The sanctuary was quiet again, but the silence felt fragile—like glass ready to shatter.
Lianna lay on the furs in the resting chamber, her body heavy as lead. The glow at her wrist had dimmed but hadn't vanished; it pulsed faintly, stubborn and unyielding, a reminder of what had just happened.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw it again—her power bursting uncontrollably, shadows shrieking as they dissolved, Auren's steady arms catching her before she fell.
Her chest still ached with the memory of Kael's words. You lost control again.
The door creaked open. Auren stepped inside first, silver hair gleaming faintly in the runelight, his expression softening when his gaze found her. Behind him, Kael entered silently, his presence colder, heavier, like the shadows clinging to his cloak.
The room seemed too small for the three of them.
"You should drink this," Auren said gently, kneeling beside her with a cup of faintly glowing liquid. "It will restore your strength."
Lianna hesitated, glancing at Kael. His jaw tightened, but he didn't stop Auren.
Her throat burned with thirst, so she took the cup. The liquid was cool, soothing, sliding down her throat like moonlight itself. Her body relaxed, the ache in her limbs easing slightly.
"Better?" Auren asked, his tone quiet, caring.
Lianna managed a small nod. "Yes… thank you."
His smile was soft, but fleeting—like dawn breaking through clouds.
Kael, however, stood stiffly near the wall, arms crossed. His storm-gray eyes remained locked on her, but unreadable.
Lianna felt the tension between them pressing down like a weight. She couldn't stand it any longer. "Why do you both act like… like I'm some prize you're fighting over? I don't even understand what's happening to me."
Auren's gaze softened, but it was Kael who answered.
"Because you carry the mark," he said flatly, his voice low. "The bond of fate."
Lianna's breath caught. "Bond?"
Kael's shadows shifted, restless. "When it awakens, the world takes notice. Shadows hunt it. Light covets it. And the one bound to it…" His gaze flickered—just briefly—to her wrist. "…cannot escape it."
Her pulse quickened. "Bound? To what?"
Neither man spoke at first.
It was Auren who finally broke the silence. "To someone. To a destiny written before you were born." His tone was gentler, kinder than Kael's, but the weight of his words still pressed like a chain around her chest.
"No," Lianna whispered, shaking her head. "That's insane. I didn't ask for this."
Kael's voice was sharp, almost cutting. "Fate doesn't ask. It takes."
Auren shot him a glare. "You make it sound like a curse."
"It is a curse," Kael snapped, his shadows flaring. "She will be hunted, used, broken—unless she learns control. Unless she accepts what she is."
Lianna's hands trembled, the cup nearly slipping from her fingers. "Stop it… both of you. Just stop."
The glow at her wrist pulsed brighter, reacting to her emotions. The runes carved into the chamber walls shimmered faintly in answer.
Auren reached for her hand, his voice soft and grounding. "You're not a curse, Lianna. You're a miracle. Don't let his bitterness make you believe otherwise."
Her breath hitched as his fingers brushed her skin—warm, steady, reassuring. For a fleeting moment, the ache inside her chest eased.
But Kael stepped forward, shadows curling dangerously around him. His storm-gray eyes locked onto her with intensity that stole the air from her lungs.
"Don't let him deceive you," Kael said, low and harsh. "He offers comfort, but it's a chain just as strong. The truth is cruel, Lianna. If you don't face it, you won't survive what's coming."
Lianna's vision blurred with tears. She wanted to scream at them both, to demand answers that made sense—but all she felt was the crushing weight of something far larger than her life, pressing her into a role she had never asked for.
Her wrist throbbed harder, the glow now painfully bright.
Suddenly, the runes along the ceiling flared violently, casting the room into searing light. The air crackled.
Kael stiffened instantly. "It's reacting again."
Auren's expression sharpened, protective. "No—she's in pain. She can't hold it—"
Lianna clutched her wrist, a choked cry escaping her lips as light poured from her skin, filling the chamber with blinding brilliance.
The last thing she saw before darkness swallowed her was Kael's shadows rushing forward—Auren's hand gripping hers tighter—and the sound of both their voices calling her name.
---