The air trembled with fire and blood.
Damian's flames blazed higher, wrapping Elena in a shield of gold as the silver-eyed man advanced. The cloaked figures fanned out around the cliff's edge, their shadows stretching long against the dawn. The blood-mist on the ground writhed as though alive, coiling toward Elena with every pulse of her heartbeat.
"Elena move!" Damian barked, his fire flaring to drive the mist back. But she couldn't. Her chest rose and fell in frantic gasps as the blood called to her, its voice inside her head like a chorus she couldn't silence.
You are ours.
Her shadows trembled, not resisting... answering.
She pressed her hands to her temples, her voice breaking. "I can hear them."
Damian snarled, pushing her back. "Then shut them out. Listen to me, not them."
But the silver-eyed man only smiled. "She cannot shut us out. Blood remembers. Blood obeys. You cannot burn what flows in her veins."
Damian raised his blade, fire sparking along the steel. "Watch me try."
The clash came fast.
Two cloaked figures lunged, shadows whipping like chains. Damian's fire met them head-on, sparks exploding against the dark. He moved like a storm, every strike searing, every step calculated but for every shadow he burned, more spilled forward.
Elena stumbled back, her shadows surging instinctively to shield her. The ground cracked beneath her feet, darkness spreading like veins. She gasped, clutching her wrist as the fire oath burned hot, colliding with the shadows in her blood.
She screamed, dropping to her knees.
"Elena!" Damian fought to reach her, but three shadows blocked his path. He roared, flames bursting higher, but they swarmed him, driving him toward the cliff's edge.
The silver-eyed man approached Elena slowly, almost reverently. "Don't you see, child? Fire chains you. We would set you free."
Elena shook her head, tears stinging. "Freedom? You call this freedom? You want me caged in blood just as much as fire binds me!"
The man crouched before her, shadows writhing at his feet like serpents. His silver eyes gleamed. "No cage, only crown. You felt it in the forest. The shadows don't resist you they bow. You were never meant to run. You were meant to rule."
The words struck deep, echoing the dream she'd had the crown, the throne, Damian on his knees. Her breath hitched. For one dangerous heartbeat, she wanted to believe him.
But then she saw Damian, fighting with fire raging around him, his body straining against the shadows, refusing to fall even as blood streaked his arm. He wasn't kneeling. He never would.
And she realized she didn't want him to.
Elena's shadows surged, wild and furious, slamming into the ground. The force knocked the silver-eyed man back, his smile fading. She rose, shaking, her eyes burning with a darkness that was entirely her own.
"I am not your queen," she spat. "And I will not be your prisoner."
The shadows at her command spiraled outward, lashing against the blood-mist. The silver-eyed man growled, his hands lifting as the earth split again, more crimson pouring forth. The ground itself seemed to bleed, the mist twisting into monstrous shapes.
"Elena!" Damian's voice broke through the chaos. He cut down another figure, flames coating his blade. "If you give in, you're theirs forever!"
She clenched her fists. The fire oath pulsed at her wrist, Damian's fire threading into her shadows. Pain tore through her veins, but she forced the darkness to bend, forced it to weave with his light.
For a moment, the clash inside her was unbearable fire against shadow, love against fear. But then, like sparks catching on dry wood, they fused.
Shadow and flame exploded outward together, a wave of searing darkness and blazing light that consumed everything in its path.
The cloaked figures screamed, their forms disintegrating under the force. The blood-mist hissed, retreating back into the earth with a shriek. Even the silver-eyed man staggered, shielding his face as the wave burned through him.
When the light faded, silence fell.
The clearing was scorched, the stone beneath their feet cracked and smoking. Four cloaked figures lay crumpled, gone. Only the silver-eyed man remained, his cloak in tatters, his silver eyes dim but burning with fury.
He staggered, pointing a trembling hand at Elena. "This is only the beginning. The blood oath cannot be undone. It will call you again, and next time" His voice broke into a snarl. "Next time, fire won't save you.
"And then, like smoke on wind, he vanished.
Elena collapsed to her knees, her chest heaving, her shadows curling weakly at her feet. Her whole body trembled, every vein screaming from the collision of power.
Damian was at her side in seconds, kneeling, his hands gripping her shoulders. His fire warmed her, steadying her. "Elena. Look at me. Are you"
"I'm fine," she whispered, though her voice cracked. "I… I think I'm fine."
He searched her face, his jaw tight with worry. "You scared me."
A bitter laugh slipped from her lips. "I scared myself."
They sat there in silence, the aftermath pressing down around them. Elena closed her eyes, the memory of the silver-eyed man's words ringing in her head. Blood remembers. Blood obeys.
The shadows inside her stirred restlessly, as though reminding her that he hadn't lied.
But then Damian's hand slid down to grip hers, his thumb brushing over the scar of their oath. Fire pulsed through the bond, steady and strong.
"You're not alone," he said firmly. "No matter what calls to you, no matter what hunts you you're not alone."
Her throat tightened. For the first time, she wanted to believe that.
But deep down, she knew the truth.
The shadows weren't done with her.
And neither was the blood.
And yet, as the silence thickened around them, Elena couldn't ignore the whisper lingering in her veins. Victory felt hollow, fragile, like a candle flickering in a storm and she knew right in her heart that the real battle had only just begun and it's going to be tough.