MasukAurenya’s POV“What do you mean it found her first?”Rhydan’s voice cut through the room immediately.Sharp.Demanding.But Draven didn’t answer right away.His eyes stayed locked on the doorway.On the thing only half-visible in the shadows.My breathing turned shallow.The figure hadn’t moved again.It just stood there.Watching.Waiting.And somehow—That felt worse.Kaelor stepped closer to me instinctively, his body shifting slightly in front of mine.Protective.Careful.Like he already knew something was wrong.“Aurenya,” he said quietly, “tell me exactly what you’re seeing.”I swallowed.My throat felt tight.“It’s tall,” I whispered.The figure tilted its head again.Too slow.Too deliberate.“It’s standing near the door.”Rhydan turned immediately.His eyes scanned the space.Nothing.Of course.Because there was nothing there.Except there was.I could feel it.Like pressure pushing against my skin.“It isn’t moving,” I said softly.Draven’s expression darkened.“Because it
Aurenya’s POVNo one spoke after that.Not immediately.The room felt smaller somehow.Like the memory had taken up space.I sat on the edge of the bed again, trying to steady my breathing while Rhydan stayed close enough to catch me if I tilted too far.I hated that he thought I needed catching.But I hated the shaking in my hands more.Kaelor crouched slightly in front of me, his expression careful.“What exactly did you see?”I stared at the floorboards.The image still clung to me.Stone walls.Blood.My father’s face.That fear.I swallowed hard.“He wasn’t angry,” I said quietly.Rhydan frowned.“What?”“My father.” I looked up slowly. “He wasn’t sealing me because he hated me.”The words felt strange leaving my mouth.Because that was what I had believed for years.That he feared weakness.That he feared shame.That I wasn’t enough.But that memory—That wasn’t hatred.That was desperation.Kaelor stayed quiet, waiting.I exhaled shakily.“He looked terrified.”Draven finally s
Aurenya’s POVThe room stayed quiet long after Kaelor finished speaking.Too quiet.The fire crackled softly in the corner, but even that sounded distant now.The night you were sealed.Those words kept replaying in my head like something unfinished.I sat near the edge of the bed, fingers curled tightly into the blanket beneath me.My father.The seal.The thing inside me.None of it fit together the way I wanted it to.Because if my father had done this…Then it meant he knew.He knew something was wrong with me long before I ever did.And he never told me.Rhydan leaned against the wall near the window, arms crossed tightly over his chest.He hadn’t spoken much since Kaelor explained what they remembered.Which wasn’t much.Only fragments.Only pieces.Draven stood near the fireplace, expression unreadable as always.Kaelor stayed closest to me.Not touching.Just there.Like he thought I might disappear if he looked away.I hated that feeling.Being watched.Being fragile.“I stil
Aurenya’s POVThe glow under my skin didn’t disappear.It stayed.Soft.Unsteady.Like a heartbeat that didn’t belong to me.No one moved.Even Rhydan’s grip on my arm loosened slightly—not because he trusted what was happening, but because he didn’t know what to do with it.The darkness around us felt thicker now.Not empty.Occupied.I could still hear breathing.Mine.Theirs.And something else.Slow.Measured.Close.Kaelor’s voice came first. Low. Controlled.“Aurenya, look at me.”I tried.But my body wouldn’t listen fully.My eyes stayed fixed ahead.On nothing.On everything.Because I could feel it standing there.I still couldn’t see it.But I knew exactly where it was.The pull inside my chest tightened.Not painful.Just stronger.Like a thread wrapping tighter around bone.“Aurenya.”Rhydan’s voice this time.Closer.Sharper.I blinked slowly.The darkness shifted again.And then—the lights flickered back on.Dim.Weak.But enough.The hallway returned around us.Wooden
Aurenya’s POVThey didn’t come again.That was the worst part.Not silence.Control.Like whatever made it had decided we were already aware.Rhydan moved first. “We’re leaving. Now.”Kaelor didn’t argue this time. He was already at the door, checking outside through the crack before pushing it wider.Draven stayed where he was.Watching me.Not the others.Me.I hated that more than anything.“I can walk,” I said quietly, pushing myself up.My legs didn’t fully agree at first.Rhydan reached out instinctively. “Don’t push yourself—”“I said I can walk.”He stopped.Not because I sounded strong.Because I didn’t.And that was exactly why I had to.The older man—the one who said he helped with the seal—stepped aside slightly as Kaelor motioned for us to move.His eyes stayed on me a second longer than comfortable.Like he was waiting for something to happen.Like he already knew it would.We moved out of the room fast.The house wasn’t small.It wasn’t warm either.Everything felt too
Aurenya’s POVThe silence after Draven’s last words didn’t fade.It stayed.Heavy. Pressing. Alive in a way silence shouldn’t be.I sat there, staring at nothing in particular, while everything inside me tried to reorganize itself around information I didn’t ask for.Incomplete.Sealed.Split.None of it felt real.And yet my body reacted like it was remembering something my mind refused to hold.Rhydan moved first, breaking the stillness.“We’re not doing the call tonight,” he said firmly.Kaelor exhaled slowly. “We don’t have control over that decision anymore.”Rhydan shot him a look. “We always have control.”Draven’s voice cut in, calm but final. “Not over this.”That shut the room down again.I hated how easily he did that.Like facts were weapons and he didn’t bother raising his voice to use them.I pushed myself up slightly, ignoring the dizziness that followed. “Stop talking like I’m not here.”All three of them looked at me at once.Good.I needed that.“I don’t care what yo







