LOGINCHAPTER 43Nyra’s POVThe moment his blood hits the ground for the second time, I understand something that should have terrified me but instead makes something dark and steady settle inside my chestHe can be killedNot easilyNot without costNot without tearing everything apart to do itBut he is not a godAnd that changes everythingThe air around us turns colder, heavier, like the world itself is reacting to the shift, to the truth that has just been exposed in the middle of this battlefield soaked in blood and fireMagnus straightens slowly, his hand brushing against the wound at his side, his fingers coming away stained red, and for a moment he just looks at it like he cannot quite believe what he is seeingThen his gaze lifts to mineAnd whatever was calm in him before is gone“What are you,” he asks, not curious this time but sharp, demanding, like the answer matters more than anything else happening around usI meet his stare without flinching, without stepping back, without
CHAPTER 42Nyra’s POVThe moment I realize he is about to end everything, I stop thinking about survival and start thinking about how far I am willing to go to destroy himThe ground beneath us trembles harder now, cracks spreading like veins through stone, power gathering in a way that feels unnatural, like the world itself is bending to his will, and for a brief second I understand why no one has ever stood against him and lived to tell the storyBut I am not themAnd this is not their endingKael moves beside me, his presence solid and unshaken, yet I can feel the tension in him, the awareness of what is coming, the weight of a battle that has already taken too much and is about to demand even more“Whatever he’s about to do,” he says, his voice low but steady, “it won’t be small”I let out a slow breath, my eyes locked on Magnus as his hand lifts higher, as the air around him distorts, as something dark and ancient coils at his command“I figured that out,” I reply quietlyThe tru
CHAPTER 41Nyra’s POVThe first time I realize I am no longer fighting to survive but to win is the moment their fear reaches me before their blades doIt changes everythingThe elite soldiers close in around me with precision, moving like one mind instead of many, their coordination sharp, controlled, trained for moments like this where hesitation means death, but I can see it in their eyes now, that flicker they are trying to hide, that crack in their certaintyThey did not expect me to still be standingThey did not expect me to rise after that hitThey did not expect me to look at them like thisLike they are the ones in dangerOne of them lunges first, fast and direct, aiming to end it quickly, but I am already moving, my body slipping past his strike as if I have done this a thousand times before, my hand catching his wrist, twisting hard until I feel the shift of bone beneath my grip before I drive my knee into his chest and send him crashing back into the othersThere is no pa
CHAPTER 40Nyra’s POVI finally come face to face with the man who destroyed my entire life and the worst part is that he looks at me like I am nothing more than a mistake he forgot to finishThe battlefield around us is still alive with chaos, bodies colliding, wolves shifting, the sound of metal and bone breaking filling the air, yet none of it reaches me the way it should because my entire world has narrowed to one personElder MagnusHe stands there untouched by the violence, calm in a way that feels unnatural, like war is something beneath him, like all of this destruction is simply a game he already knows he will winMy grip tightens around my blade as something dark rises inside me, something that has been building for years, something that has been waiting for this exact moment“You should have stayed hidden,” he says, his voice smooth, almost disappointed, like I failed to meet his expectationsA bitter laugh rises in my throat before I can stop it“You should have made sure
CHAPTER 39Nyra’s POVThe night everything finally breaks begins in silence, the kind of silence that does not bring peace but warns of something waiting just beneath the surface, something sharp and inevitable, something that has been coming for far too longI feel it before I see itThat shift in the airThat quiet tension crawling beneath my skin like a warning I cannot ignoreI stand at the edge of the fortress balcony, staring out into the darkness where the forest stretches endlessly, where shadows move in ways that do not belong to the wind, where something is watchingOr waitingMy fingers tighten against the cold stone as my heartbeat slows instead of racing, because fear is not what fills me now, not anymoreThis is something colderSomething strongerThis is readinessFootsteps sound behind me, steady and familiar, and I do not turn because I already know who it isKaelI feel him before he speaks, his presence wrapping around the space like something solid and unbreakable,
CHAPTER 38Nyra’s POVThe moment the last of them steps back, the air does not settle the way it should after a fight, instead it tightens around us like something unseen is still watching, still waiting, and I feel it deep in my bones that this is not the end of anything, it is only a pause, the kind that comes right before something worse begins.My chest rises slowly as I try to steady my breathing, but the power inside me has not faded, it lingers beneath my skin like heat that refuses to cool, like something alive that has finally found a way out and does not intend to be buried again.I do not like it.I do not understand it.And that alone makes it dangerous.“Nyra,” Kael’s voice comes from behind me, closer than before, quieter but heavier, and I feel his presence before I even turn, strong and steady in a way that pulls at something inside me that I do not want to name.I do not face him immediately.Instead I keep my eyes on the enforcers as they begin to retreat, not in pan







