"Keeper Pandoros?" The pregnant woman's voice shook, but not with gratitude. With terror.
I tried to speak, to explain, to reassure, but what could I say? That the monsters they'd been taught to fear had just saved them? That everything they believed about their protectors was a lie? That I was becoming something that shouldn't exist?
The sound of synchronized marching saved me from answering. Natalia's contingent arrived in perfect formation, a wall of grey robes and cold efficiency. They spread through the village with practiced precision, but they weren't checking for survivors or pursuing fleeing cultists.
They were surrounding the witnesses.
"High Keeper," I started, but Natalia raised a hand for silence.
Her grey eyes moved across the scene, taking in the destruction, the bodies, the divine fire still clinging to my form. Then she looked at the huddled survivors, and I saw her making calculations.
"These people require treatment," she announced. "They've been exposed to corrupted magic. Possibly infected. They'll need to be quarantined at the Citadel for their own protection."
"We're not sick," the pregnant woman's husband protested. "We just need?—"
"You need protection," Natalia cut him off. "From the Order. From themselves. From what they might become after such exposure." Her gaze flicked to me, and her meaning was clear. "Guards, escort our guests to the Citadel. Ensure they're comfortable in the lower quarters."
The lower quarters. The cells.
"High Keeper, they're innocent?—"
"They're witnesses." She stepped closer, voice dropping so only I could hear. "To you. To what you've become. They've seen too much, Aria. You know what has to happen."
I did know. They'd never leave the Citadel. They'd be made comfortable, fed well, treated kindly, but they'd never see sunlight again. All to protect the secret of what I was becoming. All to maintain the lie.
"You saved them," Natalia continued, and there was something almost like approval in her voice. "An impressive display of controlled power."
Controlled. She thought this had been controlled. She had no idea I'd nearly let them fully through, nearly opened the Gate entirely just to save a handful of people.
The survivors were led away, the pregnant woman looking back at me with eyes full of betrayal. I'd saved her life and condemned her to imprisonment in the same moment.
As the last villager disappeared up the mountain path, Natalia turned to survey the burning remains of Oakhaven.
"The Order grows bolder. This was a test, I think. To see how we'd respond. How you'd respond." She studied me, the dragon fire finally beginning to fade. "You've shown them we're not defenseless. That their chaos can be met with order."
Order. Is that what she called the divine fury that had consumed me? Is that what she called four princes reaching through dimensional barriers to puppet my body?
"Return to the Citadel," she commanded. "The Gate will need stabilizing after such a display. And Aria?"
I looked at her, exhausted beyond measure.
"Well done."
The praise sat like acid in my stomach. I'd saved them and doomed them. Protected them and imprisoned them. Shown mercy and ensured they'd never be free again.
As I walked back up the mountain path, Oakhaven burning behind me, I felt the princes' presence in my mind.
Now you understand,Kaelen said, his voice gentle despite the circumstances.There are no clean choices. No perfect outcomes. Only decisions and their consequences.
They'll never be free,I whispered back through our connection.
Neither are we,Flynn reminded me.Neither are you.
But you could be,Thane added quietly.You all could be.
If you're willing to pay the price,Elias finished.If you're willing to let the old world burn so a new one can rise.
I looked back at Oakhaven, flames still reaching toward the sky. The old world was already burning.
