Seraphina's POV
"HELP ME!" my mother screamed as the shadow creature wrapped tighter around her throat.
Every instinct told me to let her die. She deserved it. After everything she'd done—the abuse, the stolen magic, the sacrifice—why should I save her?
But then I saw it.
The creature wasn't just feeding on her. It was growing. Getting bigger. Stronger. And when it finished with my mother, it would attack everyone else.
"Seraphina!" Caelan's hand touched my shoulder. "Whatever you decide, decide fast."
I made my choice.
I thrust my hands forward, and silver light shot from my palms like arrows. They pierced the shadow creature, and it shrieked—a sound that made everyone cover their ears.
It dropped my mother and turned toward me instead.
"Oh no," Lyra breathed behind us.
The creature lunged. I barely had time to throw up a shield before it hit. The impact sent me flying backward into Caelan's arms.
"It feeds on magic!" Lyra shouted. "Every spell you use makes it stronger!"
"Then how do I fight it?" I yelled back.
The creature charged again. This time, Caelan stepped in front of me, shadows exploding from his hands. But Lyra was right—the creature absorbed his magic and grew even larger.
It now stood twenty feet tall, with dozens of eyes and mouths opening across its body.
"Seraphina," it hissed in a voice like grinding stone. "Thank you for freeing me. Now I'll consume this realm and everyone in it."
"Who ARE you?" I demanded.
"I am what your mother summoned twenty-three years ago to bind your power." More mouths opened, all speaking at once. "I am a Void Eater. I've been trapped in that crystal, starving. But now..." All its eyes fixed on me. "Now I can finally feed properly. Starting with the Starborn."
It moved impossibly fast.
Caelan pushed me aside and took the hit instead. The creature's claws raked across his chest, and he went down hard.
"CAELAN!" I felt his pain explode through the Soul Bind. It drove me to my knees.
"So sweet," the Void Eater laughed. "Bonded souls. If I eat you both, I'll have enough power to devour realms."
Something inside me snapped.
Not with fear. With rage.
"You will NOT touch him!" Power erupted from me—not silver light this time, but something darker. Starlight mixed with shadows. My magic and Caelan's, combined through our bond.
The Void Eater hesitated for the first time.
"Impossible," it whispered. "You're using magic it can't eat!"
I didn't understand what I was doing. I just knew I had to protect Caelan. Had to protect everyone.
I reached deep inside myself, to the place where the Soul Bind connected us. I pulled on Caelan's power and mixed it with mine. Silver and shadow spiraled together, forming something new.
Something the creature had never seen before.
"Seraphina, wait!" Lyra shouted. "That much power could—"
Too late.
I unleashed everything.
The blast of combined magic hit the Void Eater dead center. It screamed as the light-shadow magic wrapped around it, pulling it apart piece by piece.
"NO! I WILL NOT BE DESTROYED BY A CHILD!"
"I'm not a child," I said, my voice echoing with power. "I'm the Starborn. And you made a mistake when you threatened someone I—"
I stopped. Someone I what?
The Void Eater exploded into dust.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Then everyone started talking at once. The army below broke into chaos. My mother lay on the ground, barely breathing. And Caelan—
I dropped beside him. Blood soaked his shirt. His silver eyes were unfocused.
"You idiot," I whispered, tears streaming. "Why did you do that?"
He smiled weakly. "Soul Bind, remember? Your death... is my death. Had to... protect you."
"Don't you dare die on me!" I pressed my glowing hands to his wounds. "I just got my power back. I can heal. I know I can!"
Silver light poured into him. I felt our bond pulling tight, using it as a channel. His wounds began to close.
"That's... cheating," he mumbled. "Using our bond... to heal me."
"Shut up and let me save you."
His hand caught mine. "You called me Caelan. Not... 'Your Majesty.' Not... 'Immortal King.' Just... my name."
"Because that's who you are to me," I said fiercely. "Now stop talking before I let you die out of spite."
He actually laughed, then winced. "Scary... little Starborn."
The wounds finally closed completely. His eyes cleared.
"Better?" I asked.
"Better." He sat up carefully. "You saved everyone. Including your mother."
We both looked at where Queen Vivienne lay. She was alive but powerless—I could feel it. The Void Eater had consumed all her magic before I stopped it.
"She's mortal now," Lyra said, kneeling beside her. "Completely human. She'll age normally from this point forward."
My mother's eyes opened. When she saw me, real fear crossed her face.
"Please," she whispered. "Don't kill me."
I stared at the woman who'd made my life hell for twenty-three years. Who'd stolen my magic and locked me away. Who'd tried to sacrifice me.
"I should," I said quietly. "But I'm not like you. I won't murder my own family."
I stood, pulling Caelan up with me.
"You and your army will leave Noctwyth immediately," I announced, my voice carrying across the battlefield. "You'll return to Asteria and tell my father exactly what happened here. Tell him his youngest daughter is alive and more powerful than he ever imagined. Tell him that if he or anyone from that kingdom tries to hurt me again, I'll bring both realms down on his head."
My mother struggled to her feet. "Seraphina—"
"I'm not finished." I stepped closer. "You spent my whole life trying to make me nothing. But you failed. I'm everything you feared I'd become. And I'll spend the rest of my life making sure no one ever treats anyone the way you treated me."
For a moment, my mother just stared. Then she did something I never expected.
She bowed.
Not mockingly. Not reluctantly.
She actually bowed to me.
"I understand," she said softly.
The army retreated, carrying my mother with them. The portal closed behind them.
Only when they were gone did I let myself collapse.
Caelan caught me again. He seemed to be making a habit of it.
"You did it," he said softly. "You saved everyone."
"We did it," I corrected. "I couldn't have stopped that thing without our bond."
"The bond." He looked at the marks on our wrists. "It's changed. Look."
The simple silver lines from before had transformed into intricate patterns. They glowed with both silver and shadow now, braided together.
"What does it mean?" I asked.
"I don't know. But I think..." He met my eyes. "I think we just created something that's never existed before. A true balance between Starborn and Shadow King."
"Is that good or bad?"
Before he could answer, Lyra gasped. "Look at the sky!"
We all turned.
The three silver moons of Noctwyth were changing. They were turning half-silver, half-dark. Balanced. And across the Veil, I could see the mortal realm's sky doing the same thing.
"The realms are merging," Lyra whispered. "Seraphina, what did you do?"
"I don't know!" Panic rose in my chest. "I was just trying to stop the Void Eater!"
"You used combined magic from both realms," Caelan said slowly. "You created a bridge. A permanent one."
"Can we stop it?" I asked desperately.
"I don't think we can. I don't think we should." He pointed to where the portal had been. "Look."
The barrier between realms was dissolving. But instead of chaos, something beautiful was happening. The two worlds were blending together seamlessly, creating something new.
"The prophecy," Lyra breathed. "The Starborn will reshape reality. This is what it meant."
"I didn't mean to reshape anything!" I protested.
"But you did," Caelan said. "And tomorrow, when both realms wake up fully merged, everything will be different."
I looked at the changing sky, at the dissolving barriers, at the mark on my wrist that bound me to the Immortal King.
"What have I done?" I whispered.
Caelan took my hand. "Something incredible. Something terrifying. Something that will change everything."
"Will they hate me for it?"
"Some will. Others will worship you. But—" He squeezed my hand gently. "You won't face it alone. We're bound, remember?"
The sky continued to transform, two worlds becoming one.
And somewhere in the merging realms, something ancient stirred.
Something that had been waiting for the Starborn to awaken.
Something that would make the Void Eater look like a practice round.
Because reshaping reality always had consequences.
And ours were about to arrive.