SELENA'S POV
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The sky was too quiet.
Not the peaceful kind of quiet. The kind that screams just beneath your skin - like something is holding its breath.
I hadn't slept since the prom.
Since I killed them.
My adoptive parents.
No - Mirah and Calden. Strangers who raised a monster in human skin.
The mirror doesn't show blood anymore. It shows... eyes that don't belong to me.
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Zack was the only thing keeping me sane.
He didn't ask questions. He didn't pull away.
He just said: "If you need air, I'll walk with you."
So we did.
Down the old road behind the chapel ruins. The place where silence always lingered too long.
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> "You feel it too, don't you?" I whispered.
> "Yeah," he said, looking over his shoulder. "Like... we're not alone."
The wind stopped.
The world blinked.
And then - they were there.
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Three figures stood in the path ahead.
No sound. No footsteps.
Just presence.
One shimmered like shattered stars - wings broken, glowing faint gold.
The Fallen Guardian.
One moved like smoke - his face hidden, blades at his side.
The Shade Assassin.
And the last... she smiled with roots in her hair and moss on her skin. Her breath smelled of forgotten spells.
The Forest Witch.
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Zack stepped in front of me.
> "Get back," he said.
The Guardian didn't blink.
> "We're not here to fight."
The Witch moved her fingers - and sleep crawled over Zack's eyes.
> "We're here to collect."
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I reached for power - the whisper inside me stirred, wild and cruel.
But the Shade was faster.
He was beside me in a blink. No touch. No wound.
Just... stillness.
And I couldn't move.
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> "You are the storm hidden in silence," the Forest Witch murmured.
"Your time has come."
The Guardian stepped forward and whispered a single word.
> "Ravyn."
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The shadows parted - and he walked out.
Not a boy. Not a beast. Not a savior.
Just... Ravyn.
Eyes like ash, hair like midnight, voice like a dying star.
> "Selena," he said, as if he'd been waiting my whole life.
"You were never just lost. You were hidden."
> "And now... it's time to remember what you were made for."
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💬 Endnote:
Selena and Zack are taken.
But this is not the end.
It's just the awakening.