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I hit my chest again and again until I could breathe. I pushed the captain away. When had I fallen to my knees?

Tears ran down my face as I staggered to my feet, and on instinct, I launched myself into the air.

From above, the small valley looked worse. Dead trees and animal corpses littered the valley. And in the midday sun, the soil glittered with poisonous srebrec.

The surrounding pressure grew, turning every movement into agony; even each breath hurt. The effect was crushing. Nullifying magic was one thing, but this was insane. The beat of my wings slowed the closer I got. Still, I pushed forward, needing to reach the huddled shape in the dirt beneath the Gate’s arch.

I landed face-first in the dirt, coughing and spitting as I crawled the remaining distance.

‘No! Please gods, no! Somebody help! Somebody…’ I screamed, staring at his aged, wrinkled face, his mane of silver hair crumbling in the breeze. ‘This isn’t happening.’

The valley was so quiet that my voice filled the space, my grief for all to hear. I rolled Tova onto his back, brushing the dust from his face, and slowly rocked him back and forth.

Was this the cost for my misdeeds? For all I had done, all the lives I’d taken, and all those I’d transformed? Was this the price? Was I cursed to live without him?

A soul-wrenching howl tore from my chest. On and on, even as all breath left me, my mouth wide open, wordlessly screaming my pain.

‘Bastards! Why him? Why? He purged the corruption, and this is what you gave him!’ I screamed, challenging the gods. ‘Give him back to me! Give him back or watch what I’ll do to this world!’

I turned my rage to the Gate. Fire appeared from nowhere, enveloping the pillars and climbing higher. The metal sagged, oozing to the ground. The srebrec blackened, its power fading under the relentless heat.

Whether it was the strength of the dragon’s heart or my own magic, the flames intensified, burning everything in their path.

The voices swelled, bolstering my magic, giving me power no mortal should have. This time, I didn’t reject it.

The world changed.

The Aether was so vivid the colours were blinding, but as my power grew and transformed, so did I.

Lines appeared before me, thin strands of shimmering light connected to my beating heart. They pulsed brighter as I drew my dagger and nicked the pad of my thumb. Blood flowed, no longer crimson, now a dazzling golden emerald.

I smeared it over Tova’s lips before pressing my mouth to his. My breath entered his lungs, pushing life into a corpse in a ritual only gods should be allowed to perform. His chest rose, filled with a power I shouldn’t be permitted to bestow.

‘Tova Orenson, I command you to live.’

The Council of Mages’ words echoed in my mind. Their fear, sneers, and certainty that even the best of my kind couldn’t resist the curse in our veins.

Vivamancers were not gods, yet the power that beckoned me in the geas chamber now hummed in my veins as my body glowed under the rising sun.

I would rather be the abomination they feared than lose him.

Tova opened his eyes, their colour no longer the blue of cornflowers but the verdant green of the forest. But there was no recognition, no warmth, only the confusion of a stranger.

He frowned, searching my face before pushing me away.

All hope died as Alaric’s words echoed in my head.

No one returns from the Veil unchanged.