The ground began to shake beneath her knees.
Not like an earthquake.
Not like a threat.
Like... a heart breathing.
The Sanctuary exhaled softly,
as if pushing Lunaya toward the exit,
as if setting her down against the real world with infinite gentleness,
and infinite brutality.
She felt the light recede around her.
The warmth of Dravik.
The sensual, burning gold of Sahr.
The soft, panicked blue of Kael.
And the broken shadow of Erynd...
so distant.
so weakened.
so almost absent that she felt her throat tighten.
"No..." she whispered in a cracked voice.
The black-silver thread vibrated one last time,
like a finger slipping from a fragile grip.
Then everything gave way.
The light expelled her.
Back to reality
Lunaya fell forward.
Just before her forehead hit the ground ,
arms caught her.
"LUNAYA!"
Kael.
His hot breath against her neck.
His trembling hands around her.
Her heart beating so hard she thought it would burst open like a split fruit.
She opened her eyes.
Kael's face was contorted with fear.
Rage.
Pain.
And above all:
with a raw, visceral love that was impossible to hide.
"Can you hear me? Can you hear me, Lunaya?!"
She tried to answer.
No sound.
Only a sob.
Kael stepped back just enough to see her face and turned pale.
"By the stars... you're bleeding."
She brought a hand to her cheek.
Her fingers came back stained silver.
The light of the Sanctuary.
It wasn't blood.
It was...
the visions still leaking from her skin.
Kael pulled her close with an almost painful force.
"Don't you ever do that again. Ever.
Do you hear me?
EVER. AGAIN."
His voice vibrated against her heart.
She clung to him as if he were an anchor.
Then a shiver ran through the air.
Not a breeze.
Not a shadow.
A breath.
Kael suddenly raised his head.
"Someone's coming."
Lunaya felt the red thread vibrate.
Dravik.
Not visible yet.
But there.
Very close.
His presence inside her burned so brightly that it made her dizzy.
The ground beneath their feet warmed,
as if someone were approaching with fire in their veins.
Kael pulled Lunaya close, as if to hide her.
"No... no, no, no... not now..."
But before he could lift her up to flee,
a light laugh slipped through the air.
Golden.
Sensual.
Insolent.
Sahr.
Invisible.
Until he decided not to be anymore.
"I see I'm not the only one who felt her call..."
Kael bared his teeth.
"Show yourself if you dare."
A silhouette slowly emerged from behind a tree trunk,
almost lazily.
Sahr appeared, smiling calmly, hands in his pockets,
as if he had just woken up from a nap.
"Still as charming as ever, little wolf."
Then his eyes slid over to Lunaya.
And his smile faded.
For the first time, Sahr seemed... touched.
"Luna'yaah..."
Kael gently pushed her behind him.
"Don't go near her."
Sahr raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not doing anything. I'm just watching.
And believe me, wolf, that's hard enough."
Then,
A growl.
Deep.
Animalistic.
Too close.
Kael stiffened.
Sahr took a step back, cautious for the first time.
The leaves on the ground rustled.
The ground cracked a millimeter.
Lunaya felt the red thread scream in her chest.
He's coming.
Dravik.
There was no warning.
Just a breath of burning heat, and
the trees behind Kael parted as if torn apart by an invisible hand.
A giant of fire and muscle passed between them,
ignoring Kael as if he were nothing more than an insignificant shadow.
And he turned to Lunaya.
Their eyes met.
The air became incandescent.
Kael immediately felt the tension rise to a deadly level.
Sahr crossed his arms, amused but ready to attack.
And Lunaya...
She saw only absence.
The absence of a thread.
The absence of a shadow.
The absence of a name.
"...Erynd?"
Her voice broke.
Dravik froze.
Sahr lost his smile.
Kael felt his heart sink.
He asked, his voice hoarse:
"What did you see, Lunya?
What did you... understand?"
Lunaya looked up.
Her hands were shaking.
A single sentence crossed her lips,
a sentence that made the three men around her chill.
"He's not dead.
But he's suffering.
And they took him...
IN MY PLACE."
Silence.
A silence as heavy as a prophecy.
Sahr blinked slowly, as if struck.
Dravik growled, a sound that made the ground shake.
Kael turned pale.
"Lunaya..."
She shook her head.
"I have to find him."
Sahr whispered,
"You can't yet."
Dravik added gravely,
"You would die. "
Kael breathed, his voice broken:
"And so would I."
Lunaya looked at the three of them.
Her threads.
Her fragments.
Her truths.
Her mistakes.
Then she said:
"Then help me.
Or step aside.
Because I will not let Erynd die for me."