Elara's POV
Nina won't stop crying.
She's on her knees in the laboratory, sobbing so hard she can barely breathe. "My baby. He took my baby. This is my fault. I brought her here. I helped him—"
"Stop." I kneel beside her, grab her shoulders. "Listen to me. This isn't your fault. Theron manipulated you. He's been planning this for years."
"But I—"
"You were protecting your daughter. Any mother would do the same." I force her to look at me. "Now we're going to get her back. Understand?"
Nina's eyes are red and swollen. "How? We don't even know where the orphanage is. The ruins of Lunaris are huge. It could take weeks to search—"
"I know where it is." Kael's voice is hollow. He's still leaning against the altar, looking like a ghost. "I could find it with my eyes closed. I've tried to forget it for three hundred years and failed every single time."
Pyra's flames flicker. "The orphanage. I remember that day. The magical explosion was so powerful it reached all the way down to our prison cells. We felt thirty innocent souls snuff out like candles."
"Don't." Kael's voice cracks. "Please don't."
Oceanus, still adjusting to his new purified form, studies Kael with those calm ocean eyes. "You carry great guilt, Sorcerer King. It weighs on you like an anchor."
"I killed children," Kael says flatly. "I deserve to drown in guilt."
"Perhaps." Oceanus moves closer, water trailing across the floor. "Or perhaps you've punished yourself enough. Three hundred years is a long time to carry one mistake."
"It's not long enough."
I stand up. "We don't have time for this. We have three days. That means we need to move now."
"Move where?" Nina asks desperately.
"To the orphanage. We beat Theron there, set a trap, wait for him to arrive." I look at my marked palm—silver moon, red fire veins, blue water currents. "We have two First Beings on our side now. That has to count for something."
"He's had centuries to plan this," Kael warns. "He'll expect a trap."
"Then we make it a really good one." I help Nina to her feet. "Can you fight?"
She wipes her eyes. "For my daughter? I'd fight a god."
"You might have to." I turn to Pyra and Oceanus. "Can you travel? Leave the Keep?"
"We're not bound to this place like you are," Pyra says. "The First Beings were imprisoned beneath the wasteland, not tied to the Keep itself. Now that we're free, we can go anywhere."
"Good. Because we're going to need backup." I look at Nim, who's been quietly watching from a corner, all three eyes wide. "Nim, I need you to do something important."
The rabbit hops forward. "Finally! I've been waiting to be useful. What do you need?"
"Go to Stellaris. Find anyone who might help us. Anyone who hates Theron or wants to protect a baby or just wants to do the right thing."
"You want me to recruit an army in three days?" Nim's third eye spins. "That's impossible."
"You're a magical three-eyed rabbit. Impossible is kind of your thing."
Nim grins. "I like how you think, moon-child. I'll see what I can do." He hops toward the stairs, then pauses. "For what it's worth? I think you're going to win."
"Why?"
"Because Theron expects you to be afraid. To hesitate. To play it safe." All three eyes focus on me. "But you're not afraid anymore, are you?"
I think about everything that's happened. Being thrown away by my family. Choosing to share a curse. Making deals with fire-gods and water-beings. Facing down armies.
"No," I say. "I'm not afraid. I'm furious."
Nim's grin widens. "Good. Fury is much more useful than fear."
He disappears up the stairs.
Kael pushes himself away from the altar. "We should leave now. Travel at night while the wasteland creatures are less active. We can reach the orphanage ruins by dawn if we move fast."
"You're in no condition to travel," I protest. "You just bled half your—"
"I'm cursed, remember? I heal fast." He shows me his stone hand. The cut is completely gone, sealed over with new gray stone. "Besides, this is my fault. That orphanage. Those children. My mistake. I should be there to fix it."
"It's not about fixing the past," I say gently. "It's about saving the future."
Something in his expression softens. "When did you become so wise?"
"I've had a really educational two days."
Despite everything, he almost smiles.
Nina gathers herself, wiping her face with shaking hands. "I'm ready. Let's go get my daughter."
Pyra's flames burn brighter. "This should be entertaining. I haven't fought in three thousand years."
"Try not to burn down anything important," I tell her.
"I make no promises."
Oceanus flows toward the stairs. "The orphanage is near water, yes? The old Lunaris canal system?"
"It was," Kael confirms. "The canals are dry now. Dead like everything else."
"Not for long." Oceanus's eyes gleam. "I can bring water back. Use it as a weapon. Theron won't see that coming."
We climb the stairs back up to the Keep. The laboratory disappears behind us, that cursed place where so much went wrong. Where Kael lost himself. Where I bound two ancient beings to my cause.
Where we started down a path that will either save the world or destroy it.
Outside, the wasteland stretches endlessly under a moonless sky.
"The orphanage is ten miles north," Kael says. "Through the deadest part of the wastes. Where the dark magic is strongest."
"Then we better get moving." I start walking.
Kael falls into step beside me. Nina follows. Pyra and Oceanus bring up the rear, fire and water walking together.
We travel in silence for a while. The dead trees cast strange shadows. The ground crunches under our feet. Everything feels wrong, like the wasteland itself knows we're here.
"Elara," Kael says quietly. "What Theron said. About sacrificing Luna. If we're too late—"
"We won't be too late."
"But if we are—"
"Then I'll burn the world down to get her back." The Moonmark pulses with fire and water. "I didn't share your curse and bind myself to ancient beings just to watch a baby die. We're saving her. No matter what it costs."
Kael looks at me with something like awe. "You've changed."
"So have you."
We walk on.
Hours pass. The landscape gets worse—more broken, more dead, more hostile. We see creatures watching from the shadows, but they don't attack. Maybe they sense the First Beings. Maybe they're just smart enough to stay away.
As dawn breaks, we see it.
The orphanage ruins.
Crumbled stone walls. Collapsed roof. Scorch marks still visible after three centuries. And in the center, still standing impossibly, a single statue.
A little girl. Maybe seven years old. Frozen in stone mid-scream.
"That's Anna," Kael whispers. His voice is broken. "She was the first one. She ran toward me asking for help when the magic exploded. I tried to save her. Reached for her. But my touch..."
He doesn't finish. Doesn't need to.
The little stone girl stands there, eternal monument to the day innocence died.
"We're early," Nina says. "Theron said three days. We have time to prepare."
"Or he lied about the timing to throw us off," I counter. "We should search the area. Make sure—"
A baby's cry cuts through the air.
We all freeze.
That cry is coming from inside the ruins.
"Luna," Nina breathes.
She runs before we can stop her.
"Nina, wait!" I chase after her. "It could be a trap!"
We burst through the broken doorway into what used to be the orphanage main hall.
And stop dead.
Luna is there. Floating in the center of the room, her Sunmark blazing. But she's not alone.
Six figures stand in a circle around her. Shadow creatures, all identical, all wearing Theron's grinning face.
"You're early!" all six say in perfect unison. "I love it when my plans work out."
The six Therons laugh together—a horrible echo sound.
"See, I knew you'd come running the moment you heard the baby cry. Humans are so predictable." All six shadows move closer. "Which is why I'm already here. Already prepared. Already about to open the third lock."
"What third lock?" Pyra snarls. "The ritual requires a sacrifice at this location. You can't perform it without—"
All six Therons point at the stone statue of little Anna.
"Sacrifice of innocence," they say together. "Already done. Three hundred years ago. The Sorcerer King provided it himself. All I needed was the baby to activate it."
No. No, no, no.
The ground beneath the statue cracks. Dark light pours out.
The third lock is opening.
And we walked right into his trap.