I didn't let go.
I couldn't.
Aria's wrist was cold, her pulse faint against my claws. The tendrils dragging her toward the river tightened, coiling higher around her legs and waist, pulling with a hunger I could feel. Each shadow that touched her left a mark—thin, black lines creeping across her skin like veins filled with ink.
The shard throbbed harder, and this time, I stopped fighting it.
I didn't release all of it at once, but I loosened the walls I'd built inside, letting some of its heat spill through me. My vision sharpened; the world lit with a faint red hue, every detail alive—the way the tendrils moved like serpents, the faint rhythm of the Veil's whispers beneath the air, the slowing beat of Aria's heart in my grasp.
The shadows reacted instantly. They hesitated, writhing as if tasting the shard's energy bleeding out of me. The whispers shifted, a chorus of voices, hungry and coaxing.
Anchor… break… feed.
A snarl tore from my throat, not entirely mine. My claws darkened, glowing faintly at the tips as I raked them through the tendrils. The first slice sent a shockwave through the ground; the shadows screamed—a high, grating sound that rattled my teeth—before bursting into black mist.
The river churned violently, shadows rising in waves, trying to envelop both of us. I didn't stop. Each strike became easier, faster, the shard guiding my movements, my wolf lending its strength. The heat in my veins burned, but it felt right.
Aria coughed weakly as I pulled her free, lifting her onto the shifting soil. She was trembling, her glow dim, the black marks from the curse creeping up the side of her face now. Her eyes fluttered open, finding mine.
"You… used it," she whispered, voice hoarse.
I didn't answer. Couldn't. My chest felt heavy, the shard's pulse now synced with my heartbeat, faster, hungrier.
Lyra stepped closer, her boots silent on the strange earth. Her gaze lingered on the veins crawling along my arms. "So you've stopped pretending." Her smile was faint, but sharp. "Good. You'll need that power where we're going… though I wonder how much of you will be left by the time we arrive."
The ground shifted again, violently this time. Cracks split the soil, glowing with faint red light, and the river receded as the land reshaped itself. Ahead, on the horizon, something rose—tall, jagged, and black as obsidian. Towers clawed at the sky, each one wrapped in faint red chains of light that pulsed in rhythm with the shard inside me.
The Herald's Fortress.
The shard pulsed harder, as if answering the sight of it. For the first time, I felt something beyond hunger radiating from it. Recognition.
Aria's body tensed against mine, her hand gripping my arm weakly. Her voice, though faint, carried a note of dread. "That place… it feels like it knows me. Like it's calling my curse home."
Lyra's smile deepened. "Of course it does. That's where your bond will either be broken… or buried forever."
The whispers in the air swelled, louder, more distinct now.
Closer… anchor… unchain… feed.
And I knew, deep down, that whatever waited in that fortress wasn't just another trial. It was what the shard had been leading me to since the night it first burned its way into my chest.
I tightened my hold on Aria, my claws flexing as I stared at the distant towers.
Whatever it wanted… whatever they wanted… I wasn't letting the Veil take her.
Even if it meant losing myself.