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Something tugged on my diaphragm, pulling me forward. Between the dark chord and the poison, the pain was unbearable, but my feet moved of their own accord. My mind was still intact, but the further I went, the more I felt comfort in the darkness.

The tug on my diaphragm jolted me to stop. Oppressive silence snuffed out all life—there were no signs of life or magic. It was completely devoid of anything natural as the foul odor of sulfur and death choked me.

Somehow, it felt like home.

Leaves crunched, and no echoes followed. The soft footfalls padded in my direction. It was too dark, no light making its way through the tree boughs. I waited, tapping into my Kinetic magic that was now heightened to unfathomable strengths. At the feminine cackle, I snapped my head around.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she crooned in a sing-song voice. “Oh, your magic is absolutely delicious, King Freyr.” She had an unrecognizable accent, something ancient and wholeheartedly evil. It called to me.

I couldn’t speak, physically unable to as I waited for the woman to come into view.

“Come to me,” she ordered, her tone hardened.

I obeyed, finding myself wanting to follow her, serve her. My feet carried me, the tugging on my diaphragm subsiding to barely noticeable. I came to a stop before a black cloaked figure, long raven hair pooling at her waist. This must’ve been the Tempest that Forest had mentioned. “It’s so wonderful to meet you at last. You must be burdened with so many questions.”

Still, I couldn’t bring myself to speak as if something pinched my voice box shut. I simply stared at the woman; her face obscured in the shadows of her cloak.

“To answer you succinctly, you aremine. I own you. You and your magic are bound to the energies of Terragard and Arcadia for my kind’s magic to feed from. You are the first Infernal in over a millennium.” She began to pace in front of me as she appeared to think over her next words carefully. “Fucking Celestials wiped my precious creations from the realm,” she said, then followed it with another unhinged cackle. “I ended up cursing them twofold.” She sighed, looking up into the blackened sky with wistful reminiscence.

“You see, child, Elementals and Kinetics were once one race called Celestials.” The woman spit the last word like it was a venomous thing. “And Celestials were being naughty and interfering with my plans. Long story short, a long-fought war broke out in Arcadia, and I needed soldiers that could fight against the might of the Celestials’ power. So, I did what anyone would do; I cursed them and then bound them to me, bending the will of a Celestial to my control. They became my children, my pets, these beautiful Infernal beings.”

The Tempest stopped pacing, and through the shadows within the hood, I could see her pale lips pushed out into a pout. “But then, the Celestials took away my children. So, I cursed the Celestials by dividing up their power into two separate beings. And then I had them cast out of Arcadia. Along with the curse, came the Endarkened. My own little special brand of fuck you.” She began to pace again. “After the Celestials were cast out and split up, I had the veil locked down, where they could never return. Cursed to live in a world that didn’t have magic, and their power weakened by not being at their full strength. They reproduced, and the Celestial bloodline died…until you and the little queen came along that is.” Yellowed teeth peeked through the shadow, forming a gnarly and wicked smile.

“You’re my first reborn child. Here to help me set things right for my kind. Once the curse fully sets in, you’ll never look back. You’ll fight honorably for my cause and help me restore Arcadia to its rightful place where darkness reigns, but I need power to do so. And you’re everything I need in order to get it there. The queen will follow, turning Endarkenedin her grief. The Twin Soul Bond between you two will deteriorate, and she will go mad, desperate to deplete in order to fill the gaping hole the bond left behind, even if it hasn’t been fully anointed yet. But your physical union solidified it enough.”

My heart palpitated in my chest, thinking of Gray. Fuck, I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t warn her. I wondered how much longer I’d be able to think of her like this.

“Now,” the Tempest said, clearing up from her history lesson. “It’s time to complete your transformation. We have much work to do.”

Another set of footsteps crunched through the leaves toward us, not stopping until Forest’s sneering face was before me, wiping the soot and ash from his pristine suit.

My breath guttered, fearing the worst for Gray if he was still alive. Fuck, she was supposed to kill him—or the blast was. What the hell happened?

With a sardonic laugh that got swallowed by dead energy surrounding us, he said, “Welcome home, boy.”