Elden’s jaw clenched, his mind racing even as Hazrael’s blade pressed cold and sharp against his neck. A small drop of blood crawled down his skin. He could feel the King’s breath, hot and taunting, against his skin, and hear the sneer in his voice.

  “You’ve played your part so well, I am thankful for your improvisations” Hazrael said, his voice dripping with venomous satisfaction. “But now, I’ll take what you owe me.”

  “I owe you nothing,” Elden snarled, his muscles straining against Hazrael’s iron grip.

  “Ah, but you do,” Hazrael replied, his tone almost amused. “You may have thought you could defy me, betray me, even—but you forget who forged you, Elden. Who gave you purpose when the world left you for dead. You’re mine.” His words came out through his teeth, grazing Elden’s skin like venom.

  Elden’s eyes darted back to Aerin. She was still on her knees, trembling as Talon and Kael tried to steady her. The magic coursing through her was overwhelming, burning her from the inside out. She looked up again, her glowing, bloodshot and tear-streaked eyes locking with his.

  The silent plea in her gaze was unmistakable: Don’t let him win.

  The magic burned. It seared through Aerin’s veins like molten fire, unraveling every part of her until she couldn’t tell where the pain ended, and she began. Her sobs were broken and choked. She clawed at the ground beneath her, desperate for something solid in a world that was shattering around her.

  Kael knelt nearby, his hand trembling as he reached for her. He didn’t touch her—he couldn’t—but he could feel her. Through the bond, her agony pulsed like a second heartbeat, threatening to drown him. It was more than pain. It was loss, fear, grief so vast it felt like it could swallow the entire world.

  Her voice cracked as she wept. “I can’t... I can’t do this. It’s too much.”

  Kael’s throat tightened. He didn’t know what to say, how to fix this, how to hold her when she was unraveling before him. “You’re not alone,” he whispered, though he wasn’t sure she could hear him over the storm raging inside her.

  And then she was falling.

  The battlefield vanished. The cries of the wounded, the wind howling through the trees, even the bond tethering her to Kael—it all faded into a heavy, deafening silence.

  Aerin opened her eyes, but there was nothing to see. Just an endless, dark void stretching in every direction. For a moment, she panicked. Her breathing quickened, the weight of the emptiness pressing down on her.

  But then, a voice.

  “Little star.”

  It was soft, familiar, and it broke through the darkness like a single beam of light. Aerin turned, her breath catching.

  Her mother stood before her.

  She was just as Aerin remembered—elegant and warm, with a presence that was both regal and gentle. Her hair fell in dark waves around her shoulders, and her eyes held that same spark of quiet strength Aerin had always admired.

  “Mama,” Aerin whispered, her voice trembling.

  Her mother smiled, that soft, knowing smile Aerin had thought she’d lost forever. “My little star,” she said again, stepping closer. Her hand lifted, brushing a strand of hair from Aerin’s face, just like she had so many times when Aerin was only a child.

  “I—I can’t,” Aerin stammered, shaking her head. “It’s too much. The magic, the memories—” Her voice broke, and tears streamed down her face. “I’m not strong enough.” Her lip trembled through her words.

  Her mother knelt before her, her hands cupping Aerin’s cheeks. Her touch was cool, soothing, like a balm against the chaos. “You are stronger than you know,” she said gently. “But strength doesn’t mean you won’t break. It means you’ll heal, even after you do.”

  Aerin’s lip quivered. “Why does it hurt so much?”

  “Because you care,” her mother said softly. “Because you love. That is not a weakness, Aerin. It is your power.”

  For a moment, they sat in silence. Aerin leaned into her mother’s touch, the warmth of it chasing away the cold void around them. But deep down, she knew this wasn’t real. She knew her mother was gone, that this was just… a fragment, a flicker of something her magic had conjured.

  And yet, it felt so real.

  Her mother’s thumb brushed away a tear from Aerin’s cheek. “You are the light that will pierce through every shadow,” she said, her voice steady, her gaze unwavering. “Do you understand me?”

  Aerin nodded, though her heart ached. “Through every shadow,” she whispered back, the words heavy with meaning she couldn’t quite grasp, the ssame word the magic had spoken to her as it lunged into her..

  Her mother smiled one last time. “Through every shadow.”

  The void collapsed, and the battlefield rushed back in—a cacophony of sound and chaos. Aerin gasped, her body lurching as if she’d been underwater and finally broken the surface.

  Kael was there, his hands on her shoulders, his voice sharp with panic. “Aerin! Aerin, look at me!”

  She blinked up at him, her vision blurred with tears. “Kael,” she whispered, her voice hoarse. She reached for him, clutching his tunic as if he was the only thing keeping her tethered to this world.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Through the bond, he felt it—the faint echo of the void, of her mother’s words. He didn’t understand it, not fully, but he didn’t need to. He pulled her close, his arms wrapping around her as she sobbed into his chest.

  And all the while, the dark magic in her veins simmered, restless and untamed.

  “Let him go!” Talon’s voice cut through the tension, sharp and commanding. He took a step forward, his weapon drawn, but Hazrael only tightened his grip on Elden.

  “Careful now,” Hazrael warned, dragging Elden a step back. “One wrong move, and your friend’s blood will soak this earth before your little queen can take her next breath.”

  “Hazrael,” Kael’s voice was steady but cold, like steel. “This won’t end the way you think it will. You’re outnumbered. You’re outplayed.”

  Hazrael laughed, a bitter sound that echoed across the battlefield. “Outplayed? Do you really think this ends with me? You’ve no idea what you’re dealing with.”

  A shadow passed over King Hazrael’s face then, something dark and ancient flickering in his eyes. For the first time, Kael hesitated, his grip on his sword faltering as if he’d caught a glimpse of something far more sinister than a tyrant king.

  “You don’t even know what she’s unleashed,” Hazrael continued, his voice rising with a manic edge. “The magic isn’t hers. It never was. It’s older. Hungrier. And it will consume her before the end.”

  Aerin, still hunched over, groaned in pain. A thin wisp of black smoke curled from her fingertips, dissolving into the air like ash. Her breaths came in ragged gasps, her hands clawing at the ground.

  Kael moved toward her, his voice softening. “Aerin, listen to me. You have to control it. You have to—”

  But she shoved him back, her voice trembling with rage, her eyes black. “I didn’t ask for this!” she screamed, her magic flaring uncontrollably. The earth beneath her cracked, splitting open with a deafening roar. Darkness swirled around her, chaotic and untamed.

  King Hazrael smiled, his grip on Elden unrelenting. “See? She’ll destroy herself long before she destroys me. But perhaps she’ll take all of you with her.”

  Elden growled low in his throat, his patience snapping. With a sudden, violent twist, he drove his elbow into Hazrael’s ribs, forcing the King to loosen his hold. Elden spun, aiming for a strike, but Hazrael was faster.

  The dagger sliced across Elden’s side, not deep but enough to stagger him. Hazrael’s hand shot out, grabbing him by the collar, and with a furious snarl, he slammed Elden to the ground.

  “You think you can defy me?” Hazrael hissed, his boot pressing into Elden’s chest. “You’ve always been weak, Elden. Just like your father. Just like every pathetic rebel who’s dared to stand against me.”

  Elden spat blood, his gaze defiant even as pain coursed through him. “Better to be weak than a coward hiding behind a stolen crown.”

  King Hazrael’s lips curled into a sinister smile, his grip on Elden tightening. “Weakness is a luxury you’ll regret in your final moments,” he hissed, the dagger glinting dangerously close to Elden’s throat.

  Before Hazrael could act, a low, guttural rumble tore through the battlefield. The ground beneath their feet trembled violently, cracks splintering outward as if the earth itself recoiled from the brewing chaos. Hazrael froze, his attention snapping upward.

  Aerin’s magic, wild and uncontained, surged into the sky. The vortex above them deepened into a swirling abyss of shadows and fire, tendrils of magic lashing out like serpents hungry for destruction. The air grew thick with whispers—ancient, incomprehensible, and laced with malice.

  Talon staggered, shielding his face from the flying debris. “What the hell is that?” he shouted, his voice barely audible over the roar of the storm.

  Hazrael’s expression contorted, a mix of fury and something unsettlingly close to fear. “The awakening,” he muttered. “And none of you are ready for it.”

  Kael’s grip on Aerin tightened as she collapsed to her knees, her eyes glowing with a searing, unnatural light. Her screams were a raw, primal sound that seemed to tear through the fabric of reality itself. Around her, the battlefield shifted—trees twisted into grotesque shapes, the air grew bitterly cold, and the ground began to rise and fall like a living, breathing entity.

  In the chaos, Elden made his move. Summoning the last of his strength, he surged upward, breaking Hazrael’s grip and driving his shoulder into the king’s chest. Hazrael stumbled back, but before Elden could land a killing blow, the king’s hand shot out, dark magic crackling from his fingertips.

  “Fool,” Hazrael snarled. With a deafening crack, a rift opened beneath their feet, a void of darkness that threatened to swallow everything. Hazrael’s magic wrapped around Elden like chains, dragging him toward the abyss.

  “Elden!” Aerin’s scream tore through the air, raw and desperate. Sparks of her magic flew wildly as she staggered toward him, but Kael’s arms locked around her, holding her back.

  “It’s too late!” Kael shouted. “You’ll fall with him!”

  But Aerin’s magic surged again, brighter and fiercer, the vortex above collapsing into a single, concentrated point of energy. For a fleeting moment, it seemed as though she might tear through Hazrael’s magic entirely.

  Then Hazrael’s laughter echoed, cold and unrelenting. “You think this is the end?” His voice carried over the storm as his grip on Elden tightened. “You’ve only just begun to understand the depths of what I control.”

  With one last surge of power, the rift consumed them both. Elden’s eyes locked with Aerin’s, something unspoken passing between them—a promise, a regret, and a warning—all before the darkness claimed him.

  The vortex collapsed inward with a deafening roar, sucking the magic from the air and leaving the battlefield eerily silent. The ground where Hazrael and Elden had stood was now a gaping chasm, the edges still glowing with residual energy.

  Aerin fell to her knees, her breath ragged as Kael and Talon rushed to her side. Her fists slammed into the earth, sparks of her magic still flickering around her. “I’ll get him back,” she whispered, her voice trembling with fury and despair. “Whatever it takes. I’ll bring him back.”

  Kael’s gaze lingered on her, his jaw tight. “Aerin… we don’t know what Hazrael’s done to him. He might not be the same when we find him.”

  Talon’s voice was grim as he surveyed the chasm. “If he’s still alive at all.”

  Aerin’s eyes burned with unrelenting determination. “He’s alive,” she said, her voice a dangerous whisper. “I’d feel it if he wasn’t. But Hazrael took more than Elden.”

  Kael frowned. “What do you mean?”

  A sudden gust of wind swept through the battlefield, carrying with it a voice—low, echoing, and unmistakably Hazrael’s.

  “You cannot save him, Aerin,” the voice taunted. “And when you come for him, you’ll realize the truth. The crown was never yours to claim. It belongs to the one who will betray you again.”

  The wind died, leaving a chilling silence.

  Aerin staggered to her feet, her hands trembling as she looked to Kael, then Talon. Her voice was quiet but unshakable. “Then I’ll burn his kingdom to the ground. And I’ll destroy anyone who stands in my way.”

  In the distance, faint footsteps echoed—more soldiers, more enemies. But Aerin didn’t flinch. She turned to the others, her magic sparking to life once more.

  “This isn’t over,” she said, her voice sharp and commanding. “This is just the beginning.”

  And as the ground continued to crack and the sky darkened once more, Aerin took her first step toward the war she was born to fight—a war that would either save everything she loved or consume her entirely.

  Heir of Shadows.