The fog didn't lift the next morning.
It thickened — swallowing the ruins, the trees, even the sound of their footsteps.
Kale could barely see Lyra's silhouette ahead, silver hair glinting faintly through the mist. Elric's runic wards flickered weakly, the blue light dimming every few seconds like the fog was draining it.
"This isn't natural," Elric muttered. "The mist shouldn't move like this."
Lyra's hand hovered near her dagger. "What do you mean?"
"It's shifting with us. It's alive."
Kale swallowed hard. "You mean it's magic."
Elric nodded grimly. "Old magic. Witchcraft."
The air grew colder. Kale could see his breath now, white against the gray. The ruins behind them had already vanished — swallowed whole by the fog.
"They've found you," Aurelion's voice murmured softly. "The ones who killed me. The ones who will try again."
Kale clenched his jaw. "Not now."
Lyra turned. "What?"
"Nothing," he lied quickly.
But the voice pressed on — honey-smooth, dangerous.
"You can't hide in mist, little vessel. You can only drown in it."
Then, faintly, from somewhere ahead, came a whisper — a woman's voice, singing. Soft. Hypnotic.
A lullaby carried on the wind.
Lyra froze. "Do you hear that?"
Kale nodded slowly. "Yeah… where is it coming from?"
Elric's face went pale. "Don't listen to it."
But it was already too late.
The melody slithered through their minds — beautiful and terrible, wrapping around thoughts like silk. The mist shimmered faintly, forming shapes — faces, hands, eyes.
Kale blinked hard. "Elric, what is this?"
"The Coven's siren ward," Elric said. "A spell woven to lure trespassers into their grasp. If you follow the voice, you never come back."
Lyra gritted her teeth. "Then we move away from it."
But the voice shifted again — now behind them. Then to the left. Then the right.
It was everywhere.
Kale felt his chest tighten. The seal on his wrist pulsed in rhythm with the song. The more he resisted, the stronger the pull became — like it wanted him to answer.
"Sing back," Aurelion whispered in amusement. "They're calling for me. Let me answer."
"No," Kale hissed under his breath.
"You'll die if you resist too long."
"I'd rather die as me."
The air shimmered suddenly — a figure stepping out of the fog right before him.
She was tall, cloaked in black, her face half-hidden beneath a hood. Only her eyes showed — pale as silver moonlight.
"Found you," she said softly.
Elric's staff lit up instantly. "Run!"
Kale barely had time to react before a blast of silver fire struck the ground beside him, throwing him backward. The air exploded with pressure. Lyra moved in a blur, dragging Kale behind a shattered pillar.
"Who the hell is that!?" she shouted.
Elric's expression was grim. "One of the Coven. The Seventh Sister."
Lyra's eyes widened. "You mean—"
"Yes," Elric snapped. "One of the seven who ended Aurelion."
The woman stepped calmly through the fog, her robes flowing like smoke. "I expected to find an echo," she said, voice soft but sharp. "Not a boy wearing his soul."
Kale's blood went cold. "You know who I am."
"I know what you carry," she corrected. "And I've come to take it back."
Lyra hissed, baring faint fangs. "Over my dead body."
The witch's gaze shifted to her — pitying. "That can be arranged, leech."
Lyra lunged, but the witch moved faster. A whisper, a flick of her wrist — and Lyra was slammed into a wall of mist that solidified like glass.
"Lyra!" Kale shouted.
Elric stepped forward, runes on his staff blazing. "You'll not touch the boy!"
The witch smiled faintly. "You were always loyal to the cursed, Elric. Even now."
Her tone made Kale freeze. "You… know him?"
Elric didn't answer — but his silence said enough.
"Once," the witch said. "Before he betrayed the Council. Before he chose death over order."
Kale stared at Elric in disbelief. "You were part of them?"
"Not now!" Elric barked.
He slammed his staff into the ground, and the air around them warped — a dome of blue light forming to shield Kale and Lyra. The mist recoiled, hissing.
But the witch simply raised her hand. Silver symbols appeared in the air, twisting like threads. The dome cracked instantly.
Kale's mark flared — blindingly bright. He could feel her power pulling at his, like a tide dragging him under.
"Let me out," Aurelion purred. "I can end her with a thought."
Kale gritted his teeth. "No!"
The witch's eyes narrowed. "Still resisting? You don't even realize what you are."
She raised her other hand. The ground split, revealing glowing chains made of light. They lashed toward him like serpents — but Lyra broke free, slashing through them mid-air, her claws drenched in black flame.
"Touch him again," she hissed, "and I'll show you what a curse really looks like."
The witch frowned. "You shouldn't even exist. The curse of blood should have wiped your kind from this world."
Lyra smirked. "Guess I'm bad at following rules."
Before the witch could respond, Elric shouted: "Kale, now!"
Kale didn't know what spell he was casting — only that instinct took over. His seal burned, and a burst of azure energy erupted from his palm, colliding with the witch's silver fire.
For an instant, the world became blinding light.
Then — silence.
When Kale opened his eyes, the mist was gone. The ruins stood empty and still. The witch had vanished, leaving only a faint echo of her laughter in the air.
Elric was kneeling, exhausted. Lyra leaned against the wall, breathing hard.
"She didn't die," Kale said quietly.
"No," Elric said. "The Coven never dies easily. But now they know exactly where we are."
Lyra spat blood, her fangs retracting. "Then what now?"
Elric looked east, toward the mountains. "We run. And we prepare. Because next time, they won't send one Sister."
Kale swallowed. "They'll send them all."
And far away, in a distant hall of obsidian and gold, six voices whispered in unison:
"The Cursed Mana stirs."
"Aurelion's heir must not awaken."
The Seventh Sister bowed before a circle of shadows. "He already has."