Iwake to a battle of sound; my heart’s rampant beat and the echoes of her words fighting to be heard.Salt coats my lips.The scent of lavender embraces me.
For a long time, I simply lie there staring at the ceiling, waiting for the auditory chaos to cease and my heart to slow.The curve of the stone is veined with light—a faint, velvet glow from the staff casting shifting shadows across the walls.Every breath sends a tremor through my ribs, as though the water is still inside me, refusing to leave.
Kael sleeps nearby, his head resting on his arm, his cloak spread beneath him.The light paints his face in shifting patterns—half velvet, half shadows.I wonder which half he belongs to.
My pendant warms as I sense the shadows swirling beneath his skin.The sensation makes my chest tighten.Beneath the rhythm of my heart, I hear her voice again:A currency you have only just begun to use.
A flash of her eyes—blackness encased in a ring of purple—steals my breath.When I blink, it’s gone.
I crawl toward Kael, the stones digging into my palms as I move precariously to avoid waking Eira.I shake his shoulder.“Wake up.”
He shifts uncomfortably against the hard floor, his eyes blinking rapidly.“How long was I out?”
“I don’t know.I’ve only just woken.”My voice sounds strange to my own ears—hoarse, threaded with something deeper.
He looks away, observing the perimeter with a set jaw.“We should move.The longer we stay, the higher the chance they catch our scent.”
As I nod, a deep hum rumbles through the earth, as if the world itself is opening up.It sends my heart hammering against its cage of bone, sweat slicking my brow.Eira lets out a high-pitch whine, crowding close to my side.
I turn toward the shrine as cracks begin to chase one another across the walls.The pool boils, hurling up steam that reeks of salt and ash.I snatch the staff, motioning for Eira to follow as Kael grabs my arm and drags me toward the nearest tunnel.The stone groans beneath us.
“Move!”he shouts.
We run.
The light from the runes pulses behind us like a heartbeat losing its rhythm.Water surges through the corridor, licking at our heels.My shadows slither across the walls, pulling us deeper.I lose track of the turns as stone and dust rain down over my head.
My breath comes in shallow waves; the dust is a thick, choking veil.Adrenaline surges, pushing my legs to fight for air.For life.The staff grows heavy, a clumsy weight in the tight confines, but I refuse to let go.
Winding path after winding path—it feels never ending—until at last, the floor inclines.The air turns thinner.Cleaner.
The shadows lead us upward to a grated shaft that opens to the streets of Auria.Kael hoists me into the air with a grunt of effort.I claw at the bricks with my free hand until the shadows take over, snaking over my skin and forcing the masonry apart.
The metal gives with a scream, and I spill out into the night.
Black tendrils wrap themselves around Kael and Eira, hauling them through the narrow hole until we are a tangled heap on the pristine stone.
Auria looms above, its Guild Hall towers untouched, the surrounding streets half-deserted.
Somewhere, bells ring—a warning or a mourning—I can’t tell.
We scramble into the nearest darkened corner, pressing into the stone.Kael leans against the wall, coughing harshly.“We can’t stay here,” he wheezes.“They’ll be searching everywhere.”
I close my eyes and exhale, feeling the tension melt from my chest.I crane my neck until it cracks, a shiver of relief crawls down my spine.The fiery inferno of adrenaline subsides, replaced by a spreading, icy calm.
I look at Kael.He is bent double, fighting for breath, eyeing the shadows with desperate caution.It dawns on me then: I’m no longer fatigued.My body feels unscathed by the drowning, the running, the fall.My breathing has already returned to a steady, natural rhythm.Yet, my hunger is a silent, endless roar that only gets louder the more I listen to it.
Everything is in focus—sharper than before.Minute details feel magnified.The blossoms clinging to the white buildings are a violent pink; their scent overwhelming my senses until my head spins.
My head tips back.I gaze upon the night sky that has no end—a scattered canvas of impossible brilliance.A billion diamonds pepper the curtain of blackness, winking with a silent, ancient energy.
I never truly saw the night sky from the windows of my gilded cage.Not like this.My jaw goes slack, my hand reaching toward the void as a chilly breeze brushes my skin.Each light seems to shimmer with an intimate secret laid bare for the first time.The sheer beauty of it steals my voice.
Stars.
I once thought seeing the sun was magnificent, but this is different.It’s as if I’ve found a part of me I never knew was missing.The final piece of a puzzle I didn’t know I was solving.
An ache as deep as the sky above me yawns in my chest.I think of Sylas and all he has missed.He would have loved this.
