By the time the mist thinned, Lianna's legs were trembling so badly she could barely stand.
Auren supported her weight, his arm steady around her shoulders, guiding her along the cracked road. The glow at her wrist was faint again, but every few minutes, it flickered like a stubborn heartbeat.
Kael walked ahead, shadows clinging to him in restless coils. He hadn't spoken since the battle—hadn't even looked back at her. His silence pressed heavier than his words ever did.
The horizon shifted, revealing jagged stone spires and broken towers in the distance. The ruins stretched like the bones of some fallen giant, half-swallowed by ash and creeping vines.
Lianna's chest tightened. "Is that… a city?"
Auren nodded. "It was once. Now it's called the City of Ash."
The name fit too well. Blackened walls jutted at awkward angles, windows hollow like staring eyes. The faint sound of wind carried through the broken streets, whispering like voices too low to understand.
"Are there people here?" Lianna asked, hope flickering.
Kael's reply was sharp. "Not the kind you want to meet."
Her stomach twisted.
Still, when they crossed the shattered gates, her eyes widened. Amid the ruins, there were signs of life—flickers of firelight, silhouettes darting behind crumbled walls, faint laughter that stopped the instant they drew near.
Auren caught her glance. "Survivors," he murmured. "They hide from both light and shadow. Trust is scarce here."
Her gaze lingered on a child's face peeking from a cracked doorway. The moment their eyes met, the child vanished inside.
Her heart ached.
"Why do they hide from light?" she whispered. "Shouldn't it… help them?"
Kael's shadows shifted restlessly. "Light judges as harshly as shadow. Those who carry too much fate are hunted, whether by fear or by reverence. Survivors learn to stay unseen."
Lianna fell silent. Every step through the ruined streets felt heavier.
---
They stopped in a half-collapsed inn at the city's center. Dust covered the tables, but the upper walls still held faded murals—paintings of golden skies and lush gardens.
It was almost impossible to imagine this place alive.
Auren eased her into a chair, his silver eyes full of quiet worry. "You need rest. Your power is pulling at you faster than you can contain it."
"I don't want rest," she whispered, shaking her head. "I want answers. I want—" Her throat closed. She pressed her wrist against her chest, feeling the faint thrum of the mark. "I saw him again."
That made Kael pause, finally turning to look at her. His storm-gray eyes sharpened. "Who?"
Her breath hitched. She didn't know how to explain—the hall of light, the crown, the golden eyes. It felt fragile, like if she spoke too plainly, it might vanish.
"I don't know," she admitted. "But he's… waiting for me. I can feel it."
Kael's jaw tightened, his voice low. "And if the one waiting is worse than the shadows you've seen?"
Auren shot him a glare. "Don't poison her with your cynicism. If the bond is awakening, then whoever it's tied to is the key to stabilizing her power."
"Or the reason she's destroyed," Kael snapped.
The air between them crackled again, suffocating. Lianna gripped the edge of the table, her voice breaking. "Enough! Stop using me as the battlefield for your arguments. I'm not a weapon for one of you to claim—I'm me!"
The mark on her wrist flared at her outburst, glowing hot, spilling faint light across the table.
Kael's shadows recoiled, his expression flickering with something unreadable. Auren leaned forward, his voice softer, steady. "You are right, Lianna. You're not a weapon. But you are… chosen."
Her breath hitched. "Chosen?"
"The bond doesn't awaken for everyone," Auren said. "It chooses few in each era. And those it chooses… change the world."
Her chest tightened. "I don't want to change the world. I just want my life back."
Kael's gaze was relentless, stormy. "That life is gone. The sooner you accept it, the longer you'll survive."
Silence fell heavy, broken only by the hollow whistle of wind through cracks in the walls.
---
Night came quickly in the City of Ash. The survivors stayed hidden, no fires visible, only faint glimmers of light behind shuttered windows.
Lianna lay awake on the inn's second floor, staring at the cracked ceiling. Auren had given her his cloak for warmth, and downstairs, she could hear the faint pacing of Kael's boots.
Her wrist burned faintly, and with it came the whisper again.
Find me.
Her eyes stung. "Where are you?" she whispered into the dark. "Why me?"
No answer came, only the echo of her own voice.
But as her eyelids grew heavy, she thought she saw golden eyes glowing faintly in the shadows—watching.
And her heart ached in a way that terrified her.
---