Night settled slowly over the Academy grounds.

  The Fountain of Life shimmered quietly beneath the pale moon, its surface reflecting the sky like polished glass. The sacred water flowed from the ancient stone basin at the center, spreading into the lake that the Academy had guarded for generations.

  Life.

  That was what the Fountain gave.

  But everyone who studied it knew the second truth.

  Every drop of life it granted took something from the world in return.

  Balance demanded a price.

  Tonight the lake felt heavier than usual.

  Nexil sat near its edge, one knee drawn up, his gaze fixed on the water. The wind moved gently through the trees, but the calm around him felt unnatural—as if the forest itself was watching.

  Lyra’s grave was only a short distance away.

  He had not gone back to it.

  Not yet.

  His hands rested loosely on his knees, but the faint tremor in his fingers had not stopped since the night before.

  Behind him, footsteps approached.

  Elyon.

  He didn’t say anything at first. He simply stood beside his brother and looked out across the lake.

  For a while, neither of them spoke.

  Finally Elyon said quietly,

  “You haven’t slept.”

  Nexil shrugged slightly.

  “Did you?”

  Elyon didn’t answer.

  The silence returned.

  But something in the air began to change.

  The surface of the lake trembled.

  At first it looked like a normal ripple—wind brushing across water.

  Then the ripples began moving in the wrong direction.

  Toward Nexil.

  Toward the shore.

  Elyon noticed immediately.

  “Something’s wrong,” he murmured.

  Nexil leaned forward slightly.

  The water darkened.

  Golden lines began forming across the surface like cracks spreading through glass.

  Runes.

  Ancient light runes.

  Elyon’s expression hardened.

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  “Light magic.”

  The lake’s reflection changed.

  The stars disappeared.

  Instead, a face formed inside the water.

  Not clearly.

  Only a silhouette made of golden light.

  A voice echoed across the clearing.

  Cold.

  Measured.

  “You are Nexil.”

  Nexil didn’t move.

  “You already know who I am,” he replied quietly.

  The voice ignored the answer.

  “You killed a Shadow Commander.”

  “No,” Nexil said calmly.

  “I didn’t.”

  A faint pause followed.

  Then the voice continued.

  “You might wish you had.”

  The water shifted again.

  This time the image formed clearly.

  Lyra.

  Standing in the center of the lake.

  Alive.

  Smiling the way she used to.

  For a single heartbeat Nexil’s body went rigid.

  Elyon noticed.

  The voice spoke again.

  “You failed her.”

  Lyra’s image suddenly collapsed.

  Her body fell to the ground again.

  Blood spreading beneath her.

  “You arrived too late.”

  Nexil’s fingers tightened slowly.

  The voice continued, calm and relentless.

  “You will always arrive too late.”

  The image changed.

  Amber appeared next.

  Surrounded by enemies.

  Fighting desperately.

  Then falling.

  “You will fail her too.”

  The water rippled again.

  Seraphine appeared.

  Bound in glowing chains.

  Magic suppressing her power.

  “She will scream your name.”

  Another shift.

  Elyon.

  Standing alone against dozens of enemies.

  Bleeding.

  Still fighting.

  “And your brother…”

  The voice softened slightly.

  “…will die trying to protect you.”

  Elyon’s eyes narrowed.

  But Nexil remained perfectly still.

  The lake changed again.

  Now it showed a small wooden house.

  An old door.

  A place Nexil recognized instantly.

  His mother’s home.

  The roof burst into flames.

  “And finally,” the voice whispered,

  “the woman who raised the monster.”

  The lake went silent again.

  Then the voice spoke the words slowly.

  “You are not a hero.”

  “You are not a protector.”

  “You are the disaster that will destroy everything around you.”

  Elyon stepped forward.

  “That’s enough.”

  The golden silhouette ignored him.

  “Nexil.”

  “You were born from forbidden blood.”

  “Light and Shadow.”

  “A mistake that should never have existed.”

  The water turned black.

  “You cannot save them.”

  “You can only destroy them.”

  A pause followed.

  Then the final words came like a quiet knife.

  “Soon you will understand that the world would be safer if you never existed.”

  The lake suddenly returned to normal.

  The runes vanished.

  The golden light disappeared.

  Only still water remained.

  Silence spread through the clearing.

  Elyon watched his brother carefully.

  “Don’t listen to them,” he said.

  “They want you to break.”

  Nexil didn’t answer.

  He stared at the lake.

  His breathing was steady.

  Too steady.

  Finally he stood.

  The moonlight caught his face.

  His expression had changed.

  Not anger.

  Not rage.

  Something colder.

  “They threatened my mother,” he said quietly.

  Elyon nodded.

  “Yes.”

  “They threatened you.”

  “Yes.”

  “They threatened everyone.”

  Elyon studied him.

  “That was the point.”

  Nexil looked up toward the dark horizon beyond the forest.

  Where the Light lands existed far beyond the mountains.

  His voice dropped to a whisper.

  “Then they made a mistake.”

  Elyon frowned slightly.

  “What mistake?”

  Nexil’s eyes darkened.

  “They think fear will stop me.”

  A faint pulse of power flickered around him.

  Small.

  Contained.

  But dangerous.

  “They think I will break.”

  The wind shifted.

  The surface of the Fountain rippled again.

  Elyon exhaled slowly.

  “Nexil…”

  Nexil turned away from the lake.

  “They’re right about one thing.”

  Elyon waited.

  Nexil’s voice became colder.

  “I won’t be able to save everyone.”

  The words hung heavy in the air.

  “But they’re wrong about the rest.”

  Elyon’s eyes narrowed.

  “What do you mean?”

  Nexil looked toward the forest.

  Toward the direction of the Light lands.

  “They’re not going to kill the people I love.”

  Silence followed.

  Then Nexil finished quietly.

  “I’m going to reach them first.”

  Elyon stared at him.

  For a moment he saw something terrifying in his brother’s eyes.

  Not rage.

  Not grief.

  Purpose.

  The kind of purpose that reshaped the world.

  Far away, inside the chambers of the Light Council, a golden mirror flickered.

  The elder watching it leaned forward.

  “Did the message reach him?”

  Another elder nodded.

  “Yes.”

  “And?”

  The room waited.

  Solmarion stood silently beside the mirror.

  His wings folded behind him.

  His expression unreadable.

  Finally he spoke.

  “Yes.”

  The elder smiled faintly.

  “Good.”

  Solmarion shook his head slowly.

  “No.”

  The elder frowned.

  “What do you mean?”

  Solmarion looked at Nexil’s reflection in the fading magic.

  His voice lowered.

  “We didn’t weaken him.”

  The room fell silent.

  Solmarion finished quietly.

  “We just gave him a reason.”