Chapter 13. Celestial Awakening

Celeste’s POV

The moment my blood touched the squirrel’s fur, it vanished into thin air—and a titanic force, utterly alien, slammed into me. The impact was so fierce that my legs buckled, and I collapsed, utterly unable to resist. Then, almost before I realized what was happening, I was rising off the ground, as though drawn upward by an unseen hand. The agonizing pain in my chest melted away entirely, replaced by a dizzying sense of weightlessness.

I looked around, blinking at the shocked faces of everyone watching—but there was no time to process their expressions. In an instant I felt my bones stretching, as if I were being torn apart from the inside. A scorching heat rippled across my skin, and I let out a piercing cry. My clothes shredded to ribbons, though in that moment their ruin seemed trivial. More terrifying was the sensation of my mind receding into some dusty, forgotten room while another presence rose to take its place.

Then lightning split the