The storm above screamed as if the heavens themselves recoiled from what was about to unfold.
Rael stepped forward, his shadowed wings unfurling to their fullest span, blotting out the firelit sky behind him. The blade in his hand pulsed with molten veins of red, alive with the Hollow Flame's curse. Every movement radiated lethal precision, the kind only forged through pain and chains.
Selene stood motionless in the battlefield's heart, the clash of armies a storm that blurred at the edges of her awareness. The world narrowed to this—her and the son she had lost, now made into her executioner.
"Rael…" Her voice barely rose above the carnage, but he heard it. She knew he did. His steps faltered for the briefest instant.
Kieran saw it too. From where he cut down enemy warriors like wheat before fire, his golden gaze locked on the boy-turned-weapon. His heart pounded like a war drum, torn between instinct and dread. Every fiber of his being screamed to protect Selene—even if it meant putting his blade through her son's heart.
"Don't," Selene whispered fiercely, though Kieran was several strides away. She knew him too well; she could feel the weight of his choice already crushing the air.
Rael's face was carved in stone, but behind those flame-ringed eyes, something flickered. A memory. A whisper. The silver thread between them tugged taut, straining against the weight of Malrik's command.
The warlord's voice boomed like thunder across the battlefield, pressing chains tighter around Rael's will.
"Strike her down! Now!"
Rael's arm trembled. His sword rose, but not with the clean certainty of a killer. His wings shook against the storm, feathers of shadow scattering sparks of dying flame. Selene stepped closer, her silver fire burning brighter, wrapping her in a glow that pushed against the suffocating dark. She didn't raise her blade against him. Instead, she lowered it, letting it fall to her side.
"I am not your enemy," she said, voice steady even as her heart broke. "I am your mother. No chain, no curse, no god can take that from you." The world seemed to hold its breath. Soldiers faltered mid-strike, eyes turning toward the moment that outweighed even the war around them.
Rael staggered, his chest heaving as though the battle was not with her but within himself. His scream tore through the storm, a sound too raw for a boy his age, too ancient for a child she had once cradled. His blade wavered—then thrust forward.
Kieran lunged. Golden fury ignited in his veins, his sword blazing with warrior's fire. He would not let Selene fall, no matter what it cost. But before steel could clash, Selene flung out her hand—not at Rael, but at Kieran. Her magic lashed like a silver chain, halting Kieran mid-stride. His fury erupted in a snarl.
"Selene!" His voice cracked like breaking stone. "You'll die—"
"I'd rather die by his hand than let you kill him!" she screamed back, her power straining to keep Kieran from closing the gap. The battlefield shuddered under the weight of their war within a war. Lightning struck the Chasm's edge, raining fire across the Hollow Flame ranks. Malrik's laughter rolled across the storm, savoring every fracture in their resolve.
And then—Rael's sword stopped inches from her chest. The blade quivered, locked in place by his own trembling will. His eyes flickered—gold burning into gray, ember dimming into shadow. For a heartbeat, she saw him. Truly saw him.
"Mother…" His voice cracked, a broken whisper. Hope surged through Selene like wildfire but then the chains snapped tight again. His eyes blazed gold once more, and he staggered back with a roar, his wings flaring wide. The Hollow Flame surged forward at Malrik's command, swallowing him into their tide.
Selene gasped, reaching for him, but he was gone—pulled back into the storm of war. Her knees nearly buckled. The silver fire around her flickered, dimmed by heartbreak. Kieran was at her side in an instant, his sword dripping with the blood of enemies, his face carved in fury and anguish. He gripped her shoulders hard enough to bruise.
"You hesitated," he growled. "He could have killed you."
"And he didn't," she snapped back, silver eyes blazing with defiance. "That means there's still something of him left. And I will not give up on him, Kieran. Not now. Not ever." The war raged on around them, but the true battle had shifted. Malrik had unleashed his greatest weapon. Selene had glimpsed the boy still trapped within the monster.
The next time their paths crossed, it would not end with hesitation. It would end with salvation—or ruin.