Her hands flail—a silent scream of frustration written in the air.“This—” she gestures to the cavern.“—this prophecy has led me back here for what?What must I do to get my freedom back?”
“You must step into the shrine and surrender.Willingness is the only offering the Mother cannot refuse.”
“That’s it?That’s all I have to do?”
“Yes.But first—” I turn toward the glassy surface of the pool.“I must summon the dais.”
The Lightborne grabs Seren by the arm, pulling her toward him.I take a step back, granting them the illusion of privacy.Even now, he thinks whatever is unfolding between them can interrupt prophecy.A futile gesture that my hearing doesn’t miss.
“Seren—” he murmurs.“—is this what you want?”
A sigh.“I’m tired of being who I am.I don’t want to be chosen anymore,” she whispers, her voice dripping in exhaustion.“I just want to be left.”
She turns, her footsteps crunching like bone over stones as her silhouette draws closer.
“Then let us finish what was started.”
48
SEREN
Yara’s words replay over and over in my mind like a storm siren that refuses to stop wailing.Sorrow is irrelevant when fate is precise.The words don’t comfort me; they suffocate.
I know I’m not the only one sacrificing.But what price must I pay before this freedom stops demanding more?
Shadows swirl across my back and land on my shoulders.Their weight is more tangible than they’ve ever been, mirroring the grief in my chest.Nyx’s silky voice slides into the quiet space of my mind, catching the question I haven’t dared to ask.Do not forget your purpose, daughter of the night.Freedom is yours for the taking on the other side of that shrine.You need only reach out and grab it.
It sounds like a promise, yet feels like a command.A frost ignites inside me, biting deep as it spreads through my veins.
“Let us finish what was started,” I say to Yara, before anyone else can decide for me.
Eira’s whines fill the quiet.Yara turns, the lantern’s blue flame grasped hard in her knobbly hand.An acolyte steps up to her, removing an onyx chalice and piece of cloth from a bag.She takes it, scooping water from the basin before pouring the contents of a glass vial inside.She dips a small piece of black cloth into the mixture, the remaining fabric hanging precariously over the lip.
With measured steps, she moves with deliberate precision, as if the ground itself might give way.Her feet falter at the basin’s edge.She stops, then raises both arms high.
The ground hisses in response, as if it's waited all this time for this very moment.Then, Yara’s aged, crackly voice rolls across the water, sending ripples cascading outwards.
“Earth to water, burn to light,
Mother rise and pierce the night.
Where darkness took what day forbade,
Return to us, in flesh?—”
Before she can finish, the ground lurches.Voices echo through the tunnel, growing louder with every footstep.The blue flame in her lantern flares violently, casting chaotic, swirling shadows that dance in time with the approaching roar of our pursuers.
Eira howls, her voice carrying across the cavern and adding to the cacophony of chaos.Black dust rains down.Gilded armour shines bright against the darkness.
And then I see him.
Riven.
Every instinct I own screamsrun.
49
KAEL
