The room emptied after a while.
Seraphina had left with a nod. Not a goodbye. Just a quiet understanding that he needed the rest of the silence to himself.
Merlin sat on the floor long after she was gone. Back against the wall. Keryx resting against his shoulder.
The blade had lost none of its weight. But something about holding it now felt strange. Like it didn't quite belong to him anymore.
He exhaled slowly.
The ache was still there. Bone-deep. But duller now. Less like fire, more like a bruise left behind by something larger than it should have been.
'It's still gone.'
No flicker. No current. No draw of mana humming beneath his skin like it used to. Just silence.
He tilted his head back, letting it rest against the wall. His eyes closed.
'I don't know who I'm supposed to be without it.'
'All my decisions were built around power. My speed, my strategy. I survived on certainty, on calculation. I knew how strong I was at any moment of a fight.'
