My hands wrapped around the chains, and the vibration shot straight up my arms like lightning looking for somewhere to die. My knees almost gave out.
My chest was working overtime, trying to keep up with everything happening at once. Part of me knew I was crossing a line I could never uncross, but honestly? I didn't care. Kael was watching me like I was the only thing in the world still holding him together, and that alone kept me from collapsing.
The guardian lowered its head, slow and deliberate, like a king acknowledging some nobody who somehow proved worthy. Its eyes, those huge amber things were locked on me, and the air stretched tight around us, humming with magic that felt older than the house, the mountain, maybe even the whole damn world.
Victor shouted something that might've been a threat, but I didn't give him the grace of listening. I tightened my grip. The metal burned, turning white-hot, and then light. Pure gold, too bright and loud for my eyes.
Kael sucked in a breath, and for a heartbeat he looked at me like I had turned into something unreal.
The guardian roared, and the ground cracked open beneath Victor like it was tired of holding him up. He stumbled, flailing, and the elders shrieked as the gold light shoved them back like they were leaves caught in a storm.
Then the pull hit me so hard like something reached inside my ribs and flipped a switch I didn't know existed. My blood hummed, singing some old song I had never heard but somehow recognized.
The guardian's strength rushed into me. It felt raw, dangerous and alive like it was settling in my bones.
Kael was still struggling with the last chain. "Elara, don't stop!"
I didn't. I yanked the chains with everything I had left, and with a sound like the world exhaling, they gave way. Kael staggered toward me, half-falling, half-standing on pure stubbornness. Relief punched me in the gut, but it barely lasted a second.
Victor screeched, furious and terrified. "You think you can….."
Before he finished, the guardian slammed into him like a landslide. Victor's body flew and the elders scattered as well. The air buzzed with power so thick I could taste it: metallic, sharp and electric.
I stumbled as I was dizzy and also overwhelmed by the energy still pouring through me. Kael grabbed my hand trying to steady me. "Hey look at me, you good?"
"I… think so," I said, although everything felt too bright, too heavy and too real.
Selene finally caught up to us, looking like she had fought a hurricane and somehow won. "Elara, holy.... you actually did it!"
The guardian stood tall behind me, massive and impossible, and for a wild second it felt like the whole garden was breathing with us. Watching and waiting.
Victor scrambled up again, his face twisted with disbelief and something uglier. "You have no right to command it! The guardian answers to the bloodline!"
I let out a breathless and slightly unhinged laugh. "Yeah? News flash, it is not your blood it recognized."
I stepped forward, and the guardian matched me instinctively. Victor's eyes widened, finally understanding what's happening and he hated it.
Selene whispered, "Finish it, don't let him get up again."
I swallowed and felt my throat tighten. The whole world felt charged; too alive. Kael's hand squeezed mine as he was grounding me.
The guardian lowered its head toward me again, eyes glowing like molten metal. I could feel the question in it, heavy as thunder.
I spoke without thinking. "Guardian… I'm your bond now, you hear me."
It rumbled, a low thunder in its chest, and bowed its head. The golden light spread wider, brighter.
The elders lunged one last time, hissing and shrieking, but the guardian swatted them aside like they were nothing. Victor tried to run, but the light boxed him in, forcing him back with invisible pressure.
Kael wrapped an arm around my waist, breathing shaky against my ear. "You're incredible," he whispered.
My body shivered; part power, part fear, part him.
"We're not done," I whispered back.
The guardian roared; a promise, a warning, a beginning.
Victor's voice cracked as he screamed, "Elara Fynn!!!!!!, this will cost you everything!"
I didn't blink nor flinch. "I decide what it costs."
Kael's fingers tightened around mine. "We're in this together."
Selene smirked like she already saw the victory coming.
I took one breath, steady, sharp, and full of power I never asked for but somehow owned.
And the guardian leapt forward, answering to only me.