The air grew heavier with each breath. Even Mira's lantern sputtered, the flame bending as though it too feared the storm pressing in around them.
Levi stood in the center of the cavern, her wings half-spread, her gaze fixed on the mouth of the tunnel. Her golden eyes gleamed red at the edges.
"They're here," she whispered.
Jane felt her throat tighten. She could almost hear it now too—the faint echo of claws against stone, the hiss of shifting bodies, the whispers of shadowed spells. Shax and his pack were closing in.
Ryn drew his blade, the blue shimmer of shifter steel lighting his face. "Then we fight."
"No," Levi said sharply. Her voice carried a weight that silenced him. "You would all be slaughtered."
Jane turned toward her, panic rising. "Then what—"
Before she could finish, Levi closed her eyes. Her black hair bled into crimson strands, her horns pulsing faintly with light. She spread her wings wide, shadows folding in around her like a cloak.
Jane gasped. "Levi—don't! Don't use your magic you're not strong enough yet!"
The queen's voice came low, almost a growl. "If I do nothing, none of you will live."
The ground trembled. The air crackled with power. Black light poured from her hands, circling the group in sharp, runic patterns that burned against the cavern walls.
Mira staggered back, her eyes wide. "Teleportation? Here? That kind of spell—it'll tear her apart!"
Jane reached out instinctively, but the pull of the magic was already wrapping around her, searing cold against her skin.
Levi's gaze found hers in the chaos. For a moment, the storm faded, and it was only the two of them.
"Hold on to me," Levi said softly.
Then the world shattered.
A scream of wind tore through the cavern. Shadows ripped like paper. In an instant, the dripping stone walls dissolved into white heat, and the group was flung forward through nothingness.
Jane's stomach lurched—she clung to Levi with all she had, her robot arm sparking as if rejecting the current.
Then, as suddenly as it began, it was over.
They crashed onto damp grass beneath an open sky. The cavern was gone, the storm a memory. Around them stretched forest—quiet, green, untouched.
Jane coughed, pushing herself upright. Her friends staggered, pale and shaken.
Mira was the first to speak, voice trembling. "That… wasn't possible. She should never have been able to do that. Not without burning half her soul."
Everyone turned toward Levi.
The demon queen stood tall, her black hair streaked with white now, her eyes dim but steady. Her wings folded slowly, heavy as chains.
Jane's heart clenched at the sight.
Levi swayed but caught herself before falling. "We are safe—for now."
But the silence that followed wasn't relief. It was fear. Fear of what Levi had done. Fear of the power she had just revealed.
And most of all—fear of what it had cost her.
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Thank you for reading my novel