Oriohed in slowly, his eyes closed as he sat at his family's old diable in Emberflit Alley. Everything had been going well. He'd been running jobs for d Silco while assisting Caitlyn and Vander. Over five months, he had saved up six silvers- which retty damned good for someone of his status.

  Moary s were no longer on his mind, so he tio breathe in and out slowly, fog on his mana.

  When Orion first began using magic, he visualized magic as tless rivers flowing harmoniously in a single dire, buogether like a rope of thin threads. Uo dis the types of magic, he would plue at random, experieng varyis depending on how he used it.

  This insistency persisted until he finally discovered that each thread, or river, of magic, possessed uraits. Some were grey and formless- the most versatile but weakest, while others held darker or more brilliant colors. Some emitted violent, aggressive energies while others radiated mentle, warm energies. These differentiations became clearer the longer he used magic, whereas before they had all bleogether without individual identity.

  Orion exhaled, his foarrowing on two threads that he had begun to master. One was a deep blue with subtle uones of red, like blood swirling in water, shimmering and trembling with untapped potential. The other shared the same are blue as rune magic, but it radiated a calm, protective sheen.

  He chose to start with the safer-looking magic, imbued with protective qualities. As he eled it, Orion discovered magic, regardless of the type, flowed more easily through his blood vessels. This was a double-edged sword, however, as losing trol often brought intense pain, sudden bursts of blood, or dark discoloration of his skin- injuries he would have to mend hastily with healing magic.

  Still, on some instinctive level, Orion uood that even in its chaotiature, this magic was fortifying his body. To test it, he started pung the metallic wall. At first, his strikes were light due to his nervousness but by the end, Orion was striking with full force yet not feeling pain, nor was there bruising or damage to his body. His offensive power, however, showed no noticeable improvement.

  Another feature he discovered with this thread was the ability to el it beyond his body in close proximity. With focus, Orion shaped the energy into a shield- a shimmering, archaic barrier of blue-hued mana. From an outside perspective, it looked like waves crashing and bending around an unyielding rock, with that being Orion himself, hands outstretched as he eled it.

  Cutting the el, Orion expelled the remaining mana out of his body before turning his attention to the more unstable thread. His instincts, sharpened after so long studying these two threads, told him this one served the opposite purpose.

  Opening his eyes, Orion g the same se of metallic wall where he'd first tested this votile magic. There was a clear dent where his fist struck, marking a signifit increase in his offensive power. Yet, despite his efforts, and after testing it elsewhere, he couldn't amplify it further without his body protesting uhe strain.

  Issues with these magics pgued Orion.

  'It takes too long to drain one mana thread and switch to the other,' Orion mused internally. 'I 't maintain offensive and deferaits at the same time...'

  The thought of eling both threads simultaneously had crossed his mind more than once, but Orion's instincts warned him against it.

  Orion stood up, redug the el to a faint drizzle as he approached the dented wall. Nervous, his instincts screamed at him to stop, but he chose to ig. He pushed the hesitation aside and reasoo himself: 'You 't progress if you don't try.'

  Still, he hesitated again, cog his arm, ready to punch if he succeeded. 'Just a light punch', Orion nervously thought.

  The el opehe protective, archaic blue defehread flowed into his body, iwining with the reddish-hued dark blue offehread. He could see it, he could feel it- the two threads twisting and winding through his veins like coiling serpents, straining his body.

  Everythiense, and he was able to trol it initially.

  ZzzT-ZZZT

  When Orion started to direct the offensive magic to his fist, indepe of the defensive magic he tried to keep cirg internally, a sharp paied from his arm. Deep blue, tinged with a sickly mix of red, purple, and bck, jutted out violently, spraying blood across the floor.

  "AAA!" Orion screamed in intense pain. Trying not to panic, he felt more violent surges sparking inside of him, causing him to cough up blood. It spttered the wall, not as normal red, but tinged with purple and bck goop.

  'Together, TOGETHER!' Orion screamed mentally, f the defehread to catch up aertwih the offensive one before pushing it out through his fist. Such a small amount of mana, yet it caused tremendous pain and agony the entire way.

  ZZZZZZT

  A brilliant fsh of light erupted upon impact. Orion shouted in pain and fear as massive jaws exploded from the point of impa the wall. A loud, snarling growl filled the room, apanied by the snapping of teeth as the beast luoward his neck.

  The shockwave and the wolf's sudden appearance sent Orion flying backward, crashing to the floor. His breaths came in short, painful rasps, the room now looking like a crime se- blood and fn substances everywhere.

  Orion's vision was blurred, sitting up slightly as he looked up at the wall. There, faint but unmistakable, was the outline of a bck wolf's head. Its eyes were bed orbs, swirling like gaxies, radiating unfathomable energy. Its voice was a mixture of beastly snarls and something disturbingly huma, oddly, there was no st.

  "It struggles! Keep struggling!" The wolf spoke with a mixed snarl and twisted glee. Its massive figure prowled out from the wall, its steps deliberate and menag, and its figure twice the size of any human.

  Between rasping breaths, Orion could feel his heartbeat quiing. He knew what this creature was, and knew what was ing.

  "Kindred," Orion croaked.

  Orion did what he could only hope would work, taking the risk to el a gentler, light green thread of magic- filled with warmth- attempting to heal his ihrough all the pain and internal chaos, Orion's fearful gaze remained fixed on the wolf.

  trasting the deep, beastlike tone of the wolf, a light, feminine voice echoed from behind it, though it felt closer to Orion. "It is not its time, dear wolf."

  A faint shimmer rippled above the wolf. A bck, pristine, and otherworldly mask emerged and tilted its head, "This soul has two faces. Strange- one is not ours."

  The wolf chuckled darkly and slowly, the two faded into a mist.

  Orion stopped eling, gasping for air again as he colpsed pletely onto his back. Where his head had been, upon gng back at the wall over of the surreal experience, a sharp corrupted are spike jutted out from the wall.

  "Y-yeah...I'm not doing that again," Orion coughed weakly before losing sciousness.