Chapter 13 : A dream? Or The realm…

The darkness howls, twisting into a violent storm. The ground shakes, fractures, as a jagged tear splits open beneath us.

And the spirit…

It doesn't retreat.

It lunges.

Claws outstretched, it grabs my arm again, its grip like ice burning straight through my skin.

Its voice is no longer mocking. No longer slow and patient.

It's furious.

"You don't belong here!"

The ground beneath my feet gives way.

I fall.

I see Nova's silhouette in the distance, reaching for me, I think she is calling my name..

But the spirit is still there, still dragging me down, its clawed grip unrelenting.

I'm falling.

The spirit's grip burns like liquid nitrogen against my skin, but that's not what terrifies me. It's the void below; endless, hungry, waiting to swallow me whole.

Then I see her.

Nova Starling materializes like a shooting star cutting through darkness, her spectral form blazing with an otherworldly light. She doesn't waste time with words. Her hand shoots out, catching my free arm, and suddenly I'm being pulled in two directions... the spirit dragging me down, Nova pulling me up.

"Let go of your fear," Nova commands, her voice echoing with power. "Your terror feeds it."

Easy for her to say. She's not the one with demon claws trying to tear her soul apart.

But she's right. I force myself to breathe, to focus. The spirit realm warps around us, reality bending like a fun house mirror. Chunks of what looks like solid ground float past, defying gravity. The air itself seems alive, charged with an energy that makes my skin crawl.

Nova's grip tightens. "Now, Olivia. Push back!"

I close my eyes, reaching for that well of power inside me – that dangerous mix of witch and wolf that makes me what I am. The spirit hisses, sensing what I'm about to do.

"You cannot control it," it snarls. "You will destroy everything, just like she did."

The words hit harder than any physical blow, but I don't let them stop me. Power surges through my veins, hot and cold at the same time, familiar yet strange. When I open my eyes, they're glowing... I can feel it, see the reflection in Nova's ethereal form.

The burst of energy that explodes from me isn't elegant. It's raw, primal, a scream of defiance given physical form. The spirit's grip shatters, and I'm thrown upward, Nova pulling me onto one of those floating chunks of ground.

I collapse to my knees, gasping. Every inch of me trembles with exhaustion. Using power like that... it's like running a marathon while trying to juggle chainsaws. One wrong move and everything falls apart.

"Get up," Nova urges, her form flickering slightly. "We need to move. The path won't hold."

She's not kidding. The ground beneath us is already starting to crumble, pieces breaking off and dissolving into the void. In the distance, I can hear more spirits, their whispers carrying promises of pain and judgment.

"Where are we going?" I manage to ask, forcing myself to my feet.

"There's a way back," Nova says, starting forward. "But you must follow exactly where I step. This realm... it's not stable around you. Your hybrid nature disrupts the natural order here."

Great. Even in the spirit world, I'm a walking disaster.

We move across the shifting landscape, jumping from one floating platform to another. Each leap feels like a gamble – will this piece hold, or will it dissolve the moment I land? Nova moves with sure confidence, but I can see concern in her eyes every time she looks back at me.

"The spirits," I say between jumps, "they're getting closer, aren't they?"

Nova nods grimly. "They sense you. What you are. To them, you're an anomaly that shouldn't exist. A threat to their order."

"Story of my life," I mutter, but there's no humor in it. Because beneath the sarcasm, I'm terrified. These spirits, they're not wrong, are they? That first hybrid... she broke everything. And here I am, following in her footsteps, disrupting both worlds just by existing.

"Focus," Nova snaps, pulling me back from my thoughts. "Your doubt makes you vulnerable. Stay on the path."

I look down at my hands, still trembling from using my power. They're glowing faintly, witch-light mixing with something darker, something wolfish. In the distance, I swear I can hear Jay's voice, so faint it might be my imagination.

But before I can focus on it, the world shifts again, and the whispers of the pursuing spirits grow louder.

This isn't over. Not by a long shot.

My surroundings twist again, and suddenly I'm not just seeing where I am, I'm seeing everywhere I've been.

Images flash around me like broken mirrors: the day I first shifted, fur rippling across my skin as I screamed with uncontrollable power. The moment I discovered my witch ancestry, magic burning through my veins like liquid fire. Jay's face the first time he saw what I really was.

"Don't look," Nova warns, her voice sharp. "They're trying to distract you."

But it's too late. The memories aren't just images anymore. They're everywhere, surrounding us, bleeding into each other. I see myself arguing with Thalia, her words echoing: "You need to control it!" Then I'm running through the woods with Jay and his pack ferociously chasing after us, knowing that it was impossible to get a sense of belonging after everything I mistakenly did to them. The time I felt peace after connecting to the paths and experiencing a smooth flow of magic since my shifting.

And then... something else. Something that hasn't happened yet.

Jay, bound in chains that glow with spelled silver. Blood on his face. His eyes...

"Olivia!" Nova's voice cuts through the vision like a blade. "Move!"

I snap back to reality just as the platform beneath my feet begins to disintegrate. I leap forward, barely making it to the next floating chunk of ground. My legs shake, partly from exhaustion, partly from what I just saw.

"Was that..." I start to ask.

"The future is not fixed," Nova interrupts. "What you see here are possibilities, nothing more. The spirits use them to trap souls."

Speaking of spirits, they're getting bolder. Dark shapes flit at the edges of my vision, their whispers growing louder, more insistent. They're not just pursuing anymore.

they're hunting.

"Your kind brings only destruction," they hiss. "The balance must be maintained."

I grit my teeth, trying to ignore them. But it's getting harder. Each step feels heavier than the last, like I'm walking through deep water. My powers fluctuate wildly; one moment I'm practically crackling with energy, the next I can barely stand.

"Nova," I gasp out, "what is happening?..."

"The realm is amplifying what you are giving out," she explains, reaching back to steady me. "Your unstable hybrid nature... It's being amplified and becoming too unstable here. You need to be careful."

Right. Because this wasn't already fun enough.

We keep moving, but the path ahead grows increasingly chaotic. Chunks of reality float past like debris in a storm. Some look like pieces of the mortal world; trees, rocks, even fragments of buildings. Others are just... wrong. Impossible geometries that hurt my eyes to look at.

Then I hear it again. Jay's voice, clearer this time.

"Liv... come back..."

The sound pulls at something deep inside me, making my heart ache. But there's something else in his voice.

Fear.

Is he Afraid?.