The corruption retreats slowly, unable to break through the unified barrier of shadow and light. It's not a cure, but it's hope. And watching the shadows work in perfect harmony, I finally understand what my father was fighting for before the darkness took him. What my mother sacrificed everything to preserve when she forced me through that portal.
Not just power, but possibility. The chance for something broken to become whole again.
"Stay with us," I whisper, pouring more of my own power into the ward. My shadows join the others, slipping into place as if they've always belonged. "We need you." My voice drops lower, meant only for her. "I need you."
I see it then, the slight movement of her wings, the twitch of her fingers. The shadows continue to gather, drawn to her from every corner of the sanctuary, moving with renewed purpose. Standing in this room where I once sat as a child while my father treated wounded soldiers, I can't help but wonder: what happens when they all return? What happens when the lost are finally found?
The question pulses in my mind, heavy with everything we've seen. Whatever the answer, I'll be there to face it, with her, with Finn, with all of them.
This time, no one gets left behind.
Chapter 13
Kaia
Kaia
Consciousness returns in fragments, like trying to piece together a shattered mirror. Each shard reflects something different—echoes of feelings, scattered sensations, fractured memories I can't quite grasp. The wrongness running through my body has subsided, thank the void. I thought it was going to kill me.
The first thing I notice, before I even open my eyes, is Mouse pressed against my side, his familiar warmth grounding me. Something washes over me in gentle waves—healing magic maybe, though it feels different than anything I've experienced before. With my eyes still closed, I sense my shadows nearby, their presence stronger than I remember, more tangible somehow. And there are… others? New shadows I don'trecognize, their energy hovering at the edges of my awareness, cool and curious against my consciousness.
When I finally force my heavy lids open, I freeze. A man stands nearby—but no, not a stranger. Something about him tugs at me, an invisible thread pulling so hard it steals my breath. Something in his face holds me there, breathless. The pain in my chest builds until it's almost unbearable.
"You're safe," he says softly, and his voice sends fresh waves of agony through me. It's deep and resonant, like the low hum of a distant storm, with an accent I can't place—something that doesn't belong to any realm I know.
My throat locks up when I try to speak. My gaze darts around the unfamiliar room—Malrik stands close, his silver eyes intense with barely contained emotion. Finn hovers near him, his usual grin replaced by genuine concern. The twins maintain a protective stance nearby. But my eyes keep being pulled back to the stranger, like a compass finding true north.
"Why…" I manage finally, my voice cracking. "Why does it feel like I know you?"
Something flickers across his face—an emotion too complex to name. It lands in my chest like recognition that hasn't caught up to memory. The ache in my chest pulses harder.
"Your heart remembers," he says carefully, "even if your mind doesn't yet."
I try to sit up, but my body feels heavy, wrong. Malrik moves instantly to help, his hand steady on my back. Finn appears on my other side, and something about having them both near makes breathing easier.
"Where are we?" I ask, finally taking in the strange room around us. Magic hums in the air, ancient and powerful.
"Somewhere safe," the stranger says. "A sanctuary, hidden from the corruption."
"Hidden isn't the same as protected," Malrik adds quietly, his hand still warm against my back. "The barriers won't hold forever."
"Nothing holds forever," the stranger agrees, and something about the way he says it makes my chest ache sharper. "But they'll hold long enough."
"Long enough for what?" Finn asks, his usual lightness gone.
The stranger's ancient eyes meet mine again, and the pain nearly doubles me over. "Long enough for you to understand what's happening."
"And if I don't want to understand?" The words slip out before I can stop them.
"Some choices," he says gently, "aren't really choices at all."
Not a fan of that.
The pain in my chest spikes again, but this time it's different—not just from looking at him, but from something darker trying to take hold. The wrongness that was in my body earlier pulses once, sharp and cold.
"It's fighting back," the stranger says grimly. "The corruption doesn't want to let go."
"Well," Finn says, his hand finding mine, "that's not ominous at all."
