"No," Morvenna stepped closer, peering at Jason's face. "He's still there, but something else is now—"
Jason's eyes snapped open.
Gone were the ordinary hazel irises he'd had all his life. Instead, his eye sockets blazed with pure energy—the right eye a deep, blood-crimson red, the left a blinding, pristine white.
The energy around him drastically changed into an oppressive air, resulting in a heavy shockwave.
The contrasting energies swirled and pulsed, growing in intensity as the thirteen stared in horror.
"The vessel has become the conduit," whispered the copper-skinned figure.
"The codex is fused with him. It's been part of him for longer, and it's now retaliating."
But before any could respond, twin beams of devastating power erupted from Jason's eyes—crimson destruction from his right, blinding creation from his left. The beams shot upward with such force that the ancient stone ceiling, designed to withstand magical assaults for millennia, gave way immediately.
Jason was floating in the mid air, his head faced upwards, the beams of intense power was shooting upwards.
Two perfect circular holes appeared above, the edges glowing molten from the intensity of the energy. The beams continued skyward, punching through layer after layer of the Covenant's hidden fortress, visible for miles as they split the very heavens.
The chamber shook violently. Chunks of masonry crashed to the floor. The circle broke as the thirteen scattered for cover. Without their combined power to maintain it, the spell holding Jason aloft disintegrated.
He dropped to the floor, landing with unnatural grace, his body moving with a fluidity that was not his own. The twin beams from his eyes dimmed but did not extinguish, casting the chamber in opposing hues of red and white.
"What have you done to me?" The voice that came from Jason's mouth was his, yet layered with something ancient and powerful. It resonated throughout the chamber, causing more dust and small stones to fall from above.
Elyndra stepped forward cautiously, hands raised in a gesture of peace. "Jason Bennett, you must listen—"
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!" the voice roared, and the floor beneath Jason's feet cracked in a spiderweb pattern.
Jason turned slowly, taking in each of the thirteen with its terrible, glowing eyes.
"The codex, I can feel it. Its power flowing inside of me," Jason clutched his hands.
"Its mine now, and no one will take it from me." Suddenly Jason's mind had opened to a lot of pathways. He instantly understood what he was wielding as the vision of power of the codex was laid in his mind.
Morvenna stepped forward, defiant despite her fear. "We need the Codex to restore the balance between realms. It was ours to begin with!"
Jason tilted 's head, studying her. "And why would I care?"
One of them spat, "He's just like his mother."
Suddenly, Jason's body convulsed. He clutched at his head, the beams from his eyes flickering. "Stop... what's happening to me?" It was Jason's voice.
The thirteen watched in fascinated horror as the mortal boy's aura was increasing by the moment. The energies surrounding Jason fluctuated wildly, causing the air itself to warp and bend around him.
"Fascinating," murmured the elderly woman.
With a final, anguished cry, Jason collapsed to his knees. The beams from his eyes dimmed further until they were merely glowing irises—one red, one white. He looked up at the circle of beings, panting and disoriented.
"What..." he gasped.