The earth did not simply crack.
It screamed.
Stone split beneath Aelin's feet with a sound like bones snapping, the courtyard collapsing inward as shadows poured from the fracture like living smoke. The force ripped through her body, tearing the breath from her lungs as she was dragged forward downward into darkness.
Her fingers slipped.
"No!" Kael roared.
He lunged, sword flying from his grip as he caught her wrist at the very edge of the collapse. Pain exploded up his arm as the ground continued to crumble, the weight of the shadows pulling her away from him with merciless hunger.
Aelin dangled over the abyss, the mark on her wrist blazing white-hot, tendrils of darkness wrapping around her legs, her waist, her chest.
"Kael!" she cried, terror cracking her voice. "It's pulling me!"
Mark stood unmoving at the center of the chaos, his silhouette framed by writhing shadow. His smile never faltered.
"Let her go," he said calmly. "You can't save what already belongs to me."
Kael bared his teeth. "I will tear you apart."
Mark's eyes flicked to him, amused. "You'll try."
Kael tightened his grip on Aelin, muscles screaming as the stone beneath him gave way inch by inch. Lira appeared at his side, driving her dagger into the ground and grabbing his belt to anchor him.
"Kael!" she shouted. "We're running out of time!"
Aelin felt it then something deeper than fear.
The mark wasn't just pulling.
It was awakening.
Her vision blurred as memories she didn't recognize slammed into her mind fire and blood, ancient halls collapsing, a child screaming her name. Power surged through her veins, dark and intoxicating, whispering promises of control.
Let go, the shadows coaxed. Let us carry you.
She clenched her jaw.
"No," she whispered fiercely.
The ground lurched again.
Kael lost his footing, sliding forward. Stone bit into his knees as he fought to hold on.
"Kael," Aelin said, tears streaming down her face. "You have to let me go."
"I will not," he snapped.
"You'll die!"
"Then I die," he said hoarsely. "I don't care."
Her heart shattered.
She reached up with her free hand, cupping his face, memorizing him the scar at his temple, the fury and fear burning in his eyes.
"You saved me," she whispered. "Now let me save you."
Before he could stop her, she loosened her grip.
"No!"
She tore herself free.
The shadows swallowed her whole.
Kael screamed her name as the abyss closed, the courtyard collapsing inward with a deafening roar. Dust and debris exploded upward, flinging him back as Lira dragged him away just as the ground sealed shut.
Silence followed.
Heavy. Absolute.
Kael lay on the stone, chest heaving, staring at the place where she had vanished.
Gone.
Mark was gone too.
The ruins smoldered under moonlight, the city above trembling with distant cries.
Lira knelt beside him, shaking. "She—she fell."
Kael pushed himself upright, blood dripping from his chin, eyes empty and burning.
"She didn't fall," he said quietly.
"She chose."
Aelin did not fall into darkness.
Darkness fell into her.
She hit the ground hard, air ripping from her lungs as she tumbled across cold stone. Pain flared through her ribs, her shoulder, her spine but it was distant, dulled by the roaring pulse of power thrumming beneath her skin.
She rolled onto her side, gasping.
The cavern was enormous, ancient pillars rising into nothingness, veins of glowing shadow running through the walls like living arteries. The air hummed with magic so old it made her teeth ache.
Mark stood a few paces away, hands clasped behind his back, studying her with satisfaction.
"Welcome home," he said.
Aelin pushed herself up, legs shaking. "This isn't my home."
"No," Mark agreed. "It's ours."
She spat blood onto the stone. "You don't get to say that."
Mark sighed, almost indulgently. "You still don't understand the mark."
"Then explain it," she snapped. "Before I rip it out of my skin."
Mark chuckled. "You can't. It isn't ink or flesh. It's a binding. A legacy."
He stepped closer, shadows bending toward him in reverence.
"You were chosen long before you were born. Your bloodline was forged to carry this power my power. You're not cursed, Aelin. You're crowned."
Her stomach twisted. "You're lying."
"Am I?" His eyes gleamed. "Feel it."
The mark burned.
Power surged violently through her, forcing a cry from her throat as shadows leapt to her command, the cavern responding to her presence like a living thing.
She staggered, heart racing.
Mark smiled. "You see?"
She shook her head. "This doesn't make me yours."
"No," he said softly. "It makes you inevitable."
Her thoughts flew to Kael his hands, his voice, the way he had refused to let go.
"You're afraid of him," she realized suddenly.
Mark's smile twitched.
"That's why you separated us," she pressed. "You know he's a threat."
Mark's eyes darkened. "He's an inconvenience."
"Then why am I alive?" she demanded. "Why not kill me and take the power?"
Mark stepped closer until they were face to face.
"Because you are the power."
His voice dropped, reverent and cruel.
"And power must be awakened not destroyed."
Kael didn't remember leaving the ruins.
He remembered blood on his hands that wasn't his, the way his chest felt hollow, the city blurring past as he walked without direction, without breath.
They found him at dawn.
The Shadow Guard.
Steel surrounded him, spears raised, magic crackling in the air.
"Kael of the Southern Blades," their captain called. "You are under arrest for treason, conspiracy, and defiance of the council."
Kael looked up slowly.
"You're wasting your time," he said. "She's gone."
The captain frowned. "Who?"
Kael smiled a broken, dangerous thing. "The one you should have been afraid of."
They struck him down with the butt of a spear.
Chains closed around his wrists.
As they dragged him toward the Spire, Kael stared at the sky, jaw clenched, heart roaring with a vow so sharp it cut.
I will find you.
I don't care what it costs.
Aelin stood alone at the edge of the cavern, watching shadows coil around her fingers like loyal beasts.
She hated how natural it felt.
Mark lingered behind her, voice smooth. "You'll learn to control it."
"I won't serve you," she said.
"No," he agreed. "You'll surpass me."
She turned sharply. "Then why are you here?"
Mark's expression hardened, something ancient and bitter flickering through his eyes.
"Because when the world realizes what you are," he said, "they'll try to kill you."
He stepped closer, shadows thickening.
"And when they do… you'll need someone who understands what it means to be feared."
Aelin's throat tightened.
She thought of Kael in chains.
Of the city above, trembling.
Of the power burning beneath her skin, waiting to be unleashed.
She straightened.
"Then teach me," she said coldly. "So when I return…"
Her eyes burned with resolve.
"…no one will ever take me again."
The shadows surged.
And far above, the city braced itself
For war.