“And if they try—” My voice hardens. “If they come to tear down what we’ve built, to take what you’ve chosen, to tell you again that you are lesser—”
I take one more step forward.
“They’ll have to go through me.”
The mist explodes outward, silver light flooding the courtyard. The veins beneath the ground pulse in rhythm with my heartbeat—bright enough to see even in the dawn light.
Someone gasps.
But no one moves away.
I feel it then—the bond with Seth humming in my chest, still new and raw. Thane’s steady presence at my back. The others close by, solid and certain.
And hundreds of eyes on me, no longer afraid.
Believing.
“No one here is lesser,” I say, and my voice doesn’t shake. “No one here is alone. This is our home.”
The sky darkens. Thunder rolls again, closer now.
I lift my chin.
“And if the world wants to burn it down—”
The Ether rises like wings behind me, silver and blinding.
“—then let it learn what fire really is.”
The words hang in the air for one perfect, crystalline moment.
Then the crowd erupts.
Not in cheers—something deeper. A roar of recognition, of defiance, of belief. Hands raise, fists clench, voices rise in a sound that shakes the ground beneath my feet.
The Ether answers.
Light floods the courtyard, brighter than dawn, wrapping around every person standing there like armor. The veins in the ground pulse once, twice, then settle into a steady glow.
I feel Thane’s hand on my shoulder. Seth beside me, still radiating that quiet certainty. The others close in, forming a wall at my back.
Not protecting me.
Standing with me.
Thunder cracks overhead, sharp and immediate.
And then I see them.
On the hill beyond the Sanctuary gates, figures appear—dark against the lightening sky.
The Council.
And someone else.
Taller. Broader. Moving with the kind of confidence that comes from believing you’ve already won.
Phil.
