A shiver crawls up my spine as I lean back on the bed to stare up at the ceiling.What else did they say?
Plenty, but all you need to know for now is that thishouse is tied to Malrik through a magical connection neither of us can probably truly understand, but that you can access.
A strange, terrifying hope blooms in my chest. Malrik told me something similar the night I arrived—how The Keep would “respond to me,” how it listens to power. Back then, I assumed he meant I was a glorified intruder the house would spy on.
But maybe it’s more than that.
Maybe this place has been testing me.
Waiting.
Malrik wanted me to become the prophecy’s monster, but somewhere along the way, he failed to realize something important: I get to choose.
The prophecy flickers through my mind—lines I read for the first time only weeks ago, but now feels like years. At first, I thought them a life sentence, but now…
They read like a challenge.
When sun meets shadow, and blood runs deep,
A child shall rise from woven sleep.
Born of Hollowborn and beast of night,
She bears the mark of eternal might.
Neither moon nor magic shall end her breath,
No fang, no flame, no spell, nor death.
A bridge between the world and war,
Her fate will open every door.
If claimed by light, the world may mend,
If claimed by dark, all kingdoms bend.
But should her heart be torn in two,
The sky shall split, and time unglue.
One path brings peace. One path brings flame.
But either way, she’ll wear no name.
For cursed and crowned she’ll ever be,
Until she chooses what to be.
I used to be terrified of the “flame” path. Of becoming the destroyer everyone expected.
But I’m finally seeing the truth. Not only that, but I’m also feeling it, deep in my soul.
Whatever Malrik tried to mold me into, he forged the wrong outcome.
Let’s be honest, Wolf chimes in,Neither of us was sure you could do this.
I snort.Yeah, no surprise there. You thought I was useless at first.
