Malrik's grip tightens on my other side, and for a moment, I let myself lean into their strength. Whatever's coming, whatever this all means, at least I'm not facing it alone.
Even if it feels like my heart might shatter every time I look at the stranger with ancient eyes who says he knows me.
"Come on," Finn says, helping me stand. "Let's get you somewhere more comfortable than this creepy healing chamber."
My legs shake embarrassingly, each step slower than the last. The room spins a bit, and I have to lean heavily on Malrik and Finn.
"For void's sake," Torric growls after watching me stumble for the third time. Before I can protest, he scoops me up like I weigh nothing. "This is painful to watch."
"I can walk," I mutter, though we all know it's a lie.
"Sure you can," he says dryly. "And I'm secretly a unicorn."
Aspen's lips twitch as he holds the door. "I always wondered about that rainbow mane."
"Shut up."
The stranger—I still can't think of his name, though it feels like it's right there on the tip of my tongue—follows silently. He moves with an unnatural grace, like something not entirely human, each step deliberate and soundless. He's impossibly tall, all angles and restraint, shadows flickering in his wake like they remember him too. Power rolls off him in waves I can almost see, disturbing my shadows as he passes. Every time he gets close, that ache in my chest pulses harder.
"Second door on the left," he says quietly. His voice sends another wave of pain through me, and I feel Torric's arms tighten slightly.
The bedroom is simple but beautiful, with tall windows letting in soft light. Torric sets me on the bed with surprising gentleness.
"We'll be right outside," Malrik says, but there's a question in his silver eyes.
I nod, understanding what he's really asking. "It's okay. I… I think I need to talk to him."
Finn squeezes my hand once before following the others out. The door closes with a soft click, leaving me alone with the stranger who feels impossibly familiar.
Kieran.
His name finally surfaces, hitting me like a distant memory, like something long-buried clawing its way to the surface.
He exhales slowly, like he's felt it too. "Little star," he murmurs, and the nickname hits like a physical blow. "I've waited so long to find you again."
I swallow hard, my fingers twisting in the bedsheets. "Who… who are you to me?"
Kieran steps closer, his presence both overwhelming and comforting. His movements are measured, restrained, like he's constantly holding back something tremendous. "You are important," he says, voice thick with emotion. "I have searched for you across centuries, through time and death and forgotten realms. I've held onto the hope that one day, you would return."
My breath catches. "Why?"
His gaze darkens with something haunted. "Because you are meant to heal what was broken."
A muscle in his jaw tenses, as if he's debating whether to say more. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, he speaks:
"You call to the shadows in ways I've never seen before. The fallen ones respond to you. The lost find their way back."
The words resonate deep inside me, something in them familiar yet untouchable. My shadows curl tighter around me, like they're whispering between themselves.
I exhale shakily. "What does it mean?"
His silence is heavy with unspoken truths.
"I don't understand," I whisper. "I'm just… I'm just Kaia."
"No," he says, taking another step closer. "You are so much more."
He looks at me like he's trying to memorize every detail, as if he still doesn't believe I'm real. "I swore I'd find you again. That I'd protect you this time. No matter the cost."
