The world comes back all at once.
Not gently.
Not gradually.
As if something were tearing the veil from her mind with a brutal gesture.
Lunaya gasps.
The grass beneath her fingers disappears.
The ground still trembles from the shock of the Resonance that Erynd has triggered.
She opens her eyes.
And sees his.
Kael.
He bursts into the clearing like a storm, his footsteps skidding on the wet earth, his dark eyes filled with such violent concern that she forgets to breathe.
"Lunaya!"
His voice is torn.
Not just worried.
Broken.
He falls to his knees beside her, without touching her,
just a few inches away, breathing heavily.
Then his gaze shifts to Erynd.
And something breaks.
He slowly stands up, like a predator seeing red.
"What did you do to her?"
Kael's voice has never been so low.
So dangerous.
Erynd doesn't move.
His wings quiver, still charged with the remnants of the ritual,
the dark feathers glowing with a silvery sheen.
He doesn't run away.
He doesn't look away.
"I helped her," he says simply.
"Helped?"
Kael laughs.
A humorless laugh, trembling, broken.
"She was falling apart," Erynd replies.
"Because YOU called her!"
Lunaya closes her eyes for a moment.
The ground rocks.
Pieces of memory, like shards of glass, slide under her skin.
An ancient voice.
A broken promise.
A farewell in broad daylight.
She opens her eyes again.
The two men are facing each other.
Kael burning.
Erynd frozen.
Two forces that should never meet.
"If you go near her again, says Kael, I swear I'll..."
"Kill me?" finishes Erynd.
He nods imperceptibly.
"You can try."
The shadows seem to recede a step,
as if to leave an empty space between them.
A space where something irreversible could happen.
Lunaya forces her voice out.
"Stop."
Kael turns to her.
His expression changes suddenly.
The anger subsides.
Only fear remains.
"Are you okay?"
He approaches her, very gently, as if she were made of glass.
"Tell me you're okay. I felt you... leaving."
She wants to answer.
Find a word.
Any word.
But her throat is too tight.
Erynd looks at her, the tension disappearing from his face.
"The memory comes back too quickly, he says.
I didn't want to... but she asked me to help."
Kael turns away, furious:
"She doesn't need you."
"Yes, she does."
The word falls like a stone.
Erynd takes a step forward, but remains at a distance from Lunaya.
"If she doesn't recover what has been broken,
she will be torn between two echoes.
Two lives. Two hearts. Two rhythms."
Lunaya curls up.
The beats...
She can still feel them.
Two breaths in her chest.
Kael leans toward her, one hand hesitating to touch her shoulder.
"Look at me, he whispers.
Not him. Not the memories. Me."
She looks up.
And her heart tightens until she can hardly breathe.
He looks... hurt.
Really hurt.
Erynd looks away for the first time since he arrived.
As if seeing her look at Kael is killing him.
Lunaya breathes heavily.
"It's not... you two...
Her voice trembles.
It's me.
There's something... inside me.
Something trying to come back."
Kael gently runs his thumb under her eye,
brushing away a tear she hadn't felt fall.
"Then we'll break it," he says.
"You can't," Erynd whispers.
His tone is calm but firm.
"What's coming back to her is part of her. It always has been.
Even you came after that."
Kael clenches his teeth.
"So what?
He crouches down, his forehead almost touching Lunaya's.
I won't let her suffer for a past that no longer exists."
Lunaya trembles.
Erynd's words come back to her: destiny. forbidden. punishment. farewell.
Erynd whispers, more quietly:
"The past exists. And it demands what was stolen from it."
Kael stands up, furious.
"She doesn't belong to you."
"I know."
Erynd closes his eyes.
"That's why I keep my distance."
And indeed:
He hasn't taken a single step towards her.
Not a single touch.
Not a single impulsive gesture.
Whereas Kael trembles just from touching her too hard.
Lunaya feels her breathing slip.
"Stop..."
She buries her head in her hands.
"Stop talking about me as if I were... an object.
Or a memory."
"I'm here. I'm alive. And I don't want to...
choose between two lives that aren't the same."
The two freeze.
She continues, breathless:
"I don't want anyone telling me what I should be anymore.
Or a role. Not a destiny. Not a prophecy."
Kael lowers his head, ashamed.
Erynd closes his eyes, almost relieved that she said it.
Then a wave passes through her.
Stronger than the previous one.
Colder.
More... ancient.
She sees a tree.
The morning light.
A silhouette.
Fingers brushing hers.
An oath.
Blood spilled.
She doubles over in pain.
"Lunaya!"
Kael catches her before she collapses.
Erynd staggers too, one hand to his temple.
"It's not me, he says, grimacing.
Someone... is forcing memories. From afar."
Kael looks up abruptly.
"Who?!"
Erynd opens his eyes.
His gaze is icy.
"The Corbins."
A sharp silence.
"They've just sensed that the truth is cracking, whispers Erynd.
And they won't let you get it back."
Kael pulls Lunaya close.
"Let them come."
Erynd shakes his head.
"They won't come.
They'll take away what has always protected you first."
Lunaya trembles.
"What...?"
Erynd looks at her.
His eyes darken.
"Your name."