And I was reaching for her.
I wasfindingher.
“The day she appeared at your academy,” the God says, “your magic didn’t react because she was powerful or interesting or new. It reacted because it could finallystop reaching. She was here. She was real. She was found.”
His ancient eyes meet mine.
“Your magic didn’t scream ‘finally’ because of attraction, Finn. It screamed ‘finally’ because after years of holding on… it could rest. She washome.”
Aspen’s frost brushes my arm. Cool. Calming.
Malrik’s shadows brush against my skin. Steadying.
Darian’s light flickers, warm and golden.
Kieran says nothing, but I feel his presence, his understanding.
“That’s why your magic screamed when she appeared,” the God says. “Notfinallyas in ‘finally something interesting.’Finallyas in… reunion. As in ‘I’ve been holding you for years and now I can see your face.’”
I’m shaking.
Full-body shaking.
“She doesn’t know?” My voice cracks. “Kaia doesn’t—”
“No.” The God looks at her again. Still guiding. Still glowing. Oblivious to everything happening behind her. “That’s not my truth to tell. It’s yours.”
He steps back. Gives me space.
“You asked what you are, Finn Veylan. You’re the boy who saved a Valkyrie before he knew Valkyries existed. You’re the chaos that held when everything else fell apart.”
He turns to walk away. Pauses.
“You’re not my descendant by blood,” he adds, almost as an afterthought. “But you carry my essence better than anyone I’ve seen in millennia. That magic of yours — the chaos everyone feared — it’s not a flaw.”
His ancient eyes meet mine one last time.
“It’s a gift.”
Then he’s gone. Walking back toward the Gate. Toward Kaia.
I stand there.
Shaking.
The others close in around me. A wall of warmth and shadow and light and frost. Protecting me from nothing. From everything.
“Finn.” Torric’s voice is rough. “You okay?”
I laugh. It comes out wet and broken.
“I saved her.” The words feel impossible. Holy. “Isavedher. Before I knew her. Before I loved her. I was already—”
I can’t finish.
Aspen’s hand finds mine. Cold fingers threading through my shaking ones.
“You were already hers,” he says quietly. “And she was already yours.”
