Cassandra never believed in magic-until she woke up with wings.
One moment, she's living her ordinary life in London. The next, she's stranded in a mysterious, ancient realm brimming with danger and beauty beyond imagination. As she grapples with he...
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As Cassandra stepped into the vast hall, something felt undeniably different. The heaviness that had clung to her body when she first awoke was gone, replaced by a strange sensation of power rippling through her veins. Every breath felt fuller, every movement more fluid, as if her body had been remade—stronger, faster, sharper than before. Her muscles didn't ache the way they should have after everything she had been through. Instead, they felt charged, humming with an energy that wasn't entirely hers.
Her eyes caught something in the corner of her vision. She turned toward a large mirror set into the far wall, her reflection staring back at her—but it wasn't quite right.
Her breath hitched.
She blinked, unsure of what she was seeing. There was something behind her, a faint shimmer. She turned her head slowly, and that's when she saw them—wings. Massive, feathered wings that stretched out from her back, their colour an iridescent silver-white, catching the dim light of the hall. They flexed slightly as she stared, the feathers rustling softly as if alive.
"What the actual fuck?" The words escaped her lips before she could stop them.
Her heart pounded in her chest, panic surging through her. She stumbled backward, nearly tripping over the hem of her dress, her wings fluttering with the movement. This wasn't possible. It couldn't be. Wings? On her?
She rushed to the mirror, her pulse roaring in her ears. Her fingers traced over her shoulders, but there was no seam, no sign that these things had been attached to her. They were part of her. Real.
Her chest tightened, and she let out a shaky breath, her reflection distorted with confusion and terror. She was still herself—her face, her body—but not quite. The glow in her eyes had intensified, casting a strange light over her reflection. She looked... more than human. Something else.
She gripped the edge of the mirror, forcing herself to calm down. Her breathing came fast, but the overwhelming strength she felt in her limbs, the surging energy coursing through her body, refused to let her collapse into a full-blown panic.
Turning away from the mirror, she caught sight of the wall on her right, adorned with an ornate mural. She hadn't noticed it before, but now the detail in it seemed to leap out at her. The mural depicted strange, otherworldly creatures—some with wings like hers, others with horns, talons, or glowing eyes. They looked both beautiful and terrifying, locked in a chaotic dance that spanned the length of the wall. The way the figures were intertwined, some rising toward the sky, others falling into darkness, felt eerily familiar, as if she had somehow become part of their world.
Her fingers lightly brushed the stone as she studied the mural. The creatures' faces, twisted in expressions of power and fear, sent a shiver down her spine. Was this what she had become? Some kind of hybrid creature, caught between human and... something else?
