed to read the shift in her, his expression dropping into a scowl. "You don't know what you're dealing with," he sneered. "If you bind the Shard, you'll unleash powers you have no control over."
Zara's jaw set. "I'll take the risk."
With a final, desperate burst of strength, she threw the man among the crowd, and he crashed to the ground among the people. It took him a moment to scramble to his feet, and meanwhile, Zara darted up onto the stage, her fingers grasping the Shard.
The moment she touched its icy surface with her fingers, all around her flared into light.
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