Hawk arrives in front of Rhaenas’ building just as Sonia leaps high into the air. He watches the figure jump and startles.

"What the actual... that’s not possible!"

He squints, trying to see better. He raises a hand to shield his eyes from the rain, but the visibility is still too low.

Then he sees something even more outrageous.

Up on one of the higher floors of the Rhaenas building, something explodes. The sound is muffled by the storm, but Hawk is certain something just blew.

The figure moves closer and disappears into the building.

"Oh my God, Thea!"

------------------------------

Theo is on the floor. Liam’s water bubble protected him from the worst of the debris when the window went.

He grits his teeth against the pain. The force of the explosion slammed him to the ground and now everything hurts.

Wind howls through the gaping hole in the wall. Rain pours in. Everything is loud and the visibility inside the apartment has dropped sharply.

Theo reaches instinctively for his mana, then slams into the absence of it. His frustration is immediate.

Damn it. I need my magic now.

He scans the room quickly, checking on the others.

Maeve has been blown to the other side of the room but she is on her feet. Just shaken.

Julian is climbing out from under a toppled couch.

The three Sentinels are standing exactly where they were, each shielded by their own element.

Good. Theo smiles without realizing it. Then he turns his attention to the new mage on the balcony.

And finds her looking straight back at him.

"Found you." She says.

The wind is still howling and it should be impossible to hear her. But those two words, quiet as they are, reach him with no difficulty.

She is definitely a mage. Who is she? A fellow apprentice like Maeve, or a Custodian? His mind is already working.

But why is she looking at me?

The mage steps slowly into the damaged living room.

"I apologize for this. I miscalculated. I sensed a mana concentration that was far too large and I needed to stop it before it exploded. I thought it was coming from one person. As it turns out, there are three of you. My mistake."

Sonia means every word of it. She had genuinely not anticipated more than one. It had never occurred to her that there might be others.

"Who are you?" Liam is the first to find his voice, the initial shock wearing off. He has already clocked that she is a mage. He does not lower his guard.

She smiles, but it does not reach her eyes.

"Who I am is not important right now. Who you are is more important. But the most important question is this." Her eyes narrow. "How can you use magic?"

She has been taught her entire life that the Vaelin are the only people who can do magic. No one else.

There are the Custodians, but according to the records and the elders, they are little more than scholars with an inflated sense of their own power. Worth watching from a distance, nothing more.

Beyond those two groups, there should be no one.

And yet these three...

They look competent. Comfortable. The barriers they cast were not the work of untrained people. Someone taught them. But who?

Her eyes drift back to Theo.

There you are. I finally found you. The mage who called the storm.

Then she frowns. But she does not look like someone who knows how to use magic. How could she have summoned something this strong? I cannot be wrong about this. I need to look closer.

Sonia takes a step toward Theo.

Liam moves immediately, putting himself between them.

"You still haven’t answered my question. Who are you? And why did you destroy our home?"

His aura rises. He knows exactly where he stands. Four against one, and he can no longer afford to hold back. Theo cannot defend himself. That means Liam has to.

Sonia’s gaze shifts to him.

"And you haven’t answered my question either. How can you people use magic? Who taught you?" She pauses. "Those questions can wait. Right now, we need to stop the storm."

Her attention returns to Theo. "You need to stop the storm."

Theo’s heart skips a beat. He slowly pushes himself to his feet. Liam does not move to help him. His priority right now is keeping himself between Theo and Sonia.

"Me?" Theo says, once he is upright. "I caused the storm?"

He is half in disbelief. But then he remembers the voice that told him something else, not so long ago.

I caused the storm? Is it related to the corruption magic?

"Yes. You summoned it. Now cancel it." Sonia says it plainly, but even as she does, doubt flickers through her. The stunning young woman standing in front of her does not carry herself like someone capable of summoning a storm of this caliber. She does not look powerful enough. She barely looks like she can stand.

"That is bullshit. And you know it." Liam says. There is no trace of his usual warmth or charm. Only hostility toward a stranger who destroyed their home and is now pointing a finger at Theo.

Liam’s head begins to throb. He reaches for his Water again to cool himself down. It works, for now.

Sonia looks at him, caught slightly off guard by the edge in his voice. She scans the room again. The gaping hole in the wall. The state of the living room she is standing in.

Realization lands.

Oh no. I did do this, didn’t I? Of course they don’t believe me. But in my defense, I thought it was an emergency. She takes a breath. I messed up again.

Sonia adjusts her posture to appear more approachable, just slightly. She clears her throat.

"I said I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. Here, let me."

She waves her hand and whispers an incantation. A barrier of light seals the hole in the wall. The howling cuts off instantly and the room goes quiet.

Another wave, another whispered word. The water that flooded in is gone.

Another, and the debris scattered across the floor gathers itself neatly into one corner, ready to be bagged and thrown out.

Theo cannot hear the incantations from where he is, but he can catch the tone and cadence of them. And he recognizes what they are.

The correct words. Words he knows. Words he used back in Caelthorn.

But his world is gone. Destroyed. So why is there suddenly a woman standing in his living room using Caelthorn’s magic language? Who is she?

Are there others who transmigrated here like me?

Theo cannot process this. His body is too exhausted and in too much pain to let him think clearly right now.

Before he can try, both Sonia and Liam feel a rising aura from the other side of the room. They turn toward it at the same time.

Arthur.

His eyes show no recognition of anyone in the room. The corruption still has him completely.

"Aw, shit." Liam has just about used up his entire year’s quota of cursing. He rarely does it. He does not like doing it. But today is giving him very good reasons.

"Arthur, calm down. We can talk about this. We don’t have to fight. Use your words, Arthur. Let’s just use our words, okay?" Liam does his best to keep his voice steady.

By the look of Arthur, words are not going to do it. He is ready to go all out, and that is not good. Arthur is the most powerful mage in this room. Liam does not yet know what the newcomer is capable of, but he knows his own limits. Regardless of what Theo has told him before, Liam does not believe he can beat Arthur.

Arthur smirks. "Use my words? Words don’t work. Fighting is better." He looks down at his own hands. "And I have never felt this powerful."

Fire aura rolls off him in waves. The temperature in the room surges. Alicia and Julian, standing closest to him, instinctively take several steps back. Somewhere beneath the corruption, they both know they are not in his league right now.

Sonia’s frown deepens. He is Fire. And that Fire is extraordinary. Impossible. How can there be a mage outside the Vaelin this powerful?

Theo sees it too, and he does not like what he sees. Arthur’s magic is teetering on the edge of a breakthrough. He has always been this close to unlocking a higher realm of his Fire. The only thing holding him back has been himself, his own heart, his own hesitation. Theo has known this for a long time, but he could never order Arthur to resolve something so personal. All he could do was be there.

Now, with the corruption stripping away every hesitation and fear Arthur has ever carried, the door is wide open. If he keeps pushing, he will break through right here. And that would be the worst possible outcome for everyone in this room.

Theo does not know Sonia’s full capability, but the window destruction and the clean up give him something to work with. Her power range feels comparable to Arthur’s, possibly slightly above. But her barrier tells him she is Light. And if she has not yet reached higher magic, Light is at a disadvantage against Fire of this caliber.

The only one who can truly go toe to toe with Arthur is Liam.

But Liam has his own problem. His heart. His self doubt. He has never fully believed he stands equal to Arthur, and that belief lives in his body as much as his mind. He always positions himself one step behind, never beside.