Sera's POV
They found you.
Caspian's words hang in the darkness. The protection symbols on the walls the ones that were glowing blue moment's ago are now completely dark.
What do we do? I whisper.
He's already moving, touching different spots on the walls, whispering frantic words in that ancient language. Nothing happens. The symbols stay dead.
It's not working, he says, and I hear real fear in his voice. Something's blocking my magic.
Footsteps echo outside the door. Heavy. Multiple people.
Caspian spins toward me. Whatever happens, don't use your power. They're tracking it. Every time you use it, you become easier to find.
But
The door explodes inward.
Three figures stand in the hallway, backlit by torches. They're tall and beautiful in a way that hurts to look at like staring at the sun. Their eyes glow gold. One of them smiles, and it's the cruelest thing I've ever seen.
Found you, the woman says. Her voice sounds like breaking glass.
Caspian steps in front of me. You can't have her.
The woman laughs. A dying mortal thinks he can stop us? How adorable.
She raises her hand. Light gathers in her palm not the warm light that comes from me, but something cold and sharp.
No! I scream.
The light shoots toward Caspian. He throws up his hands and a shield appears but it's weak, flickering. The attack hits it and Caspian goes flying backward, crashing into the wall beside my bed.
He doesn't get up.
Caspian! I lunge toward him, but the chains jerk me back. He's breathing, but there's blood trickling from his temple.
The woman walks into the room. Her two companions follow. They look at me like I'm an interesting bug they found under a rock.
Seraphine, the woman says. You look so... small now. Where's the goddess who used to shake the heavens?
I don't know what you're talking about, I say, but my hands are glowing. The power is rising inside me whether I want it to or not.
Don't lie. She steps closer. Azrael sent us to bring you back. You can come quietly, or we can drag you. Your choice.
Azrael. The name from my dream. The man with cruel eyes who said I belonged to him.
Rage burns through me, hot and bright.
I don't belong to anyone, I snarl.
The woman smiles. There she is. There's the fire.
She reaches for me
and I explode.
Light erupts from my body in all directions. It's not like before, not wild and uncontrolled. This is focused. Angry. The chains shatter into pieces. The three divine hunters fly backward, slamming into walls.
I stand, power crackling around me like lightning. For the first time since I woke up, I feel whole. Strong. Myself.
The woman gets to her feet, looking shocked. Impossible. You shouldn't have this much power left. You were stripped
Get out, I say, and my voice echoes with something ancient. Before I make you leave.
They exchange glances. Then they vanish in bursts of golden light, disappearing like they were never there.
The moment they're gone, my power cuts off. I collapse to my knees, gasping. The room is destroyed walls cracked, furniture smashed, the door hanging from one hinge.
Sera.
Caspian's voice. I crawl to him. He's sitting up, one hand pressed to his bleeding head.
Are you okay? I ask frantically.
Am I He laughs weakly. You just fought off three divine hunters. I should be asking you that.
I don't know what happened. They were going to hurt you and I just
I know. He touches my face gently. His hand is shaking. You protected me. Thank you.
We sit there in the wreckage, both of us trembling.
They'll be back, Caspian says finally. And they'll bring more next time. We need to leave.
Leave? I look around. But you said the protection only works here.
It did. Until the wards failed. He tries to stand and almost falls. I catch him, and I'm shocked by how light he feels. How fragile. We have maybe an hour before they regroup. We need to go now.
He's right. I can feel it a pulling sensation, like invisible hands reaching for me from far away. They know where I am now.
Over the next hour, Caspian packs supplies while I watch, still shaken. He moves like every step hurts, but he doesn't stop. We leave the stone roomy prison and I see the fortress for the first time.
It's massive. Old. Built into the side of a mountain with endless forest below. Beautiful and isolated and now completely useless.
Where will we go? I ask as we descend stairs carved into rock.
I have a safe house, Caspian says. It's not as protected as this place, but it'll buy us time.
Time for what?
He stops and looks at me. Time for you to remember who you are. What you can do. You're powerful, Sera. More powerful than they expected. But you don't know how to control it yet. We need to train you before they come back with an army.
We make it outside as the sun rises. I see it painting the sky pink and gold, and something inside me sings in response. Like I know this moment. Like I've created a thousand sunrises just like it.
The voice in my head whispers: You did, my dear. Every morning for three thousand years.
I stumble. Caspian catches me.
What's wrong?
I can't tell him about the voice. Not yet. Just tired, I lie.
We walk for hours through the forest. Caspian knows the paths, even though he's getting weaker with every step. I can see it the life draining from him, faster now that the wards are gone.
Caspian, I say as we rest beside a stream. If keeping me hidden was killing you, and now we're not even hidden anymore... does that mean you'll get better?
He drinks from the stream, not meeting my eyes. It doesn't work that way. The damage is done.
Four months, he said. Maybe less.
My throat tightens. I'm not worth this.
Yes, you are. He says it like it's a fact, not an opinion.
You don't even know me, I argue. Not really. I don't remember anything. I could be a terrible person. I could be
You fell in love with a mortal, Caspian interrupts quietly. Two hundred years ago. My ancestor. You gave up heaven for him. You were sentenced to death, and he sacrificed everything to save you. Does that sound like a terrible person to you?
I don't know what to say.
Every man in my family has protected you, he continues. Generation after generation. And every one of them fell in love with you. Not because they had to. Because of who you are. Kind. Brave. Worth dying for.
Stop, I whisper. Please stop saying things like that.
Why?
Because it makes me feel like I owe you something I can't give! The words burst out. You're dying for someone who doesn't remember you, who might never remember you, who might wake up one day and be someone completely different! How is that fair to you?
Caspian is quiet for a long moment. Then he asks, Do you want to remember?
I don't know, I admit. I'm scared of what I'll find.
That's fair. He stands, offering me his hand. Come on. We should keep moving.
I take his hand and let him pull me up. His grip is weak, but steady.
We walk until sunset. Finally, we reach a small cabin hidden deep in the forest. It looks abandoned, but when Caspian touches the door, symbols glow briefly before fading.
This was my family's emergency shelter, he explains. It has basic protection, but nothing like the fortress.
Inside is simple one room with a bed, a table, a fireplace. Caspian immediately starts building a fire.
I watch him work, questions burning in my mind. Finally, I ask the one that's been bothering me since the fortress.
If I asked you to make me forget... would you do it?
Caspian freezes. The fire crackles between us.
What?
You said I've woken up multiple times, I press. Confused and scared every time. Did I ever ask you to make me forget on purpose?
He turns to face me slowly. His expression is devastated.
Yes, he whispers. You already did.
The air leaves my lungs. When?
Five years ago. His voice cracks. You were remembering too much, too fast. The pain was destroying you. You begged me to make you forget. To give you peace. So I did. I used magic to lock away your memories and put you to sleep. I thought it would help.
But it didn't, I realize.
No, he says. Because the memories keep trying to come back. And every time they do, you wake up and we start over.
I sink onto the bed, mind reeling. So this us, this conversation we've had it before?
Parts of it. He sits beside me, careful to leave space between us. You always ask the same questions. I always give the same answers. And then you either remember or break, or you forget and sleep. We're trapped in a cycle.
How many times? I ask.
Seventeen, Caspian says. You've woken up seventeen times in five years.
The number hits me like a punch. Seventeen times he's watched me wake up scared. Seventeen times he's explained this nightmare. Seventeen times he's hoped I might finally remember him.
And I never do.
I'm sorry, I whisper.
Don't be. He smiles sadly. It's not your fault.
We sit in silence as the fire burns. Outside, night falls. And somewhere in the darkness, I feel them the hunters, searching.
Getting closer.
But there's something else too. A presence I recognize from my dreams.
Golden hair. Eyes like fire. A smile that promises pain.
The voice in my head confirms what I already know:
He's coming, Seraphine. Your beloved Azrael. And this time, he won't let you hide.