The other him tilted his head. "Then you must learn to control it. To wield it, without letting it define you."
Jude exhaled, his mind spinning. "And if I fail?"
The other him was silent for a moment, then said, "Then you become something else."
Jude frowned. "Something else?"
The other him held out a hand. "Come. See for yourself."
Jude hesitated, but deep down, he knew there was no turning back. He stepped forward, reaching out. The moment their hands met, the world around him shattered.
A rush of images flooded his mind, visions of fire, of battle, of moments he had not yet lived but felt as if they were already written in stone. He saw himself standing amidst ruins, the flame burning bright in his hands. He saw a choice, a fork in the path, one leading to salvation, the other to destruction. He saw himself standing alone, and yet surrounded by countless echoes of himself, each one a different possibility, a different outcome.
