FINN'S POV
(THREE WEEKS INTO TRAINING)
The shadows whispered to me constantly now.
"Consume. Devour. Make everything dark."
"No," I told them. Again. Like I did every hour. Every minute. "We coexist. We don't consume."
"Good," Sira said from across the training room. Her dual-corrupted runes glowed—shadow and storm fighting for dominance on her skin. "But saying it isn't enough. You have to believe it. Mean it. Make your shadows understand they serve you, not the other way around."
"But they're so hungry—"
"Of course they are. Shadow magic is hungry by nature. It wants to eat light, warmth, hope. Everything bright." She moved closer, her own shadows coiling around her like pets. "But hunger doesn't mean you have to feed it. You can teach it to be satisfied with less."
"How?"
