The circle shattered.
Magic fractured like glass, throwing me back against the stone pillar. My breath knocked out of me, vision spinning. Talon dove between us, claws out, already shifting mid-air. A blur of dark fur and white teeth.
Malric didn't flinch.
He waved a single hand, and Talon's body slammed into a tree like he weighed nothing. The crack of bark echoed.
"Talon!" I scrambled to my feet, panic lancing through me.
Malric didn't even look at him.
His eyes—those infernal red eyes—were locked on me.
"You've grown well," he said, voice deceptively calm. "Celyra would be proud. But you've inherited more than her strength. You carry her flame—and her flaws."
I straightened my spine, despite the burning ache in my ribs. "You know nothing about her."
"I knew everything about her." His voice turned sharp. "Her hopes. Her fears. Her foolish belief that love could stop destiny."
"I'm not her," I said coldly.
He smiled. "No. You're something new. Something even more precious."
He took a step forward, and I felt it again—that awful pressure. Like the air around him bent to his will. Magic soaked in rot and rage. It reached toward me like vines, curling around my ankles, whispering.
Come. Come. Come.
I clenched my fists, forcing the fire to my skin. The heat rose instantly, roaring through my veins, answering the fear with fury.
"I will never stand beside you."
"You already do," he said, and then raised both arms. "Because you are mine by blood, by fate, by the bond sealed in your mother's final breath."
A pulse of dark energy exploded outward.
I barely had time to react.
My fire met it mid-air—white and silver colliding with black and red. The blast cracked the earth beneath our feet. Trees split. Stones shattered. Screams filled the air—some mine, some his, some belonging to the forest itself.
Talon rose, dazed but alive, his wolf form limping toward me.
"I'll hold him!" he shouted. "Get to Kane!"
"No!" I roared, throwing another burst of flame at Malric. "We finish this—"
But I never got the chance.
From behind Malric, a shadow emerged. Not a person. Not a wolf.
A thing.
Its body was made of sinew and bone, stitched by magic and death. Its eyes were hollow. Its snarl was eternal. One of Malric's twisted wolves.
It lunged at me.
Talon leapt, intercepting it mid-air. They tumbled into the underbrush in a blur of snarls and blood.
"Run, Elara!" Talon's voice was hoarse. "He's not fighting to win. He's stalling!"
Stalling?
My heart plummeted.
The Gate.
He was buying time—for someone else to open it.
I turned and ran.
I raced through the woods, fire lighting my path, the scent of smoke trailing behind me. Branches whipped my skin, but I didn't stop. Couldn't.
Every instinct screamed at me to go faster.
When I reached the edge of the ravine, I saw them.
Kane. Lira. Three others.
All facing down another wave of Malric's beasts.
Kane's sword dripped silver. His face was blood-smeared but focused. He turned as I approached, relief flashing briefly across his face.
"Where's Malric?" he demanded.
"Behind me. He's summoning his twisted. And he's not alone."
Lira swore. "We've seen more than a dozen already."
I landed beside Kane, panting. "He said something. About my mother. About a bond sealed in her final breath. Does that mean anything to you?"
Kane froze. "It means... he's trying to awaken the ancient tether. The one that binds the Gate to the Veil. If he uses your blood to do it, he won't just open the Gate. He'll become it."
My stomach turned.
"So how do we stop him?"
"We break the bond before he completes the ritual." His gaze locked with mine. "And that means going to the Veil itself."
I stared at him. "You mean the spirit realm?"
He nodded. "The place between life and death. Where your mother sealed the Gate from the other side. If we can reach her essence... she might know how to unbind it."
"And how exactly do we get there?"
Kane reached into his satchel and pulled out a dagger.
My eyes widened.
"You want to kill me?"
"No," he said. "Just... stop your heart. Briefly."
I backed away. "You've lost your mind."
"Elara," he said gently, stepping closer, "this is your choice. But it may be the only way to save all of us."
My hands trembled.
A choice.
Either run. Fight blindly. Or dive headfirst into the place where my mother's spirit lingered... and pray she had answers.
I looked at the dagger.
Then at Kane.
"I trust you," I whispered.
He stepped forward, eyes burning gold. "Then lie down. And when you wake... you'll be with her."