Anna sat in the cold cell, arms wrapped tight around herself, listening. The torch on the wall hissed low, its light shrinking, shadows stretching until the room seemed alive.
Then it came again.
Her name. Soft. Whispered. *Everywhere at once.*
*Anna…*
Her chest tightened. She swallowed hard. "Who's there?" Her voice cracked but she forced it out.
The air shifted. The shadows leaned forward, folding in on themselves until they almost shaped a figure.
*You are not meant to be here,* the voice murmured, curling through her like smoke. *But you could leave. Tonight.*
And then—light...a thin crack of brightness against the far wall, like a door opening where no door had been.
Her heart pounded, *This isn't real. It can't be.*
But her legs moved anyway. She rose, slowly, each step making her pulse roar in her ears. She touched the edge of the glow—warm, soft, like sunlight. Her breath caught.
Behind her, boots thundered.
"Stop her!"
Rough hands grabbed her arms. She twisted, kicked, teeth bared. The world blurred like a dream....her body moving faster than her mind. She slammed an elbow into a guard's jaw, spun, clawed at another's arm. She thought she heard herself laugh, half-hysterical, thinking she would wake up any moment.
But then the pain came sharp and real—a fist cracking against her cheek, iron cuffs biting into her wrists.
The illusion shattered. This was no dream.,,,this was happening.
Her knees buckled as they dragged her down the hall. Her head swam, but one thought cut through the haze: *They weren't taking her back to the cell,they were taking her somewhere else.*
The chamber doors opened wide. Inside, a long stone table stretched under hanging lanterns. Shadows clung to the corners, as if the light itself was too afraid to fill the room.
At the head sat Garrick, broad shoulders rigid, eyes burning like coals. Around him were the Elders of the Region, not kin, but the power that held the land together; Eldric Veynar, General of the Northern Watch, scars on his face, voice gravel-deep. Marwen Tolvas, High Priest, his robes dragging, his mouth thin as if every word cost him. Soria Kaelith, Mistress of Records, eyes sharp, her smile sharper.
They were the law and order here. And tonight, Anna was their question.
Helena sat quietly near the far end, hands folded. But when Anna's eyes lifted, she noticed it...just for a flicker….the same shimmer of shadow at the edges of the room. Helena's gaze darted to it too, though her face stayed calm. They both saw. They both knew. Yet neither spoke.
Lysa moved quietly among them, head bowed, pouring wine into heavy goblets, her hands trembling slightly though no one seemed to notice.
The guards shoved Anna forward. Her knees hit stone. Her wrists ached in the cuffs.
"She ran...," Eldric growled. "The guilty always run."
Marwen's lips twisted. "The rift spat her out. That was omen enough. She is no gift. She is curse."
Soria tilted her head, eyes glinting. "She is a crack in the wall of order. And cracks spread."
Daniel shifted in the shadows of the chamber, leaning against the pillar, his arms crossed tight across his chest. He kept his face unreadable, but inside his jaw clenched so hard it ached. He had fought his father before, but this…..this council…..was different. The weight of their judgment pressed even on him. Still, when they called her a curse, he felt the words cut through him like a blade.
Daniel's brothers sat along the table….Caden, eldest, silent but stern; Darius, restless, his foot tapping under the table; and Silas, younger, his eyes flicking nervously between the elders and Anna. None of them spoke, but their presence was a wall at Garrick's side.
Garrick leaned back in his chair, watching her with an almost amused sneer. "She has no place here. My sword should have ended her the day she fell."
"Speak," Garrick ordered, his voice like stone grinding stone. "Defend yourself, girl."
Anna's throat was dry. Her whole body trembled, but not from fear...at least not only from fear. Something inside her, something sharp and stubborn, refused to stay quiet.
"You drag me here in chains," she said, her voice breaking but growing stronger with each word, "and none of you even ask who I am. You call me a curse while drinking your wine. You sit safe in your chairs while I bleed for answers. If surviving makes me guilty...then yes. I am guilty."
Her words rang through the chamber like iron dropped on stone.
Some elders shifted uncomfortably. Eldric snarled, Marwen muttered a prayer under his breath.
Daniel's throat tightened. For a heartbeat, he wanted to step forward, to tell them she was right. That none of them knew her. But he stayed still, nails digging into his palms until they nearly broke skin.
Darius' eyes narrowed, unimpressed by Anna's defiance. Aric looked shaken, glancing at Daniel as if asking silently what to believe. And Caden… Caden smirked, raising his goblet in mock salute at her words.
Garrick didn't rage. He smirked, lips curling in amusement. "Defiant little thing. Brave words are cheap when death waits at dawn."
Helena's calm voice cut through before Anna could answer. "Storms begin as whispers, Garrick. Kill her, and we may summon one far louder."
The room stilled. For a moment, only the crackle of torches filled the silence. And in the shadows, Anna saw it again—the faint flicker of something watching. She shivered but kept her face still.
Then it happened.
Caden's mocking grin faltered. His goblet slipped from his hand, wine spilling like blood across the table. His face drained of color, lips turning blue. He clawed at his throat, choking.
"Caden!" Garrick roared, slamming his chair back.
Darius leapt up, grabbing his oldest brother, shaking him hard. "Stay with me!" Aric panicked, stumbling to his side, eyes wide with terror.
The chamber erupted—elders shouting, chairs scraping. Helena rushed forward but froze, helpless.
Daniel's blood ran cold. He surged forward, hands gripping Caden's shoulder beside Darius, shouting hoarsely: "Breathe, damn you brother! Breathe!" His voice cracked with fear.
Anna's heart lurched. She knew that look. She had seen it before—in her own world.
*He's suffocating. An allergic reaction… maybe poison.*
"I can help him!" she shouted over the chaos. "Untie me! Now!"
"Silence!" Eldric barked.
"Trickery!" Marwen spat.
But Helena's voice cut like a blade: "Untie her!"
The guards hesitated, then obeyed. The cuffs fell.
Anna scrambled to Caden's side. Ronan moved to block her, but Daniel caught his arm. "Let her try!"
Aric hovered anxiously, his hand gripping Caden's wrist like he could anchor him to life.
She ripped open her pockets…..her fingers fumbling through the small things she had clung to since she fell: sealed gauze packets, a sterilizer vial, blister packs of pills. Her lifeline from the other world.
"Hold him steady!" she barked, her voice suddenly sure. The brothers obeyed without hesitation, fear stripping them of doubt.
She pressed fingers to Caden's throat. Pulse faint, Breath ragged, His airway was closing.
She bit into a capsule, poured powder into water, forced it past his lips. She yanked a small knife from a guard's belt, sterilized the blade in her vial, and without waiting—cut a tiny slit at his throat. Gasps filled the chamber. Elders crossed themselves.
Daniel grabbed the edge of the table, eyes wide, torn between rage and desperation. His heart thundered so loud it drowned out the voices. If she failed, Caden would die. If she succeeded… everything would change.
Anna slid a hollow reed into the slit, held her breath—and waited.
One second. Two. Three.
Then—Caden inhaled, rough and rasping, but alive. His chest rose. Color crept back into his face.
Darius closed his eyes, sagging with relief. Silas wiped at his eyes, whispering, "He's breathing…"
Anna sat back on her heels, her hands shaking, covered in blood. "He's alive. He'll need watching, but he's alive."
The chamber fell silent. Elders stared as though she had pulled the moon from the sky. Eldric muttered, "Sorcery." Marwen hissed prayers.
But Soria leaned forward, her voice smooth as oil. "No sorcery can bring breath back to the dying. Perhaps she is dangerous alive… but also very useful."
Garrick's jaw worked, rage and calculation twisting his face. His son lay breathing because of her. His pride screamed, but the truth chained his tongue.
"She lives.... For now," he growled at last. "But she does not walk free."
Murmurs rippled. The verdict hung heavy in the air.
Helena met Anna's eyes across the chamber. A silent understanding passed between them...one born of what they both had seen in the shadows. Something bigger was moving. Something neither man nor council could name.
And as guards pulled Anna back to her feet, Caden's weak voice rasped from the table:
"…She saved me."
Daniel froze. His fists unclenched slowly, trembling with the weight of everything he had just witnessed. His eyes met Anna's across the hall.
For the first time, he didn't just see the strange girl who had fallen through the rift. He saw someone who had just altered the fate of them all.