The Danger of Power You Don’t Want

There’s something quietly terrifying about discovering you’re capable of something you shouldn’t be.

Chapter 29 of my current work-in-progress dives straight into that idea: what happens when the power you didn’t ask for becomes the reason people fear you?

Our main character, Nissa, is already carrying the weight of being an outsider—branded, unwanted, and shoved into a brutal academy where survival is a full-time job. But in this chapter, that outsider status takes a sharper turn. She doesn’t just have power. She has the wrong kind.

This book leans into some of my favourite dark fantasy themes:

• Forbidden magic

• Power that comes at a cost

• Friendships built in fire

• And that slow, creeping dread that maybe… just maybe… you’re the weapon they all feared.

Writing this chapter hit different. It’s the moment where the gloves start to come off, where characters stop dancing around the truth and start calling things what they are. There’s raw fear. Anger. Vulnerability. And yeah, maybe some unexpected character bonding through mutual threats and lightning bolts. Standard stuff.

But what really sat with me after writing this one was how much I love exploring power without control—especially in young characters. We’re used to seeing protagonists discover their abilities in epic, cinematic ways. But what if the revelation comes with the threat of execution? What if your first real magical moment ends with someone burnt, broken, or bleeding?

That’s the world Nissa is navigating.

She’s finally starting to understand what makes her different. And it’s not going to save her. It might just doom her.

Can’t wait for you all to meet her properly—when this dark academy fantasy is finally ready to share.

Stay tuned. Stay dangerous.

—David