The storage room was silent for only a moment after I collapsed against the cold stone walls. Something inside me begins to break as a low thrum inside my skull, faint at first but then growing until it pressed behind my eyes like iron fingers closing around my temples. The air was heavy and metallic, scraping my lungs raw.
I drew in a sharp breath, then another. Just hoping the tension in my head would ease but nothing. The pressure builds as if my skull was being crushed inwards, my ribs tighten and my hands tremble violently. Every inch of skin prickled with a sting so sharp, it was like someone was lighting a fire beneath my skin and the sparks were trying to escape. I gasped and a sound tore from my throat before I even understood that It was mine, the pain grew in searing waves that rolled from spine to finger tips and back to my head.
A blood curdling scream forced itself out of me, I clutch the floor trying to steady myself but the stone shudders as if reacting to me. The room curls inwards from my vision, its corners bending towards me and my shadow from the single torchlight quivers beneath me. Thin at first then writhing like smoke trapped in water.
I can't think, I can't breathe. I only feel the pain as it devours me.
Somewhere beyond the haze, the door slams open and footsteps rush towards me. Rell first, eyes wide and panicked. Seras followed her gaze locked onto my like nothing else existed. Lastly, Thorne follows them, his arm already reaching for me.
They each bellow my name, each voice a different shape of fear, the sound never made it to me. Their mouths moved, their expressions contorted but no sound passed. Their panic rose as they couldn't hear each other.
Their bodies become muffled shapes in my vision as if a thick veil had fallen between us and not a sound could escape the room.
The air vibrated, dust shook loose from the ceiling. Crates groaned as their wood strained. Shelving rattled against the stone floor. The single torch lighting the room warps and bends towards me, as if being pulled by invisible threads.
My shadow twists into a whirlpool, swirling faster with every heartbeat I struggled to control. It seeps out like ink bleeding into clear water, the world spins faster as the edges of the room slide in and out of focus. The air now feels charged, as though lightning now encompasses the entire room.
I feel a presence, not in the room or the hallway beyond, but inside me. Inside the pain and inside my shadow. A deep voice, distant but unmistakably close, speaks from the centre of the storm enveloping me. The voice is deep but gentle.
Let. It. Out.
My vision snaps towards the sound even though nothing in the room has changed. The voice felt like a memory and instinct all at once, a pull I could neither follow or refuse.
LET. IT. OUT.
Darkness corrupts my eyesight, when I look at Seras and the others their faces blurred before sharpening again with stark clarity. Rell's eyes were wide, filled with fear he's trying to hide.Thorne planted himself as if preparing to drag me back from something unseen. Seras reached toward me with both hands, her expression is something I have never seen on anyone's face before.
I see them, I know them. And yet everything felt distant.
Pain consumed my vision again, and when it cleared the world tinted black. The torchlight spread in strange halos. The stone floor pulsed faintly beneath my feet, as if my shadows were possessing it. The shelving tumbles and glass shatters across the floor. I catch my reflection and see eyes I don't recognise. They were black from edge to edge, and where pupils should have been, a ring of violent violet shimmered like a collapsing sun.
Seras gasps, Rell froze and Thorne trembled, his hand going to his blade on instinct.
The next scream ripped out of me so violently that the entire room buckled inward, as if gravitating towards me. A rush of shadow and wind bursts from my chest and collapses back into me. The implosion pulled the air out of the room, knocking the trio back a few steps. It sends crates toppling from each other and causes the shelves to crack under the strain. The torch that blazed alone is now extinguished, plunging everything into darkness.
In that darkness, I feel heat.
The heat rushes towards me in a bright flare of orange and gold. It's Seras. She sprinted across the shattered room without hesitation. Her skin blazed with her flame of Wrath, brighter than I have ever seen it. The fire roars up her arms, igniting her cloak with it. Her fire spills from her uncontrollably, like a burst dam.
She reaches for me, grabbing my collar and pulls me against her with strength that surprised even her. The flames pouring from her arms rolled over my shoulders in waves bright enough to light the room. She winces as she keeps pouring her strength into me. The fire burning her but not me, it bends towards the swirling darkness at my feet and vanishes into it.
As she burns herself, to save me she holds me tightly. Her arms locked around me, determined not to let me fall back into the storm. ''I am here.'' she whispers into my ear. Her voice trembles but her grip is iron. ''I am right here, Veyrin.'' The words cut through the haze, slicing the panic that swallowed my mind. My breath hitches sharply, chest rising and falling too fast. She continues speaking.
''You walk these halls as if you are nothing. But you still stand up, you keep moving forward. You face every piece of cruelty like it cannot touch you. Even when I know it does, when I can see it on your face.''
The room still vibrates faintly around us, her words pull my attention close like a hand guiding me towards her. ''My father looks at me, he sees a failure. I was born with Wrath in my veins but I cannot control it. I ignite when I should stay still, I scorch myself and ruin everything I hold. He calls me the broken scar of Wrath. A reminder that even power can be flawed.'' she says softly.
Her voice cracks, softer than I've ever heard it. ''I watched you long before we ever exchanged words. You were quiet. You were alone. Everyone treats you like you were invisible or a burden. Yet you kept trying, you faced everything that was thrown your way. You had no family, no name, nothing to prove and nothing to protect except yourself. And you still tried.
Her fire surges again, then softens as it's dragged into my shadow and disappearing. ''You made me think.'' she said, choking on her words. ''If you can get up and keep moving forward with nothing but your own strength then maybe I could too. Maybe I'm not as broken as they say, maybe I can be something more than what my father sees.
Tears blur my vision. The crushing pressure behind my eyes begins to loosen and the world stops tipping. The heat inside my chest steadies and the shadows crawl inwards like a beast resting after a long fight.
Seras tightens her hold, her arms shaking while holding me. ''You belong here.'' she whispers. ''You belong with me, with them and especially with Orien. You matter more than you think. Do you hear me.''
My knees buckle and I cling to her with all the strength I have left, burying my face into her shoulder as sobs tore loose from somewhere deep within. The tears fall freely from my cheeks, hot trails against my skin. The dark haze around my vision fades, pulling back like a tide. The storm calms with each breath she pulls me through.
''I see you Veyrin.'' She puts her forehead to mine. ''I always have.''
I shook with what felt like relief and something far heavier, her presence settled the chaos erupting inside me piece by fragile piece. The pain receded and the shadows have now stilled. I needed this.
Rell and Thorne stand a few paces away, staring at us with expressions alien to them. Rell's smile was crooked and wet with tears he refused to let fall. Thorne's hand lay on his chest as if steadying his own heartbeat. When we lock eyes he smiles and bows once more.
They look at us like we have just survived something impossible. And for the first time in my life, I felt like I have. From the forest to now, If it wasn't for these three. I wouldn't be here,
Rell finally exhales. ''I don't know what just happened, but that was fucking incredible. Terrifying. But Incredible.''
Thorne nods slowly. ''I'm glad. I'm glad I got to witness this. I'm glad you get to see how we see you.''
Their stunned smiles glowed faintly in the dim light returning to the dark room. Seras holds me through the last tremors of pain, her arms never loosening once. My breathing steadies against her shoulder and for the first time in weeks, something in my chest eased. The storm may have passed, but the air remains heavy. I don't think any of us knows what to do next.