The defeat of Feng Jian left a scar on the pride of the Eternal Lotus Sect, but for Lin Shara, it was the signal she had dreaded. As the other elders argued about whether to execute Yun or worship him, she whisked him away to her private sanctuary—the Pavilion of the Waning Moon.
"You cannot stay here anymore, Yun," Shara said, her voice trembling as she closed the heavy sandalwood doors. She turned to face him, and for the first time in ten years, she didn't look like an untouchable Grand Elder, but like a woman burdened by a secret. "The Sect Master has already sent a message to the Imperial Capital. They see you as a 'World-Ending Calamity'."
Yun Caos walked closer to her. The cold aura that had frozen the plaza was gone, replaced by a strange, magnetic warmth. "Are you afraid of me too, Shara?"
He didn't call her "Master" or "Elder." He used her name, and the sound of it made Shara's breath hitch. She looked at the boy who was now almost as tall as her. She had felt his bones shatter and reform; she had bathed him in medicinal oils. A bond deeper than blood—and far more dangerous than mentorship—had grown in the shadows.
"I am afraid of losing you to the world," she whispered.
In a bold move, Yun reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. His translucent fingers felt like silk against her skin. "Then come with me. You are the only 'life' I don't want to devour."
Before she could answer, a flash of red light erupted from the sect's perimeter. A Second Young Lady from the Fire Phoenix Clan—a neighboring superpower—had arrived, seeking the "anomaly" that broke the Spirit Stone. According to her prophecy, her fated husband would be the one to destroy her clan's eternal flames.
The harem of the Void was beginning to gather, but Shara knew she had to be the first to mark his heart. She leaned in, her lips inches from his. "If we leave, I am no longer your Master. I am your shadow. Do you accept the weight of a woman who has betrayed her sect for you?"
Yun's eyes glowed with a deep violet intensity. "I have already devoured the Heavens. What is one sect compared to you?"