A Nameless Dark

Chapter 17

Lightening split the sky in two, crashing into the earth like the fist of an angry god. The sheer power of it reverberated through the ground where I stood beside my brother and sister. The storm raged around us, an enemy army screaming its war cry and pelting us with rain and hail like arrows from a thousand bows. The three of us stood firm against its fury, our hands joined to improve our connection as we confronted the storm. We were linked even more securely to one another through our use of Light.

Thunder exploded above us, a monster roaring its outrage at our attempt to submit its feral nature to our will. I held on to the flame of Light that burned in my chest, clinging to my power and allowing it to feed strength into my body. Without it, I was certain I would have been blown from my feet. I could feel Light burning inside Lara and Samuel as well, as we merged our strength in a common effort to remain standing. Head bowed and eyes closed, I allowed an old familiar determination to rise up inside me. This was the moment we'd been practicing for over the past three days, ever since Lin left the Compound to pursue her errand. I'd shared with my siblings what I learned from Lin, and the revelation of our importance in the war against the Nameless Dark had inspired us all to redouble our efforts. Thaddeus had led us through countless exercises, using our power for increasingly complicated tasks and expanding our control over its effects.

We had done well, he said, but this was to be the real test: Core Light verses thunder storm. One of the most powerful forces in nature would serve as a surrogate for our enemy, allowing us to simulate a battle with a force far more vast and powerful than any of us.

The storm had reached its peak around us, hammering into us with a vengeance. I took a wider stance, moving my feet to the sides, my right foot forward. Head bowed, I closed my eyes and reached for my brother and sister with Light, finding the now familiar reserve of Core Power roiling inside Samuel and linking up with Lara to unlock it. Instantly the world flashed white and my mind went numb with power.

I was on fire again. My entire being burned like a barely contained explosion threatening to scatter destruction across the hillside and pulverize rock and tree.

Thaddeus had warned me that this would be difficult.

"You are the Conduit," He'd told me. "You are the channel through which the Core Power will flow. It's up to you to control it; to bend it at the correct angle and aim it in the direction of your choosing, then coax it into accomplishing something meaningful. It's an extremely difficult task."

I supposed he would know. After all, Thaddeus had told us that he was once the Conduit of Core Light for his family. His brother, Titus, and sister, Debra, had been killed by the Morrighan like so many others, but not before they'd been able to use their Core Light to help build the Steel Tower's Glacial Hall. It shamed me to realize that, while my father and uncle had used their power to build a wall for us to hide behind, Thaddeus and his family had used theirs to add strength to the Tower. They had taken the fight to a new battlefield, founding the organization that became a new hope in the war against the Nameless Dark. Faced with such humiliating guilt, I found a renewed determination to lead my family into taking our place in the world once more. I used that fire as fuel in my training efforts.

Core Light filled me and I held it inside myself, allowing it to consume my entire being until I became nothing but pure, blinding, earth-shattering power. I was fire. I was rage. I felt as though I could fill the sky, brushing away the storm clouds with a wave of my hand. I could crack the earth open and draw forth oceans of lava to devour the feeble ground. I could boil the waters of the lake far below us and shake the very hills on which we stood, snapping every tree at once like a single toothpick.