POV: Ella
"Get behind me!" Raine shouted, pushing me back.
Dark magic exploded from his hands, forming a shield between us and the door. Purple energy crackled and sparked, lighting up the entire room like lightning.
My heart hammered against my ribs. Morgana Ashenheart. Even I'd heard stories about her in the kingdom—the dark sorceress who could steal magic from other wizards, who'd destroyed entire villages just to prove her power.
And she was right outside.
"What does she want?" I whispered.
"You," Raine said grimly. "She's been searching for a Shadow Elf for decades. Your cursed blood can amplify dark magic a thousand times. In her hands, you'd be a weapon."
Another knock, harder this time. The whole tower shook.
"Raine, darling," Morgana's voice called out sweetly. "Don't be rude. I taught you everything you know about dark magic. The least you could do is invite your old teacher inside."
"She taught you?" I stared at Raine.
"A long time ago," he said through clenched teeth. "When I first left the Wizard Guild, I was desperate and stupid. She offered to help me control dark magic. I didn't realize she wanted to control me too."
Fire erupted outside. Through the window, I saw orange flames licking up the tower's walls. The heat made me stumble backward.
"Last chance, Raine!" Morgana shouted. "Give me the Shadow Elf, or I'll burn everything you've built!"
Raine's jaw tightened. I saw something flash in his silver eyes—not just fear, but rage. He'd been hiding here for five years, building this safe place, and now someone was threatening to destroy it.
"Hold on to something," he muttered.
"What—"
Dark magic burst from him like an explosion. The entire tower lurched, and suddenly we were moving—no, sinking. The floor dropped beneath us, and I grabbed Raine's arm as we plunged downward through darkness.
We crashed onto stone, and I gasped as pain shot through my knees. Raine hauled me to my feet. We were in some kind of underground room, lit by glowing crystals embedded in the walls.
"Secret basement," Raine panted. "She can't find us here. The tower above is just an illusion—my real workshop is down here."
Above us, I heard Morgana's furious scream as she realized we'd escaped. The sound of destruction echoed through the ceiling—she was tearing apart the fake tower.
"How long before she finds this place?" I asked.
"Not long enough." Raine ran to a workbench covered in books and papers. "We need to leave. Now. She won't give up."
"Leave?" I looked around the underground room. "But this is your home!"
"It's just a place." Raine shoved books into a leather bag. "Places can be rebuilt. Lives can't. Come on, we need to—"
Pain exploded in my chest.
I screamed and fell to my knees. It felt like something was clawing its way out of my heart. Black veins spread across my arms, pulsing and burning.
The entity. It was waking up again.
"No, no, no," Raine dropped beside me. "Not now. You need to stay calm—"
"I can't!" The pain was overwhelming. Through our bond, I felt Raine's panic mixing with my own, making everything worse. "It's too strong!"
Yesss, the entity's voice hissed inside my head. So much fear. So much chaos. Perfect conditions for me to feed.
"Fight it, Ella!" Raine grabbed my shoulders. "Remember what we did before—push it back down!"
I tried. I really did. But the entity was stronger now, and I was too scared, too overwhelmed. It wrapped around my mind like chains, pulling me down into darkness.
Then I felt something different. Through our bond, Raine was feeding me his magic—not to suppress the entity, but to strengthen me. His dark magic flowed into me like a river, steady and controlled.
You're stronger than this thing, Raine's voice echoed in my head through our connection. I can feel it. Your will is iron underneath all that fear. Use it.
His confidence in me was like a lifeline. I grabbed onto it and pushed back with everything I had.
The entity shrieked and retreated, sliding back into the depths of the curse. The pain faded, leaving me shaking and exhausted.
"Good," Raine said softly. "You're getting better at that."
Above us, the destruction had stopped. Silence pressed down like a weight.
"She's gone," I whispered.
"No." Raine stood up, his face grim. "She's waiting. Morgana doesn't give up. She'll track us wherever we go."
"Then what do we do?"
"We run." Raine pulled me to my feet. "And while we run, I teach you to control your curse. If Morgana catches up, you need to be able to fight back."
He led me to a hidden tunnel at the back of the room. The passage was narrow and dark, lit only by the glowing moss on the walls. We walked for what felt like hours, neither of us speaking.
Finally, we emerged in a forest clearing far from the tower. The sun was just beginning to rise, painting the sky in shades of pink and gold.
Raine tossed me a bundle of dark clothes—pants and a tunic. "Put these on. Your princess dress makes you too easy to spot."
I changed behind a tree, feeling strange in the rough fabric. When I came back, Raine was standing in the middle of the clearing, arms crossed.
"Lesson one," he announced. "Stop thinking like a princess. You're not delicate. You're not helpless. You're cursed, which means you're dangerous. It's time you learned how to be."
His words stung, but they also sparked something inside me. He was right. I'd spent my whole life being perfect, being careful, being what everyone else wanted. Look where that got me.
"What do I do?" I asked.
"Use your magic. Create a vine like you used to."
I closed my eyes and reached for my nature magic, the power that used to come as easily as breathing. I imagined a green vine, gentle and strong, like the ones I used to grow in the palace gardens.
Magic surged through me—but it was all wrong.
Black thorny tendrils exploded from the ground around me, wild and vicious. They whipped through the air like angry snakes, and I screamed, trying to stop them. But they only grew bigger, longer, more out of control.
One tendril lashed toward Raine. He dodged, but barely.
"Control it!" he shouted.
"I'm trying!" Tears streamed down my face. The tendrils were everywhere now, tearing up the ground, wrapping around trees. "I can't! My magic is broken!"
"Stop!" Raine's voice cut through my panic.
Everything froze. The tendrils stopped moving, hanging in the air like they were waiting.
Raine stepped forward calmly and placed his hand on my shoulder. Immediately, his dark magic flowed into me, and the wild tendrils calmed. They slowly sank back into the ground, leaving torn earth and scattered leaves.
I stood there shaking, staring at my hands. "I can't do this. I'm not strong enough."
"Your magic isn't broken," Raine said firmly. His silver eyes met mine. "It's different. You're trying to use it the way you did before, but you're not the same person anymore."
"I know that!" I snapped. "That's the problem! I was supposed to be a nature elf, someone who helped things grow. Now I destroy everything I touch!"
"Maybe destroying isn't the problem." Raine gestured at the torn ground. "Maybe you're the problem. You're treating your curse like a disease. Something to hide, something to be ashamed of. But it's not a disease, Ella. It's a transformation."
I wanted to argue, but the words died in my throat. He was right. I'd been fighting what I'd become, trying to force my old magic to work in a new body.
"So what do I do?" I asked quietly.
"Stop fighting it. Stop trying to be what you were. Accept what you are now, and learn to work with it." Raine stepped back. "Try again. But this time, don't imagine what you used to create. Imagine what you can create now."
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. This time, I didn't reach for my old nature magic. I reached for the curse, the darkness that lived inside me now.
The magic came faster, eager. Instead of fighting it, I let it flow through me.
Black tendrils rose from the ground again, but this time they were different. They moved slowly, gracefully, responding to my will. I shaped them into a wall, then a bridge, then let them fade back into the earth.
When I opened my eyes, Raine was smiling—just a little, but it was there.
"Better," he said. "Now we're getting somewhere."
For the first time since the curse, I felt a spark of hope. Maybe I could learn this. Maybe I could control it.
Then Raine's expression changed. His eyes widened, and through our bond, I felt his sudden fear.
"Run," he breathed.
"What—"
"RUN!"
An arrow slammed into the tree beside my head.
I spun around and saw them—at least a dozen figures emerging from the forest, all dressed in silver armor. Elf guards. Elite hunters from my kingdom.
And leading them, with a cold smile on his perfect face, was Theron.
My ex-fiancé had found us.