Riven wasn't done. He stalked toward Kaine again, fists clenched so tight his knuckles were bone white. "You lied. You planted a tracker. You made her doubt herself, put her through hell, and now, now you've got something else to say?" Kaine's lip curled, blood at the corner of his mouth from where Riven had shoved him earlier. "She's unstable. She doesn't even know what she is. And now she's carrying those things? Please. We all know how this ends. She'll destroy them, just like she destroys everything else-" Crack.
Sethis's boot collided with Kaine's face before anyone else could react. The sound echoed through the great hall like a thunderclap. Kaine dropped hard, knocked halfway across the floor, blood smearing beneath his jaw as his head lolled back, stunned and gasping. "Say that again," Sethis snapped, his usually controlled voice dipped in venom. "I dare you." Everyone froze. Even Riven. Lucien blinked, his mouth parting like he wasn't sure whether to smirk or scream. "He's not worth the air in this place," Sethis growled. "You want someone to handle him? I will. Permanently." That was when they heard it.
A sound, soft. A whisper. Like a breath across cracked porcelain. "Ah...shar." Everyone turned. Mae stirred. Still lying on the couch Ashar had laid her on, her fingers twitched and her lips parted. Her voice was weak, barely above silence, but it struck every man in that room like lightning. Ashar was at her side in an instant, kneeling down beside her. "I'm here," he said softly, his voice suddenly stripped of anger. "You're safe." Her eyes fluttered, not fully opening, but she moved, seeking his hand instinctively, her fingers finding his as if nothing else mattered in the room. Riven stepped close behind him, guilt and protectiveness both blazing behind his eyes.
Mae exhaled again, just one word this time. "Don't fight." And though she didn't see it, her words slammed into them like stone. Lucien looked down. Sethis backed away, fists still clenched, but his breathing slowing. Ashar gently smoothed a hand over her hair. Riven crouched beside her too, just close enough to feel her warmth.
Even Kaine, bloody and on the floor, finally looked at her with something resembling shame. The war they were all ready to start was postponed, because even half-conscious, Mae's voice carried more weight than all their tempers combined. The room was frozen.
Mae's fingers curled slightly tighter around Ashar's, and then went slack. Her head lulled to the side as her body relaxed unnaturally, too still, too quiet. A hush fell over everyone, suffocating the air. "Mae?" Ashar whispered, shaking her lightly. Nothing.
Suddenly, the walls began to hum, a low vibration that climbed in pitch, like ancient voices chanting in a language no one could name. Lucien spun toward the nearest wall just as the script began to glow, symbols once etched in stone lifting off like ash in the wind. One by one, the glowing glyphs peeled from every surface, swirling into the air. "What the hell-" Sethis started. "It's the codex," Riven breathed. "It's choosing her again."
The script spiraled toward Mae, hundreds of pieces forming a storm of history and power. Ashar tried to step back, to pull her free, but her body lifted on its own, hovering inches above the couch. Her eyes remained closed, her expression peaceful but unreadable. The codex fragments poured into her chest, seeping into her skin like rain absorbed by dry earth. Her body began to glow, not the familiar soft silver of the anomaly, but a new light, a red-gold rose color, deep and warm and unfamiliar.
The room was bathed in it. Everyone shielded their eyes. Riven stumbled backward.
"I can't see!"
"She's burning-" Lucien muttered. But Ashar stood his ground. His eyes locked on her through the blinding light. She wasn't burning. She was, becoming. The codex finished its transfer in a final pulse of energy that sent every man in the room to their knees. And then, silence. When the glow faded and they could finally see again, Mae was gone. Not a trace left. No warmth. No trail.
Just the faint echo of that red-gold shimmer where she'd once lain. Ashar rose to his feet first, chest heaving. "She's still alive," he said flatly. "I would know if she wasn't." Riven's voice cracked. "But where the hell did she go?" No one had an answer.
Only the hollow silence of the divine fracture, choosing its own path. There was no sound.
No time. No body. Just, existence. Mae drifted. She didn't remember blinking, or breathing. She didn't feel her heart beat, nor her lungs fill.It was peace, but not the kind that healed. The kind that waits. The space she was in wasn't dark, but it wasn't light either. It was colorless and infinite, and yet somehow shaped like a tomb carved from memory and emotion.Walls she couldn't see but could feel. Soft warmth beneath her. A hum in the air like distant thunder slowed into silence.
"You've come too soon."