Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 154: Grace: Arcana (I)

Lyre waits until I’m calm again, her chin still resting in her palm as she watches me.

"I don’t get it," I finally admit, scrubbing my hands over my face again. It’s not that I’m trying to hide, but just... the pressure and darkness helps me feel a little better. A little less dizzy and lost with the information thrown at me.

Anchors. Divinity. Gods. Fate...

"What don’t you get?"

"Everything. I understand what you’re saying, it just... doesn’t feel real." Like Lyre’s making up a story.

"Hmm." Her fingers tap against the table again. "Well, it’s understandable. You’ll come to know more with time, but it’s against us at the moment. More importantly, Grace, there are things you need to do, now that Chaos has opened your door."

Somehow, I know I’m not going to like whatever she has to say.

"What things?"

"Well." Cool fingers touch the back of my hands, and I pull them away from my face to blink at the rainbow-haired woman in front of me. Lyre smiles faintly. "First, you need to learn to harness your power. I hear you can see arcana now?"

I nod.

"It’s a bit fast, but I suppose I should thank Chaos for this gift, at least. Can you see it at will? Or only when you’re in the middle of your..." Her index finger swirls in the air. "...shenanigans?"

I blush.

"Only when I touch Caine. They look like golden threads."

of order." Again with the tapping as

my head. "Not exactly. I can touch it sometimes. I can’t really... stop it. I tried to squeeze it, and it worked

needs to see the

it feel when you touch

like a wiggling rope and water at the same

at the table again. "It sounds like your

stare at her

inch of your skin. Everything in this world is made of arcana. If you want to control it, you need to manipulate it from its basest form. Don’t think of it as water, or air, or even a rock. Base arcana is most similar to

some sense. I nod. "So how do

it purpose. Arcana exists everywhere. Either disperse the density of it, or absorb more. Give it roads and direction, and it will follow your will. If you know where it’s coming from, it’s easy to divert as necessary. What you consider

taking a sledgehammer to a popsicle

out of its proper existence. It comes to me on my order. I absorb it, and therefore it’s mine." Slowly, a faint, fuzzy ball of golden light appears in her hand. "Try to call it to

fingers tremble slightly. The ball of golden light hovers between Lyre’s hands, pulsing gently like a miniature sun.

Nothing.

other than what any normal human would—a weird glowing orb that shouldn’t exist but somehow does. My jaw tightens with frustration. Last night with Caine, I’d seen those golden threads so clearly. I’d touched them, manipulated them. I’d felt the

feel it?" Lyre asks, her

defeated than I probably should. I’m a beginner. This is all new to me.

people, relying on them to keep me safe. I want power, too. At least enough

with Caine,

escapes me. Just my luck—I finally discover I’m some mythical being called an Anchor, capable of influencing

for the kind of life I’ve led so far, but then

hands forward until they’re beneath mine. "Perhaps you need a more direct

light transfers between us. As she slowly pulls her hands away, the golden ball remains, hovering just above

"Oh!"

but the heat it emits is something beyond a surface-level temperature. It tingles,