Gideon's POV
The moment the Onyx Power floods my ruined legs, I feel it first as a warmth. Then, a surge. Then—movement.
For fifteen years, I've been a shadow. A boy who could only watch life pass by. A boy who whispered in his own ears that he was broken, weak, unworthy.
And now… those whispers fall silent.
I move my toes. Slowly. Tentatively. I wait for the pain, the disappointment, the snap of bones that never heal. There is none.
I flex my legs. Muscles tighten and stretch beneath my skin like threads being rewoven by some divine hand. My knees bend. My spine straightens. The crumpled, useless body I've lived in for so long begins to remember itself.
I stand.
For the first time in fifteen years, I stand.
I can hear it. The rhythm of my own heartbeat, strong and wild, in sync with the Onyx Power that sings through me. Ancient. Pure. Limitless.
I feel… alive.
And the first thing I see… the only thing that matters… is her.
Bambi.
