Agnes
Fire burst from my palm with more intensity than I’d ever managed before. The heat was incredible, searing through my hand and up my arm. My palm burned furiously, the skin already blistering and cracking, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.
Every instinct in my body was screaming at me to pull back, to protect myself from the agony spreading through my arm like acid in my veins.
But the stone’s silent plea echoed in my mind, urging me on. Release me. Destroy me. End this.
And so I pushed harder, channeling even more of my power into the flames. The fire grew hotter, brighter, burning blue-white at its core. Sweat poured down my face, and my vision blurred from the effort, but I kept my focus locked on the stone.
But nothing happened.
The stone continued to p
