Selene POV
Painful.
Urgh, so painful.
My eyes snapped open.
The ache was slowly fading but it still hurt.
I couldn't move for a full minute. Could barely breathe. The air was thick with residual magic. The kind that clung to your lungs and whispered things you weren't meant to hear.
They did it again.
A forced sleep spell.
Mother Riven's favorite weapon whenever I got too curious, too far, too close.
I clenched the sheets under my fingers. Damp with sweat.
I want to leave
For a moment, I just lay there, listening for any presence.
Silence.
No footsteps. No chanting. No other Witchborn whispering madness outside my door.
I was alone.
Good.
I sat up slowly, every bone in my spine cracking like a warning. The ashwood walls around me pulsed faintly with runes and wards carved deep and humming low.
I observed the runes. It was the usual ones, binding runes, containment and even one for obedience…
I knew Mother Riven was strict but this was too far. I loved her but I couldn't take this anymore.
And yet…
Something was wrong.
No… something's different.
The headache was fading faster than it should've. The pressure of the spell around me was… light. Like fog instead of chains.
That wasn't possible.
I stood.
No dizziness. No tremble. No backlash.
That was definitely not possible.
I walked toward the vine-curtain, my bare feet padding over cold stone. The silverbane should've been active. Last time I got too close, it nearly ate the flesh off my fingers.
I reached out…
Nothing.
No sting. No shock. No pushback.
I blinked.
The barrier shimmered like water under moonlight… then parted.
Just like that.
Wide-eyed, I stepped through.
Every rune on the inner corridor walls glowed faintly as I passed but none activated. No alarms. No mental chokehold. No sleep traps.
How…?
I kept walking.
Turned the corner. Saw the edge of the central ward. The one that sealed all outer exits. Carved from obsidian and etched with Riven's blood sigils, it had held me in place since the day I turned sixteen till now
I had studied it. For seven years. Dreamt of ways to break it. All of them impossible.
Except now…
My fingers brushed the center glyph.
The ward shattered.
My mouth parted in stunned silence as magic fizzled in the air. The symbols collapsed. The stone cracked in a perfect line. Wild wind rushed in from beyond.
"What the hell…"
I stumbled back, heart hammering.
That shouldn't have worked.
That couldn't have worked.
Unless…
Unless the wards weren't meant to hold me anymore.
Or worse…
I'm not the same anymore.
I stepped into the open.
The Virellan Wastes stretched before me, silent, endless, silver-blue under a dead sky. The mist rolled across jagged rock like slow-moving breath. No stars. No sun. Just the pulse of raw, unfiltered magic in the bones of the land.
The place where all things go to be forgotten.
But I wasn't afraid.
Not anymore.
Because something out here wanted me to leave.
And whatever I was becoming… the Wastes couldn't contain it.
Not even the Witchborn could.
I don't know how long I walked.
My breath fogged in the still air, but I wasn't cold.
I was humming.
Why?
I didn't even know the tune. But it comforted me… or maybe the Wastes were whispering through my lips now.
Then, I saw it.
A shimmer in the distance.
I climbed a ridge and gasped.
An altar.
Carved of onyx, rising from the center of a round, black pool.
The water was clear and glowing faintly with silvery-blue light that circled it like a mirror.
A waterfall cascaded from nowhere, falling from a jagged cliff above and into the pool below without a sound. No splash. No disturbance. Just endless, graceful motion.
It was unnaturally beautiful.
I stepped forward, unable to help myself.
The air seemed different here.
It was warmer, like something breathing against my skin. A pulse hummed in the ground. In my chest. In my thighs.
I swallowed.
Why did my body feel so… alive?
The dull ache in my bones faded entirely, replaced with something else… an awareness that wasn't pain but need.
Need?
Oh goddess
It started low in my stomach. That tightening, that heat.
I tried to turn away and resist the pull. But it only grew stronger the closer I came to the water's edge.
What's happening to me?
I knelt down, fingers grazing the surface.
Warm.
Too warm.
The reflection in the water shimmered and for a moment, I didn't see myself.
I saw… something more.
My pupils blown wide. Skin glowing faintly. Hair floating like strands of starlight in the still water.
And power.
A woman made of power.
Suddenly, I couldn't bear the weight of my skin. My robe felt suffocating. My breath caught as the pressure coiled tighter inside me, begging to be released.
I stood, shaking.
And stripped.
First the robe. Then the wrap beneath. I let it fall, piece by piece, to the stone.
The air touched me like a lover. Cool and alive.
I stepped into the water.
It welcomed me.
The warmth seeped into every inch of me, easing tension I hadn't realized I carried. Washing away the fear. The confusion. The longing.
I closed my eyes and sank deeper until the water covered me from neck to ankle.
I breathed it in. Let it possess me. Let it burn.
Because whatever I was becoming… this altar recognized it.
And it wanted me whole.
Kaiden POV
The wind ripped through the wasteland, biting at our faces. Silence pressed down heavier than ever.
Thorne rode up beside me, keeping his voice low.
"No man's ever come through the Wastes and lived. Why should we be any different?"
I tightened my grip on my reins. "Because this isn't about surviving."
He snorted. "Then what is it about? Chasing shadows?"
"Maybe." I glanced ahead, eyes narrowing. "Or something real."
Thorne shook his head, skepticism thick in the air. "You've been… off since Hollowfang. Since those dreams."
I didn't answer.
The rocky landscape stretched, barren and cold. Suddenly, Thorne pointed.
"Hold up. What's that ahead? Water? That can't be right."
I leaned forward, squinting. "A waterfall. Here, of all places."
Thorne raised an eyebrow. "In the middle of the Wastes? That's… unexpected."
I felt a pull, stronger now. "It's a sign."
He laughed, low and bitter. "A sign that we're losing our minds?"
I shook my head. "No. That something's waiting for me there."
"Yeah…" Thorne scoffed. "Our deathbed."
I glared at him and he shut up.
We rode closer, the sound of rushing water breaking the eerie silence.
And then I saw her.
She stood by the glowing pool beneath the waterfall, silver hair like mist, eyes that looked like the moon seemed to hold the weight of storms.
Thorne leaned in, whispering, "Do
you see her?"
I didn't reply. My blood thrummed in my veins, answering a call I'd ignored for too long.
"She's the one," I said, voice low, fierce.
Thorne's eyes were wide. "Huh? Kaiden, you sure you haven't gone crazy?"
I nodded.
"I found her."