LOGINIt hit her. Hard. And wrapped around Kaelani’s wrist. The force yanked her sideways, her body slamming across the ground, stone scraping beneath her as she was dragged, carving a brutal line across her back. The stag flickered, shadow unraveling in jagged tears as the strain tore through her foc
Draevyn watched her. Something in his expression shifted. Not surprise. Not quite approval. A faint, almost pleased smile touched his mouth. “With pleasure.” He moved. So did she. They collided— Not in flesh. In shadow. Darkness tore free from every corner of the courtyard—from beneath pi
Draevyn rose. Not hurried. Not shaken. He straightened as though the earth itself had merely inconvenienced him. Across the torn expanse of ground, Kaelani was already advancing. There was no stumble in her step. No impulsiveness. Only a measured approach that made something old and instincti
Then the gold answered him. It seeped from the cracks in the air itself… drawn toward him like filings to a magnet. Thin rivers of stolen radiance poured into his wounds. Flesh knit. Bone realigned with faint, nauseating pops. Bruising faded beneath his skin as if time itself had reversed. By the
Gold detonated from the spearheads in a unified blast — streams of concentrated power tearing through the air and slamming directly into Draevyn. The impact should have crushed him. For a heartbeat… it seemed to. His body jerked. Light engulfed him. He staggered back a step as energy tore acros
“…Julian?” Kaelani whispered, the name fragile with disbelief. Once. Then again. She blinked hard, as if the vision might fracture if she looked too closely. Dust still drifted between them. Gold light still pulsed across the splintered ground. But all she saw— Was him. Standing there like s







