LOGINAella POVI turned toward my essence, the urgency returning all at once now that Sol was finally here with me.“How do we do this?” I asked. “Because we need to grant access right now.”The moment the words left my mouth, both essences exchanged a look.Not worried.Knowing.My essence stepped forward first, the shimmering air around her shifting softly with every movement.“The sanctuary cannot be reached blindly,” she explained. “Not even now.”I frowned slightly.“Then how do we bring someone here?”“You anchor them.”The answer came from Sol’s essence.I turned toward him.“To open the sanctuary to another person,” he continued calmly, “one of you must remain connected to it while the other walks the outside world.”Understanding clicked immediately.My gaze snapped toward Sol.“No.”His expression shifted instantly.“Aella—”“You just got here.”“And Beatriz is needed now.”The words landed heavily between us.Because he was right.I hated that he was right.The babies shifted fa
Aella POVSol did it.The realization settled over me slowly, almost too large to fully grasp at first.He had actually done it.Not because someone guided him there.Not because the castle opened the way for him.Not because I pulled him through the bond.He found his own path.And standing there now, in the middle of that glittering clearing, I could feel the difference.Something about him had changed.Not dramatically.Not in a way the eye would immediately notice.But I felt it.In the way the air moved around him.In the calmness radiating from his body.In the steadiness of his power.His aura had changed.Before, Sol’s presence had always felt warm, intense, burning like fire barely contained beneath skin and bone. Even when calm, there had always been heat beneath the surface, something restless, something constantly pushing forward.Now—Now there was balance.The cold blue and silver power flowing through him softened the flames without extinguishing them. The fire remained
Sol POVI let everything go.The noise. The urgency. The need to catch up.For the first time since Aella disappeared, I stopped chasing.I stood in the center of my memories, surrounded by every moment that had shaped me, and instead of measuring them, instead of judging them—I accepted them.All of it.The loss. The rage. The responsibility. The choices I had made and the ones that had been forced upon me.I closed my eyes.And I listened.At first, there was nothing.Then—A pulse.Faint.Steady.From my chest.From my heart.It wasn’t like the fire I knew. It didn’t roar. It didn’t burn hot and consuming. This was different.Colder.So cold it burned.My breath slowed as I focused on it, letting the sensation expand instead of resisting it.The space around me dissolved, and I found myself standing within my own soul once more.And there it was.My fourth power.It didn’t blaze.It glowed.A deep, shifting mixture of blues and purples, threaded with veins of silver that shimmered
Sol POVI stood there long after the Queen released me.Her words did not fade.They settled.Heavy. Unavoidable.For the first time since Aella stepped into that path, I wasn’t reacting—I was thinking.I turned slowly toward the castle, toward the place that had answered her, chosen her, taken her somewhere I could not reach.“Then tell me,” I said, my voice steady despite the tension coiled inside me, “what do I have to do to meet her?”Silence followed.Then the blackboard lit up.No hesitation. No delay.The words appeared in glowing script.Follow your own path.I let out a slow breath.Of course.Before I could speak again, the ground beneath me shifted. Light spread across the floor, forming a path—different from hers. Not shimmering with that iridescent darkness that belonged only to Aella.This one burned.Gold and red intertwined, alive like flame contained beneath glass.It pulsed once.Like a heartbeat.Waiting.I didn’t hesitate.I stepped forward.The moment my foot touc
Sol POVI trained harder than I ever had before.Not because I wanted to improve.Because I couldn’t stand still.Because the longer Aella was gone, the harder it became to ignore the pull of the bond, the quiet, muted connection that reminded me she was still there… just out of reach.Ten hours.More than ten hours.Time had stopped outside, but not for me.Not in here.Every second stretched, heavy and relentless, pressing against my patience until it cracked.I pushed myself harder.Meditation. Reading. Repeating the same exercises over and over until my mind stopped fighting me and started listening.But it wasn’t enough.It didn’t feel like enough.The bond flickered faintly again.Distant.Muted.Still there.At least she was still there.I exhaled slowly and stood, running a hand through my hair before turning toward Order.“Can you get me a book?” I asked, my voice rougher than I intended. “Something that teaches me how to match Aella’s power.”The words sat heavy between us.
Sol POVI stayed seated in front of the path, staring at it as if I could force it to give her back.Then the books dropped.Not gently. Not by accident. They hit the ground in front of me with purpose, the sound echoing through the library like a challenge thrown at my feet. I didn’t need to look up to know who had done it.“Your Majesty,” Order said calmly.I closed my eyes for a second, already feeling my patience thinning.“Wouldn’t it be a better use of your time to learn something and better yourself instead of moping around while you wait for Queen Aella to return?”My jaw tightened as I opened my eyes and looked at him.“Moping?” I repeated, my voice low.Chaos snorted from somewhere behind him. “Oh, he’s definitely moping.”I ignored him and looked down at the books. Their titles stared back at me, heavy with meaning I didn’t want to admit I needed.Advanced Realm Stabilization. Path Forging and Sovereign Access. Soul Gate Theory. Power Integration and Identity Recognition.S
That night, the Silver Tower penthouse was alive with the glow of data and the thrill of a hunt. I had ended the seminar with a final, high-stakes bait. "I’ve given you the rules of the Acting Method," I told the hundreds of faces on the screen. "Now, here is the final challenge for the
-------SOL ---------------- She was gone. Just like that. Gone. No scream. No body. No blood. Just empty stone where she had been standing seconds before. My knees buckled before I realized I was falling. Linus caught me under the arm, steadying my weight like I weighed nothing. “Sol?” Hi
The aftermath was a blur of steel and shouting. Within seconds, a phalanx of the Royal Guard had surrounded us, their shields forming a shimmering wall of reinforced silver. Marcus didn't let me stand until we were deep within the stone corridors of the Imperial Wing, his hand a heavy, grounding we
The atmosphere in the Grand Hall shifted from shock to a heavy, simmering tension. While the rest of the students were being herded toward the Moon and Heir towers, Pamela and I stood in the center of the atrium, looking at our digital assignment badges. "There must be a mistake in the logistics,







