"My parents stopped him?" I ask, though it feels more like a statement.
Lira nods, her silver eyes glinting with a mix of sorrow and admiration. "Solveig and Idris. Your mother and father were chosen for what they represented, light and shadow. The Heart of Eternity bound them together, not by love at first, but by duty. Their union was the key to sealing the gates Alekir tried to shatter."
I frown, the weight of her words settling heavily in my chest. "So it cost them everything?"
"It cost them their choice," Lira corrects gently. "Their bond wasn't their decision, it was their burden. But over time, they found something deeper. They fell in love, not because of the Heart's will, but despite it. And from that love, you were born."
Her voice softens, carrying an ache that feels centuries old. "Your mother hoped for a different future for you. One where you could be free to follow your heart, make your own choices, and live freely in a way she never could."
My shadows twist tighter, and Mouse's purr rumbles softly as he brushes against my ankle. "So she died trying to protect that future. To give me the chance to choose."
"Yes," Lira says, her voice a whisper. "To save the realms, yes, but also to give you the freedom she was denied."
"She knew it wouldn't last forever," Lira continues softly. "That's why she chose me—to watch over you, to help prepare you for when the seals began to fail."
The weight of it threatens to overwhelm me, but Finn's hand finds mine, grounding me. "No pressure or anything," he says lightly. "Just multi-realm-saving destiny. Totally normal Tuesday."
A laugh bubbles up despite everything. My shadows relax slightly, and even Bob breaks his militant pose to what I swear is an eye roll. The moment feels almost normal—just us, together, facing the impossible.
Until the temperature plummets.
My wings shift with warning just as the sealed entrance shatters in a flash of searing white light. The sound is wrong—not just loud, but discordant, like reality itself protesting.
Lady Virath stands in the doorway, her pristine robes crackle with an aura that doesn’t belong here, and her eyes—too deep and too empty—seem to devour the light, leaving only a hollow chill in their wake. When she smiles, the expression doesn't touch those empty eyes.
"I wondered where you'd slither off to," she says, her voice carrying an echo that doesn't belong in this realm. "Always interfering, Lira. Always trying to delay the inevitable."
"The only thing inevitable," Lira says steadily, "is that you'll fail. Just like he did."
Lady Virath's laugh scrapes against my skin like broken glass, jagged and sharp, leaving an almost tangible sting in its wake. It carries a chilling resonance, as though the sound itself wereimbued with malice, twisting the air around us. "Failed? Oh, you fool. He never failed. He was waiting. And now..."
The air warps, rippling like a mirage, but colder—unnatural, as though the fabric of reality is unraveling at the seams.. Through every shadow in the room, I see it—glimpses of another plane where a figure of smoke and malice stands behind Lady Virath, his form shifting between shapes but his eyes burning with ancient hunger.
The Heart of Eternity flares with golden light, and suddenly I understand. "The board meeting," I breathe. "The crystals. You wanted proof that I could access the gates."
"Very good, little Valkyrie." Lady Virath's smile stretches too wide. "Your mother may have sealed them, but you... you're the key to unlocking them all."
My shadows surge up as one, and my wings burst open in a flash of violent light. Mouse grows larger, his violet eyes blazing, while Bob assembles the others into perfect formation.
But Lady Virath doesn't flinch. If anything, her smile widens. "Do you really think your parlor tricks can stop what's coming? The seals are already weakening. Even now, he bleeds through the cracks between worlds."
As if in response, the shadows around us shudder. Through them, I glimpse the other plane—a figure towering over all, wreathed in shifting smoke that seems to consume itself, his outline flickering like an unfinished nightmare. His presence feels vast and boundless, pressing against the edges of reality, a storm of chaos waiting to break free.
"We've prepared for this," Lady Virath continues, her voice distorting further. "For you. The final key."
She raises her hands, and reality ripples again. Through the walls, through every shadow and dark corner, I feel them coming. Nightwraiths. Dozens of them. Hundreds. An army of darkness pressing against the thin barriers between worlds.
"The gates will open," she says, her voice carrying His echo now. "The realms will bleed together. And you, Kaia Draven, will be the one to break the seals your mother and father put in place. Her choice, her death—it will have been for nothing."
