The warmth of Lucien's arms still lingered on her skin, but it no longer comforted her; it branded her with memory. Love, pain, power all of it burned beneath her collarbone where the bond pulsed like a second heart.
She hadn't looked back when she left him.
Not when he kissed her as if it were goodbye.
Not when the forest opened its jaws and swallowed her whole.
Not even when her knees threatened to give way from the weight of it all.
She was alone.
But not unarmed.
The cursed forest loomed before Raina like a gaping mouth, devouring all light and sound. Shadows coiled around the twisted trees, and the wind carried whispers that weren't hers. The path ahead pulsed with a darkness that seemed alive. And yet, she stepped forward
Every inch of her felt taut with tension. Her blade was warm against her back, humming with ancient magic, and her heartbeat thrummed in sync with the mark over her collarbone. Lucien's bond flickered through her like a phantom touch, steadying her. She wasn't alone. Not truly. But this trial this choice was hers alone to make.
This was the place.
The place where she'd find the relic.
The place where she would face herself and what she was becoming.
The deeper she walked, the more the forest transformed. Vines slithered from her path, hissing softly as they recoiled from her presence. Shadows peeled back like curtains, revealing glimpses of her past lives etched into the bark of ancient trees a silver-armored warrior, a girl with a flaming blade, a Huntress cloaked in blood.
And always, Lucien. Bound. Crowned. Bleeding.
At last, she reached the clearing a place that felt untouched by time. Stones ringed the space, etched with lunar runes glowing faintly under the moonless sky. In the center stood the guardian.
She was a being of ash and flame, her body barely solid, her voice echoing twice.
"You are late."
Raina bowed her head, instinct and memory guiding her. "I've come for the relic."
"You've come for yourself."
With a nod, Raina stepped into the circle. The runes ignited, rising like fire. In a heartbeat, the world fell away.
She stood in a void now, face-to-face with herself.
A mirror version. A darker Raina. One forged not by love, but by grief.
"You think you are new," the shadow spat. "That love redeems you. But you were forged in blood. War made you."
Raina met her gaze without flinching. "No. Choice made me. I chose to love. I chose to fight. I choose now."
Their blades met in a clash of sparks. Every strike was memory. Every wound reopened pain she thought she'd buried. Betrayal. Fear. Power. The moment Lucien bled for her. The night she almost chose death.
She didn't fight to win. She fought to remember. And when she drove her blade into the ground—not into her double—the illusion cracked.
The mirror shattered.
Lucien appeared in the glowing mist. His form was soft, like dreamstuff, but his eyes were all fire and soul.
"You remember now," he whispered.
She nodded, tears streaking her cheeks. "Yes. And I still choose you."
From the ground, a dagger rose—not of steel, but of bone and light, wrapped in flame. She reached for it, and it burned a new mark into her skin. A half-moon. A half-flame. The symbol of rebirth.
The world snapped back.
She was in the clearing again, panting. Her knees hit the earth as the last of the fire receded. But she held the relic.
Lucien was there, arms wide.
"You found it," he breathed, catching her as she collapsed into him.
"No," she whispered. "I found me."
That night, the sky cried ash. No moon. No stars. Just a void.
Lucien built a fire in the hearth. Raina curled beside it, wrapped in furs and his scent.
"Tell me what you saw," he said softly, after a long silence.
Her voice trembled. "I saw myself. All the parts I tried to forget. But I embraced them. I forgave them. And now… now I know who I am."
Lucien brushed a curl from her brow. "You are the Huntress. But you're also more. You're the first to remember, not forget. And that makes you dangerous."
She rested her head on his chest, the bond pulsing steady and warm. "Good. Let them fear me. Because I finally know what I'm fighting for."
Outside, the wind howled. Warnings on the breeze.
But inside, Raina was still. Whole.
And ready.