Caelan's POV
I throw another blast of ice at the projection in the gardens.
It dodges easily, laughing with Morganna's voice. But something's wrong. The projection is flickering. Getting weaker.
"What's happening?" I demand.
The fake Morganna smiles cruelly. "Your precious Aria just made a terrible mistake. But don't worry—you'll find out soon enough."
Then she vanishes completely.
My blood runs cold. "Aria."
I sprint back toward the palace, ice forming wings on my back to fly faster. Silas meets me at the entrance, his face grim.
"Your Highness! The underground sanctuary—there was an explosion of magic. Dark and light colliding."
"Where's Aria?" I grab his armor. "Where is she?"
"She went down there with—" He stops. "With Princess Lyanna."
Everything clicks into place. The projection. The sleeping princess who never aged. Morganna's curse that I could never fully understand.
"It was a trap," I breathe. "The whole thing was a trap."
I don't wait for Silas to respond. I'm already running down the stairs to the sanctuary, taking them three at a time.
Please be alive, I think. Please, Aria, be alive.
I burst through the door and freeze.
The chamber is destroyed—walls cracked, ice candles shattered, scorch marks everywhere. In the center of the chaos stands my sister's body, glowing with purple light.
And on the floor, unconscious and bleeding, is Aria.
"Hello, brother," Lyanna's voice says. But it's wrong. All wrong. "Miss me?"
"Morganna." The name tastes like poison.
"Took you long enough to figure it out." She stretches Lyanna's arms over her head. "Thirteen years I've been trapped in this body, slowly draining your sister's life force to sustain myself. And your little healer just broke the final seal keeping me weak." She grins viciously. "I'm free now. Fully free. And this kingdom is mine."
Ice forms around my hands, sharp and deadly. "Get out of my sister's body."
"Or what? You'll kill me?" Morganna laughs. "You'd have to kill Lyanna too. We're bonded now. Inseparable. If I die, she dies."
My hands shake. She's right. I can see traces of my real sister mixed in with the dark magic—like two souls twisted together.
"Let her go," I say, my voice breaking. "Please. Take me instead. Curse me again. Just let Lyanna go."
"Oh, Caelan." Morganna's expression softens into mock sympathy. "Still trying to save everyone. Still carrying all that guilt. That's what made you such a perfect target thirteen years ago. You care too much."
She walks toward Aria's unconscious form. "This one's the same way. So desperate to help. So eager to prove herself. She practically begged me to let her break the seal."
"Don't touch her!" I launch a wall of ice between them.
Morganna shatters it with a wave of her hand. "You're strong, but I'm stronger now. Fed by thirteen years of despair. Empowered by spring magic I stole from your precious healer. You can't beat me."
She's right. I can feel it. The curse that gave me ice powers is breaking, and with it goes my strength. Soon I'll be just a normal man again.
But I don't care. I step between her and Aria anyway.
"You'll have to go through me first," I say quietly.
Morganna tilts her head, studying me. "You really do care about her. How sweet. And how stupid. You know caring about people only makes my curse stronger."
"Your curse is breaking," I counter. "Aria's doing that. Her spring magic is more powerful than your darkness."
"For now." Morganna kneels beside Aria, and I tense. "But she's unconscious. Powerless. And once I drain her magic completely, there won't be anything left to fight me."
Dark energy wraps around Aria's body like chains.
"NO!" I throw everything I have at Morganna—ice, cold, desperation.
She blocks it easily. "Goodbye, Caelan. Enjoy watching your kingdom freeze again. Oh, and your sister? She's screaming inside this body. She's been screaming for years. Just thought you'd want to know."
The darkness around Aria grows thicker. I can see her magic being pulled out—golden light streaming from her unconscious form into Morganna's stolen body.
I'm losing her. I'm losing both of them.
Then Silas crashes through the door with ten guards. "NOW!" he roars.
They throw something—small glass orbs that shatter on impact. Purple smoke explodes through the chamber.
"Moon salt!" Morganna screams. She staggers back from Aria, the dark chains breaking. "You dare—"
"Grab the girl!" Silas yells at me. "GO!"
I scoop Aria into my arms. She's so light. Too light. Her skin is pale and cold.
The guards form a circle around us, throwing more moon salt orbs. It's the only substance that can temporarily block dark magic, but we don't have much.
"This won't hold me forever!" Morganna shrieks through the smoke. "I'll hunt you down! I'll kill everyone you love! I'll freeze this kingdom until nothing remains!"
"RUN!" Silas shouts.
We run.
Up the stairs. Through corridors. Guards falling behind us to slow Morganna down. I hear their screams as dark magic finds them.
"The safe room," Silas pants beside me. "The one your father built. Moon salt in the walls. She can't break through."
We reach a hidden door. Silas throws it open and shoves me inside. "Stay here. Don't open this door for anyone but me."
"Silas—"
"Protect her, my lord. She's our only hope now." He slams the door shut.
I hear him barricading it from outside. Then his footsteps running away.
I'm alone in darkness with Aria dying in my arms.
I lay her on the floor gently, my hands shaking. "Aria? Aria, wake up. Please wake up."
She doesn't move. Her breathing is so shallow I can barely detect it.
"Don't you dare die," I whisper fiercely. "Not after surviving exile and wolves and a frozen kingdom. Not after bringing spring back. Not after giving me hope for the first time in thirteen years."
Her eyes flutter open—just barely. "Caelan?"
"I'm here. You're safe. Just hold on."
"I'm sorry," she breathes. "I freed her. I'm so sorry."
"Don't apologize. We'll fix this. We'll find a way to save Lyanna and stop Morganna and—"
"The real Lyanna," Aria interrupts weakly. "She's still in there. I felt her. Fighting. She told me... told me something important..."
"What? What did she say?"
"The curse... isn't what we think. It's not just ice and cold. It's..." Her eyes close again. "It's a seal. Keeping something locked away. Something worse than Morganna."
My blood turns to ice. "What do you mean something worse?"
But Aria has passed out again.
Outside the safe room, I hear explosions. Screaming. The sound of the palace being torn apart.
And then, cutting through all the chaos, I hear my sister's voice. But it's not Morganna speaking. It's Lyanna. The real Lyanna.
"Brother!" she screams. "Brother, she's going to the vault! She's going to open the—"
The voice cuts off with a choked sound.
Then Morganna's laughter echoes through the palace. "Finally. After thirteen years of waiting. Finally, I can wake the Dragon Queen."
The Dragon Queen.
The ancient evil my parents died trying to keep sealed away.
The real reason Morganna cursed our kingdom.
And now she's going to set it free.
The palace shakes with a roar that sounds like it's coming from the center of the earth. Deep and terrible and full of rage.
Something is waking up.
Something that should have stayed asleep forever.
In my arms, Aria's hands start glowing again—but this time the light is different. Not pure gold. Mixed with something else. Something that looks like flames.
"No," I whisper, staring at her in horror. "No, you can't be—"
Her eyes snap open, and they're glowing. Not purple like Morganna. Not silver like mine.
Red and gold. Like fire.
"Dragon," she whispers in a voice that isn't quite hers. "I'm the Dragon Priestess. The one who was supposed to stop this. The one who was hidden away and told she had no power."
The palace shakes again. Harder this time.
"And now," Aria says, still glowing, "I have to fight the Dragon Queen. Or everyone dies."
Word Count: 899