The shadows didn't just pull—they clung.Every tendril wrapped tighter around Aria's legs, coiling like snakes, dragging her closer to the black river's surface. Her fingers trembled in my grasp, her knuckles white.
"Hold on!" I snarled, my claws digging into the shifting soil as the ground beneath us cracked and shifted again. The Veil itself seemed intent on swallowing her whole.
Her glow, faint as it was, flickered out completely. The mark beneath her collarbone—usually just a faint trace—spread like ink across her skin, crawling up her throat. Her breaths came shallow, uneven.
Lyra watched from above, unmoving, her eyes glinting with a strange calm. "The Veil is claiming her. That curse she carries? This place feeds it." She crouched at the edge, tilting her head. "You can't save her without the shard, Kael. Not here."
The shard throbbed inside me, harder than ever, heat rolling through my veins. The whispers weren't just words now—they were commands.
Anchor… let go. She will fall. You will rise.
My grip on Aria's wrist tightened. The voices burned in my skull, my wolf pacing inside me, torn between instinct and control. My claws dug deeper into the soil, splitting it, but the tendrils were pulling harder, stronger, like the river itself wanted to drag her soul under.
"Kael…" Her voice cracked. Her free hand rose to her throat where the curse-mark spread. "If you use that thing—" her gaze flicked to the veins along my neck, glowing faintly now, "—you won't come back. You know you won't."
The shard pulsed again, answering her, as if laughing. My vision flickered, the world tinged in red for a heartbeat. I could feel what it wanted—to feed, to burn through the shadows and consume everything in reach.
Lyra's voice cut through the tension, soft but sharp. "Choose, wolf. Her… or control. If you don't decide, this place will make the choice for you."
The shadows yanked, hard. Aria's body slipped another inch downward, her chest nearly touching the surface of the black river. Her glow sputtered once more, a tiny flicker in the dark, and I knew—whatever power she had left wouldn't last another minute.
I bared my teeth, heat surging, claws biting into my palms. My wolf howled in my chest, urging me to unleash everything, damn the cost.
But another sound broke through the whispers.
Her voice. Weak, barely audible. "Kael… please… don't lose yourself. Not for me."
The shard pulsed one last time, harder than before, like a living heart beating inside me.
And then I made my choice.