MARKED FOR PRETEND - Chapter 38: Chapter 38

The silence after her words hung thick dense as smoke, sharp as blade edges.
Chelsea didn’t wait for their reaction.
She raised her hand.
Power roared through her veins, ancient and wild, as if the mountain itself had been holding its breath and finally exhaled through her. The runes carved into the walls flared red, then cracked—like they couldn’t bear to contain her any longer.
A blast of golden light exploded from her palms.
The chamber screamed.
Stone split, magic shattered, scream echoed from the cloaked figures as they were thrown backward like puppets cut from strings. The air twisted, howled, bent around her power. Even Varyn shielded his face, stumbling behind a crumbling pillar.
Chelsea barely noticed. Her vision blurred with light. Her heartbeat was no longer her own—it beat with the rhythm of something older. Something watching.
A presence stirred inside her. Not a voice. Not a wolf.
But a storm.
And it was awake.
⸻
Far above…
A hawk shrieked. Lightning forked across the midday sky, even though there were no clouds.
The trees near the base of the mountain leaned with an unnatural wind—one no one else could feel.
⸻
Back in the chamber…
Chelsea blinked, disoriented.
Something had changed.
The magic wasn’t just building anymore—it was pulling. Wrapping around her like a shroud, like it was making a decision.
“No—wait—” she breathed.
The ground beneath her feet opened.
Light swallowed her.
⸻
Varyn watched, stunned, as the girl vanished.
No trace. No blood. No body.
Just scorched symbols and silence.
“She was never supposed to awaken,” he whispered.
A trembling mage nearby asked, “Should we follow her?”
Varyn turned, face pale and furious.
“No,” he snapped.
“We prepare for war.”