Sera's POV
The Nether wraiths are almost on us.
Shadow creatures with red eyes and teeth like daggers, screeching as they charge. I can't fight them. My nullifying power doesn't work on death magic.
I'm going to die.
Then Caelan steps in front of me, sword blazing with the last remnants of his divine power. Get behind me!
Your god-mark is barely working! I shout. You can't fight them all!
Watch me.
He swings his sword, cutting through the first Nether wraith. It dissolves into black smoke with a horrible shriek.
Kael appears on my other side, lightning crackling. How many are there?
Too many! Corvus yells. He's chanting in a language I don't understand, creating shields of dark energy around the camp. I can hold them back for maybe two minutes!
Around us, the rebels are fighting desperately. But normal weapons barely hurt these creatures. Only magic work sand most of these people don't have magic.
A Netherwraith breaks through the defense, heading straight for a little girl frozen in terror.
I don't think. I just run.
I throw myself between the creature and the child, arms spread wide, knowing I'm about to die but unable to watch a child get hurt.
The Netherwraith's claws slash toward my chest
And bounce off.
Silver light erupts from my skin like armor. The creature shrieks and stumbles backward, smoking where it touched the light.
What? I breathe, staring at my glowing hands.
Your power! Corvus shouts. It doesn't just nullify divine magic it's reacting to death magic too!
Another Netherwraith lunges at me. I raise my hands instinctively, and silver light shoots out like a spear, piercing straight through it. The creature dissolves.
I just killed a demon.
Sera! Caelan grabs my arm, spinning me to face him. His eyes are intense. Can you do that again?
I don't know! I didn't even know I could do it the first time!
Try! Kael yells. We're getting slaughtered out here!
I look around the camp. People are dying. The rebels who offered me shelter are fighting monsters they can't defeat.
Because of me. Isolde sent these creatures because of me.
Rage floods through me again the same fury I felt when the god-mark tried to control Caelan. When the prophecy tried to steal my life. When everyone treated me like I was nothing but a sacrifice.
I am so tired of being powerless.
Everyone get down! I scream.
The rebels drop. Caelan pulls me against his chest, shielding me with his body even though I'm the one with power right now.
I close my eyes and reach for the silver energy inside me. It feels like starlight and anger and every moment of my life I've been trapped, voiceless, invisible.
I let it explode.
Silver light erupts from my body in a wave that sweeps across the entire camp. Every Netherwraith it touches dissolves into smoke with anguished screams.
Within seconds, they're all gone.
Silence falls over the camp. Everyone stares at me.
I collapse to my knees, gasping. That took everything I had.
Caelan catches me before I fall completely. I've got you.
What did I just do? I whisper.
You saved us, Mara says, appearing beside us with tears in her eyes. Child, you saved all of us.
People start gathering around me. Some are crying. Others are kneeling like I'm some kind of saint.
Please don't, I say weakly. I'm not
You're extraordinary, Kael says quietly. He's staring at me like he's seeing me for the first time. A Fate weaver who can fight death itself.
Can someone please explain what's happening to me? My voice breaks. A week ago I was powerless! Now I'm shooting light from my hands and killing demons!
Corvus kneels beside me, his strange golden eyes gleaming. You were never powerless, Sera. You were dormant. All those years in the temple, surrounded by divine magic, you were absorbing it without knowing. Storing it.
Why didn't it show before?
Because you never needed it before. You were locked up, controlled, told to be quiet and accept your fate. Corvus smiles. But the moment you chose to fight the moment you got angry enough to refuse your destiny all that stored power woke up.
I look at my hands. They're not glowing anymore, but I can still feel the energy humming under my skin.
I don't know how to control it, I admit.
That's why you need training, Corvus says. I can teach you. Help you master your abilities before they master you.
Or before Isolde sends something worse than Nether wraiths, Kael adds grimly. She won't stop. Not until you're dead or captured.
Then we leave, Caelan says, standing up with me still in his arms. We go deeper into the Veilwilds where even Isolde can't follow.
There is no 'we,' Kael says sharply. You're still god-marked. Still connected to Kyros. How do we know this isn't all part of some divine plan to trap us?
The mark is bonding to Sera now, not Kyros, Caelan shoots back. You saw it change.
I saw it flicker. That doesn't mean you're free.
They're going to start fighting again. I can feel it building.
Stop, I say tiredly. Both of you. I can't deal with this right now.
Mara gently takes my arm from Caelan. The poor girl needs rest. You two can argue about who gets to protect her after she's had food and sleep.
She leads me to a tent while Caelan and Kael glare at each other.
Inside the tent, Mara helps me sit on a bedroll. Someone brings food bread and cheese and water. I eat mechanically, too exhausted to taste anything.
They both care about you, you know, Mara says gently. In different ways.
I don't want anyone to care about me like that, I mutter. I just want to live without people fighting over me.
Unfortunately, child, you've become something too important to ignore. Mara brushes hair from my face. A girl who can defy gods and rewrite prophecy? Everyone will want to claim you for protection, for power, for their own purposes.
I don't want to be claimed. I want to be free.
Then get stronger, Mara says simply. Strong enough that no one can force you into anything ever again.
She's right. I know she's right.
After she leaves, I lie down and close my eyes. My body aches. My head spins. But I can't sleep.
I keep thinking about the silver light, about the power inside me, about everything that's changed in just a few days.
Footsteps approach the tent. Quiet, careful.
I know you're awake, Caelan's voice says softly.
I open my eyes. He's standing at the tent entrance, silhouetted by firelight.
Come in, I say.
He enters and sits across from me, keeping a respectful distance. In the dim light, I can see the god-mark on his chest through his torn shirt. It's definitely different nowsilver mixed with fading blue.
Does it still hurt? I ask.
No. For the first time in my life, it doesn't hurt. He touches it gently. It feels... warm. Like sunlight.
I'm sorry I changed it without asking.
Don't be sorry. Caelan's voice is fierce. You freed me from the gods' control. That's a gift, not a burden.
We sit in silence for a moment.
Why did you jump after me? I ask quietly. When I was falling from Shadowmere. You could have died.
Because a life without you in it isn't worth living.
The words hit me like a physical force. I stare at him, shocked.
I know it's too soon, Caelan continues. I know you barely know me. But I've watched you for five years, Sera. I've seen your strength, your grace, your refusal to let them break you. I fell in love with the girl who survived twenty years of captivity and still had fire in her eyes.
My throat is tight. You can't love me. You were supposed to kill me.
I was. And I hated every second of it. He looks at me with raw honesty. I'm not asking you to love me back. I'm just asking you to let me stand beside you. Let me help you become strong enough to never need protecting again.
Before I can answer, shouting erupts outside.
We both jump up and run out of the tent.
The camp is in chaos again. But this time, it's not an attack.
Lyris is standing in the middle of the camp, her Oracle robes torn and bloody.
Lyris! I run to her. How did you find us?
I had a vision, she gasps. She's barely standing. I saw where you'd be. I've been running for two days straight.
What happened to you?
Mother Callista discovered I helped you escape. She had me arrested, tortured. Lyris grips my arms. But that's not why I'm here. Sera, I need to tell you something. Something about the prophecy. About why you were really chosen.
What do you mean?
Lyris's eyes fill with tears. The Sacrificial Maiden prophecy it's not random. The Oracles don't just pick any powerless girl. She takes a shaky breath. They pick girls who have dormant Fate weaver abilities. Girls who could threaten the gods if they ever awakened.
The world tilts.
What?
The sacrifice isn't to renew the barrier, Lyris says. It's to kill potential Fate weavers before they become powerful enough to challenge divine rule. They've been doing it for centuries.
Horror floods through me. All those girls who died before me
Would have been like you. Powerful. Dangerous to the gods. They died before they could discover their abilities.
I feel sick. Twenty years of preparation. Twenty girls before me. All of them murdered not to save the kingdom, but to protect the gods' power.
There's more, Lyris whispers. I saw your future, Sera. Multiple possible futures. In most of them, you die. But in one in one future, you live. You awaken fully. You become strong enough to face the gods themselves.
How? I demand. How do I survive?
Lyris looks at Caelan, then at Kael, then back at me.
You have to let go of your fear. Stop running. Stop hiding. She grips my shoulders. In the future where you live, you walk straight into the capital city. You challenge Isolde and the gods directly. You force them to face you in open combat.
That's suicide! Kael exclaims.
It's the only way, Lyris insists. Every future where Sera runs, where she hides and trains and waits she dies. Isolde finds her. Kills her. But the future where she attacks first, where she becomes the hunter instead of the hunted that's the one where she survives.
My heart pounds. When? When do I have to do this?
Lyris meets my eyes.
Tomorrow. At dawn. Or Isolde will find this camp and slaughter everyone.