The final creature stepped forward. It moved unlike the others, slow, deliberate, elegant. Its body shimmered like smoke trapped in glass, colors swirling in its fur with every step. Antlers twisted like living silver, eyes like twin moons. Older. Wiser. Sacred.
And the moment Mae saw it, her body relaxed. Her breath finally released. And her knees buckled. Ashar lunged, but he wasn't fast enough. Before she could hit the ground, the great beast moved. So did the others. The Soulkind caught her. They didn't stumble under her weight. They lifted her together, eight creatures of different forms, all coordinated as if Mae were the most precious thing to have ever lived. Even unconscious, her hands glowed faintly.
The creatures walked slowly toward Ashar and Riven, their eyes never breaking contact. And then, they laid her down. Gently. A moment passed. Then another.
Neither man moved, not from fear, but the absolute stillness of respect. Reverence. Ashar dropped to one knee. Riven followed. The creature with the silver antlers lowered its head to Ashar's chest, then Riven's, then Mae's forehead, and stepped back. Ashar felt it, not words, but a message deep in his bones: Take her home.
They nodded, without speaking, without asking how they knew. There was no doubt. She wasn't just the key to saving their world, she was the heart of it. Ashar leaned down and gathered her into his arms, cradling her close. Her face pressed against his shoulder, peaceful now.
Riven stepped beside them, keeping pace as they turned back toward the castle.
Behind them, the Soulkind remained. Watching. Guarding. And when the wind shifted once more, it carried not just magic, but hope. The castle doors burst open. Ashar stormed in first, Mae limp in his arms, her skin still faintly glowing with silver veins of energy pulsing beneath the surface. Riven followed close, eyes scanning everyone like he dared them to breathe wrong. Lucien stood first, nearly knocking over a chair. "What the hell happened?!"
"Is she hurt?" Sethis added, stepping forward as Kaine rose from the corner with narrowed eyes. Ashar didn't speak, his jaw locked, holding Mae tighter as he moved past everyone and toward the corridor that led to her room. Riven didn't stop walking either, until Kaine opened his mouth. "What did she do this time?" That was all it took. Riven turned on him so fast, Lucien barely had time to move out of the way. He slammed Kaine against the wall, forearm pressing into his throat. "You do not get to ask that." Riven's voice was low, sharp. "You don't get to pretend you care. Not after what you pulled."
Kaine shoved at him, but Riven didn't move. "She nearly tore herself apart trying to hold it in because she trusted us. She thought this place was finally safe. But you-" his fist slammed into the wall beside Kaine's head, "you made her doubt it all again." Lucien took a step forward, but stopped. Something in Riven's eyes said: Let him finish. "You want to know what happened out there?" Riven sneered. "She called back a dead part of the universe, animals that haven't existed in millennia, creatures Ashar's people believed were gone forever. She created them with a thought, Kaine."
Kaine's brows furrowed, angry confusion turning into something else. "That's impossible."
"Yeah?" Riven shoved him again. "So is this-" He looked around the room at the others now gathered. "You all want the truth? Fine. No more secrets. Mae saw the future. We saw it. She's not just the anomaly, they call her the divine fracture reborn. The one meant to rewrite what was lost." Silence. No one moved. "She bonds to creation itself," Riven said, breath shaky now. "To life. And to us." He finally let Kaine go. The man stumbled down, falling to his knees, breath gone, soul gone. "She's pregnant,"
Riven finished, voice quieter now. "With my child. And Ashar's. She carries us both."
Sethis took a single step back. Lucien sat down slowly. No one spoke. Ashar appeared again at the hall's edge, silent as ever. He met Riven's gaze. And nodded. Riven's chest rose and fell like he'd just finished carrying the world. Kaine looked up slowly, eyes filled not with anger now, but regret. "I didn't know…"
"You didn't ask." Ashar's voice cut like a blade. No one dared speak after that.