Aria's POV
"Get behind me," Kael ordered, shadows already gathering around his hands.
But I couldn't move. I stared at the three figures walking through the destroyed gates—my father, my stepmother, and my ex-boyfriend—and my brain couldn't process what I was seeing.
Their eyes glowed red like burning coals. Black veins crawled across their skin like spider webs. When they moved, shadows trailed behind them like cloaks made of smoke.
"Dad?" My voice came out as a whisper.
Marcus's head tilted at an unnatural angle. When he smiled, it was all wrong—too wide, showing too many teeth.
"Not quite," he said, but his voice sounded layered, like multiple people talking at once. "Your father is... sleeping. I'm just borrowing his body."
"Possession," Moira breathed. "Malachar possessed them."
Victoria—or the thing wearing Victoria's face—laughed. It sounded like breaking glass. "Such a smart old woman. Yes, we are Malachar's vessels now. And we've come to collect what belongs to our master."
"Aria belongs to no one," Kael growled. The shadows around him grew thicker, darker, more violent.
Ryan stepped forward, his possessed red eyes locked on me. "Come on, babe. Don't you miss me? We had something special."
Rage exploded in my chest, burning away my fear. "You CHEATED on me! You humiliated me! And now you're possessed by an evil shadow monster—so no, Ryan, I definitely don't miss you!"
"She's got spirit now," Ryan-thing said to the others. "I like it. Breaking her will be fun."
"You won't touch her." Finn moved to stand beside Kael, his hands glowing with silver light. His usual playful expression was gone, replaced by something fierce and protective.
Lyra stepped forward too, and vines erupted from the ground around her feet. "Leave this place. You are not welcome here."
"Three against three," Victoria-thing purred. "How fair."
"You forgot someone," Moira said calmly, raising her hands. White light gathered around her fingers. "Four against three. And we are not ordinary fighters."
The possessed family members attacked.
Everything happened so fast I could barely track it. Victoria-thing shot black lightning from her hands. Moira blocked it with a shield of white light. Finn leaped at Marcus-thing, his silver energy clashing against the dark shadows. Lyra's vines whipped through the air, wrapping around Ryan-thing's legs.
And Kael—Kael was terrifying.
He moved like liquid darkness, faster than my eyes could follow. Shadows poured from his body like living weapons—spears, whips, shields. When Marcus-thing tried to grab me, Kael was suddenly there, his hand wrapped around Marcus's throat, lifting him off the ground.
"I told you," Kael said, his voice deadly calm. "No one touches her."
He threw Marcus across the courtyard. The body hit the palace wall hard enough to crack the stone.
But Marcus-thing just stood up, laughing. "Is that all? The great Sovereign, protector of realms, and you can't even hurt us?"
"I'm holding back," Kael said coldly. "Those are still human bodies. I won't kill innocent people, even to stop Malachar."
"How noble. How stupid." Victoria-thing raised both hands, and suddenly the ground beneath us cracked open. Shadow creatures—dozens of them—crawled out of the darkness.
"Aria, run!" Finn shouted, destroying two monsters that lunged at him.
But I was frozen. There were so many. Too many.
A creature broke through the defensive line, racing straight at me with claws extended.
I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for pain.
It didn't come.
I opened my eyes to find Kael standing in front of me, the monster's claws caught in his bare hands. Blood dripped from where the claws had pierced his palms, but he didn't even flinch.
"I said," Kael repeated, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, "no one. Touches. Her."
He crushed the creature's claws in his fists, then ripped it apart with shadows.
More monsters came. Kael destroyed them all, moving so fast he was almost a blur. Every time one got close to me, he was there. Every single time.
He was protecting me with his own body.
"Kael, you're hurt!" I cried, seeing blood on his hands, his arms, his shoulder where claws had grazed him.
"I'm fine." He didn't take his eyes off the enemies. "Stay close to me."
Ryan-thing laughed from across the courtyard. "How touching! The cold Sovereign has a weakness now. Tell me, Kael—what will you do when we kill her right in front of you?"
"You'll be dead long before that happens."
"Will I?" Ryan-thing's smile widened. "Let's test that."
He moved faster than should be possible, crossing the courtyard in a blink. His hand, covered in shadow-claws, shot toward my heart.
Kael stepped between us. The claws meant for me plunged into Kael's chest instead.
"NO!" I screamed.
Time seemed to slow down. I watched Kael's silver eyes widen slightly in pain. Watched blood bloom across his dark shirt. Watched him stumble backward.
Something inside me snapped.
Heat exploded through my body—not normal heat, but burning, golden-white heat that felt like the sun itself was living in my chest. Power rushed through my veins like lightning.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" I screamed.
Light erupted from my hands.
It wasn't like the gentle glow when Kael had healed my arm. This was violent, wild, powerful. Golden-white light shot from my palms like a laser beam, hitting Ryan-thing square in the chest and sending him flying backward. He crashed through three trees before finally stopping.
Everyone froze, staring at me.
I stared at my own hands, which were still glowing. "What—what did I—"
"Her power," Moira breathed. "It's awakening faster than expected."
The possessed family members looked at each other. For the first time, they seemed uncertain.
"Malachar didn't tell us she could do that yet," Marcus-thing said.
"Retreat," Victoria-thing hissed. "We need to inform the master."
"This isn't over, Guardian," Ryan-thing snarled, pulling himself from the wreckage of the trees. "We'll be back. And next time, we'll bring an army."
The three of them dissolved into shadows and vanished, taking their summoned monsters with them.
Silence fell over the courtyard.
Then I remembered—"Kael!"
I spun around to find him on his knees, one hand pressed against the wound in his chest. Blood seeped between his fingers.
"I'm alright," he said, but his voice was strained.
"You're NOT alright! You're BLEEDING!" I dropped to my knees beside him. "Why did you do that? Why did you take the hit for me?"
Kael looked at me with those silver eyes, and even in pain, he managed a small smile. "I told you. I promised your mother I'd protect you. I keep my promises."
"You could have died!"
"Better me than you."
Tears burned my eyes. This man—this king who barely knew me—had just taken a killing blow meant for me. After everyone in my life had betrayed me, used me, hurt me... here was someone willing to die for me.
"Let me see," Moira commanded, kneeling on Kael's other side. She pulled his hand away from the wound and sucked in a sharp breath. "This is bad. The claws were poisoned with shadow magic. It's spreading through his system."
"What does that mean?" I demanded. "Can you heal him?"
"I can try, but shadow poison is difficult to—"
"I'll do it," I interrupted. My hands were still glowing faintly. "I healed him before, right? When I used my power?"
"Aria, you don't know how to control—"
"I don't CARE!" I grabbed Kael's shoulders. "Tell me what to do!"
Lyra touched my arm gently. "Feel the poison in his body—the darkness. Now imagine light pushing it out. Your light. Your power."
I closed my eyes and pressed my glowing hands against Kael's wound.
At first, nothing happened. Then I felt it—cold, oily darkness spreading through his veins like black ink. It was trying to reach his heart.
No. Absolutely not.
I imagined golden light—warm and bright and pure—flooding through him, burning away every trace of shadow. I pushed with everything I had.
The light from my hands grew brighter and brighter until I had to close my eyes against the glare.
When it finally faded, I opened my eyes.
The wound was gone. Not even a scar remained. Kael's shirt was still torn and bloody, but underneath, his skin was perfect.
"You did it," Finn breathed. "You actually did it."
Kael stared at me in wonder. "How—"
"I don't know." I was shaking, exhausted suddenly. "I just knew I couldn't let you die. Not after you saved me."
"Remarkable," Moira murmured. "Most Guardians train for years before they can purge shadow poison. You did it on instinct alone."
I barely heard her. All my energy drained away at once, and the world tilted sideways.
"Aria!" Kael caught me as I collapsed. "Someone get her inside. Now."
"The healing took too much from her," Lyra said. "She needs rest."
I felt Kael lift me easily, cradling me against his chest. Even exhausted and barely conscious, I felt safe in his arms.
"You saved my life," Kael said softly, looking down at me.
"You saved mine first," I mumbled. "We're even."
"Not even close." His voice held something I couldn't quite identify. "I've been protecting people for three hundred years, Aria. And in one night, you've shown me more kindness, more courage, than most people show in a lifetime."
Three hundred years. He was three hundred years old. I should probably be more shocked by that, but I was too tired.
"Don't let them take me," I whispered as darkness pulled at my consciousness. "Please."
"Never." Kael's arms tightened around me. "I swear to you, Aria Chen—I will never let anyone hurt you again. Not your family. Not Malachar. Not anyone."
I believed him.
As sleep claimed me, I heard Finn talking urgently to Moira: "—getting stronger. If Malachar is willing to possess innocent people just to get to her—"
"Then we have less time than we thought," Moira finished grimly. "The prophecy is accelerating. We need to prepare her faster."
"What prophecy?" Lyra asked.
"The one that says the last Guardian will either save all the realms—or destroy them."
Those were the last words I heard before unconsciousness swallowed me whole.
But even in the darkness of sleep, one terrifying question haunted me:
Which one was I going to be?