The first scream broke the dawn.
It came from the far end of the valley — a raw, tearing sound that cut through fog and birdsong alike. Aria didn't hesitate. Her shadows reacted before she did, surging forward in streaks of black, pulling her toward the smoke rising from the village below.
By the time she reached the edge of the hill, the houses were already burning. Not from her, not this time—but from Marcus's firebrands. His new "purifiers."
Humans scattered like frightened birds, clutching what little they could carry. The air was thick with soot and the copper tang of fear.
She could see her in the middle of it all — Kaylan. Her armor gleamed silver in the light of the flames, her movements too precise, too controlled. She was cutting down anything that moved, and yet there was hesitation in his swing, an echo of mercy that Marcus had likely beaten out of her long ago.
Aria's heart twisted.
She whispered under her breath, "I told you to stay away."
The shadows stirred around her ankles, restless, whispering like a storm about to break. The scent of burning wood clawed at her throat.
She took one step forward.
The world folded.
The air split with a sound like glass breaking underwater, and she stepped out of nothingness, appearing behind the first firebrand before her blade had time to turn. Her hand shot out. Shadows poured from her fingertips like ink, wrapping around her throat, her eyes wide with horror as the darkness devoured the light in them.
She hit the ground before he could scream.
Kaylan turned sharply, sword raised. Her expression hardened. "Aria."
"Call them off," she said, voice shaking.
"You know I can't."
"Then you'll die with them."
She didn't flinch, though she saw it — the small tremor in her jaw. "Marcus says the humans hide what's left of the relics. He says you'd protect them."
"I protect what he destroys."
"Then we're both damned."
Their eyes met across the burning street — soldier and exile, two pieces of the same shattered faith. Then she moved.
The first strike came fast, silver cutting through the air in a blur. She ducked low, shadows shielding her body as sparks burst between them. Her magic pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat, louder, hungrier.
The world slowed.
She felt the ground bend under her feet, reality trembling. Without thinking, she reached into the space between breaths — that hollow where sound couldn't reach — and tore it open.
The shadow portal unfurled, a circular wound in the air, swallowing fire, stone, and screams alike.
The pull nearly took her with it.
She stumbled backward, chest heaving, vision dimming. Blood ran from her nose, warm and metallic. Her head throbbed, every heartbeat echoing like a hammer inside her skull.
Kaylan hesitated mid-strike. "You're killing yourself."
"I already told you," she gasped. "It's mine to give."
The portal shuddered, then snapped shut. The silence it left behind was worse than the noise — unnatural, heavy, like the world itself was holding its breath.
Half the street was gone.
Kaylan looked around, disbelieving. The firebrands who had followed him were simply… erased. Not even ash remained.
"Aria—"
"Don't," she warned, staggering upright. "Don't look at me like that."
"You're bleeding."
She smiled bitterly. "I've been bleeding since the day I left him."
The words tasted like truth.
She lowered his sword. "Marcus won't stop. You know that."
"I'm counting on it."
Before she could answer, something shifted behind him — a movement in the smoke. Aria's shadows snapped up instinctively, intercepting the arrow mid-flight. It dissolved into darkness before it could reach him.
Kaylan froze.
A faint, amused voice drifted from the rooftops. "Interesting reflex."
Aria turned sharply, already knowing who she'd find.
Lucian stood on the roofline, one boot resting on the edge, the wind catching his crimson cloak. His eyes glimmered with something that wasn't hatred anymore — curiosity.
"Didn't take you for the hero type," he said, tone casual, though his gaze was sharp. "Saving humans. Protecting them. Using portals you barely control. Risky move, even for you."
Aria's hands curled into fists. "You're following me now?"
"Observing," he corrected. "Marcus asked me to make sure you were still… useful."
"And?"
Lucian tilted his head slightly, a faint smile ghosting his lips. "You're many things, Aria. Predictable isn't one of them."
Kaylan tensed beside her. "You shouldn't be here, Lucian."
"Neither should you."
The two locked eyes, something unspoken sparking between them — old camaraderie, older resentment.
Lucian broke the silence first, his tone soft but edged. "Marcus is losing patience. He doesn't want her brought back anymore."
Kaylan stiffened. "He gave me orders—"
"Orders change." Lucian's gaze drifted back to Aria. "He wants her erased. Completely."
The words hit harder than any blade.
Aria's pulse quickened. "So that's it? After everything, I'm just another threat to burn away?"
Lucian's smile faded. "You always were."
The wind howled through the ruins, carrying ash between them. For a heartbeat, no one spoke.
Then Aria said quietly, "If you're here to finish it, do it now."
Lucian looked at her for a long time — too long — and then said something she didn't expect.
"Not tonight."
He turned and vanished into the smoke.
Kaylan watched him go, jaw tight. "He'll report to Marcus."
"Let him," she whispered. "Let him tell the truth."
"What truth?"
Aria met his eyes. "That I'm not the monster he made me."
She stepped past him, shadows rising to meet her like old friends. The flames dimmed around her presence, the air cooling as darkness spread across the village.
Kaylan didn't follow.
She just stood there, sword lowered, staring at the place where she'd been.
"She's already gone."
...
Night fell slow and red.
Aria moved through the forest until her legs gave out. She collapsed beneath a dying oak, the bark rough against her palms, her body trembling from the toll of the portals. The world tilted sideways, colors bleeding into shadow.
Every use left her more hollow. More unreal.
Her magic wasn't just draining her; it was rewriting her.
The first sign had been her reflection — fading in pools of water, her face barely solid, her eyes swallowing too much light. Then came the voices. Faint at first, then louder. They whispered in her sleep, soft and familiar, each one sounding like someone she'd lost.
Sometimes she thought she heard Liam among them.
Sometimes, she prayed she didn't.
She touched her chest, feeling for that flicker of warmth she'd sensed once — the connection between them. It was faint now, buried under pain and exhaustion. But it was there.
"Hold on," she whispered to no one. "I'm coming."
Her voice cracked.
The wind answered in whispers of its own — not her shadows this time, but something older. She closed her eyes and listened.
"You cannot keep this up," it said, though the voice wasn't one she recognized. It came from everywhere and nowhere at once, rippling through the darkness.
Aria's head snapped up. "Who's there?"
No answer. Only the slow rustle of branches.
Then — a shift in the air.
The shadows recoiled suddenly, shrinking from the space beside her. A figure stepped out of the darkness, tall and cloaked, his presence bending the air like heat.
Kael.
Her pulse stopped cold.
His eyes glimmered with pale silver light, his smile sharp and familiar. Here stood her maker.
"You've learned to open doors," he said. "And yet you never ask where they lead."
Aria scrambled backward, every instinct screaming. "You're not real."
He chuckled softly. "And yet, you made me."
The shadows writhed at her feet, terrified. That told her everything she needed to know.
"Why now?" she whispered.
Kael stepped closer, each word a serpent's hiss. "Because you're almost ready. You've already begun to feed the void. It will take you soon — unless you give it purpose."
"I won't become what you were."
He smiled, pitying. "You already have."
Aria lunged, summoning a blade of pure shadow, but Kael was faster. His hand closed around her wrist, ice-cold. The mark under her skin burned, black veins spreading from his touch.
"Stop fighting what you are," he murmured. "You think you're saving them? You're just delaying the inevitable."
She grit her teeth, forcing her power against his. "You changed me!"
"And now I'm teaching you how to rule."
The darkness around them thickened, reality bending as her body trembled under the strain. Then, with a raw cry, she tore herself free — shadows bursting outward like shrapnel.
When the dust settled, he was gone.
The forest was silent again, save for her ragged breathing.
She fell to her knees, clutching her arm. The veins still glowed faintly, pulsing like a second heartbeat.
Somewhere deep inside, a voice whispered, softer than Kael's, gentler, familiar.
Aria.
Her head snapped up.
The voice wasn't outside her. It came from within. From the bond.
Liam.
The connection flared for an instant — a pulse of warmth cutting through the cold. She felt his confusion, his pain, his fire barely contained.
"Hold on," she breathed. "Don't let her win."
Then it was gone again, fading like a dying ember.
Aria pressed her forehead against the ground, shaking. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Maybe both.
Above her, the first stars appeared.
Somewhere far away, Lucian stood on a cliff overlooking the same valley, watching the faint flicker of her shadow spread through the trees. His expression was unreadable, but his voice carried quietly to the wind.
"She'll burn the world before she breaks," he said.
And for the first time, there was something like admiration in it.