Three weeks after the merging process, I finally felt ready.
My curse responded smoothly now. The strangeness had faded. I could manifest and control my shade as easily as before. Maybe easier.
"You've actually gotten stronger," Elena observed during a training session. "The unified curse is more efficient than the previous version. Less energy wasted fighting internal conflicts."
"So stealing Daemon's curse and then fixing my mistake made me more powerful than if I'd never done it at all?"
"Essentially, yes. Though I wouldn't recommend the process to anyone else. You were extraordinarily lucky to survive."
"Story of my life. Barely surviving things that should have killed me."
"At least you're consistent about it."
Lady Bloodmoon's forces had been fighting the shadow beasts for weeks with mixed results. They'd eliminated about a third of the known beasts but at heavy cost. Dozens of soldiers dead. Hundreds injured.
