"Arrrgh!"
His scream tore through the air as his levo writhed beneath his skin, twisting out of control under Serein's command. His veins bulged, crawling like serpents as his own power turned against him.
Through vision clouded and fading, he stared at the small woman before him. Terror carved deep lines into his face.
A Guide—was a Guide truly capable of this? It defied everything he knew of how this world was supposed to work.
What kind of rank, what kind of aberration, must she be to wield such an unnatural power?
Yet his horror never reached her. Serein's face was as cold as frozen glass while she pressed harder, forcing her levo into him, more and more, each wave carrying a single command.
Destroy.
This was Serein's true ability. Not resonance. Not balance. But command.
A power perilous to others, yet just as lethal to herself. For every time she invoked it, something was stripped from her—the most precious currency a human could possess.
Memory.
