LOGIN
ARAH
Plumber Paul was dead.
Not even a month had passed since he’d walked into her shop and picked her Clover Wish for his first tattoo. She'd pitched that design as a lucky charm to her clients—just a gimmick of sorts. So imagine her surprise when Paul’s wish to win the lottery actually came true days later.
Now, he was gone. Just like that. It wasn’t because of her tattoo, of course. But with that last memory of him, how could she ever look at her Clover Wish and call it lucky again?
Her eyes drifted down to Barky, who was happily munching on his dog food. She squatted next to him, stroking his back and twirling her fingers through his soft brown fur. At least she had this big guy to cheer her up.
The bathroom door creaked open. She glanced up to see Gildeon strolling down the hallway in black sweatpants, rubbing his dark hair with a towel. She’d seen him naked plenty of times, but each time, his perfectly sculpted body drew her gaze like a moth to a flame. The way his muscles flexed with every move always made her blush like a teenager seeing a hot guy for the first time.
At least her past self had good taste.
For six months, she’d been scared and suspicious of Gildeon. How could she not be when she couldn't remember marrying him? Still, it’d be a lie to say she’d never fantasized about him making her come in every way possible.
But until she got her memories back and trusted him completely, she wasn’t about to give in to him—no matter how incredibly irresistible he was.
When Gildeon walked into the dining area, the scent of his minty soap and aftershave filled her senses. Everything about him was so addictive. It made her wonder what she was like falling in love with him before this whole amnesia thing.
“Dinner's ready,” she said, trying to hide her excitement. “Tonio taught me a new recipe for that tuna. Hope you’ll like it.”
Her heart sank a little when he barely glanced at the table. What was she expecting anyway? A loving smile? A “this looks delicious, you're the best wife ever” response?
‘Stop trying so hard to please him, Arah,’ she thought, smiling bitterly to herself. It wasn’t fair that she seemed to be the only one trying to make this marriage feel real. What else could she do? It hurt thinking he’d probably only start appreciating her efforts once she agreed to sleep with him.
Arah washed her hands and returned to find Gildeon already seated, now wearing a shirt from the pile of folded clothes on the couch.
She sat across from him and loaded some veggies onto her plate. “Did you hear what happened to Plumber Paul?” she asked, her tone somber. Gildeon’s attention was still on the food even as she said, “He got stung by a jellyfish. He didn’t make it.”
“Didn’t he just win the lottery?” he said, without so much as flinching. What was he made of? A block of ice?
“I really thought my Clover Wish gave him that luck,” she muttered, more to herself.
That made Gildeon pause and glance up at her. “What Clover Wish?”
“My latest art—the one I inked him with,” she replied before taking a spoonful of food. “Shame he didn’t get to enjoy his prize for long.”
Gildeon leaned back in his chair, staring pensively at his plate, drumming a finger on the table. Did the news finally get to him? It took a while, but she’d take it. Maybe he still had a heart after all.
“When did it happen?” he asked, meeting her gaze with a serious expression.
“This noon. I heard it from Tonio.” She bit her lip, pondering. “Though it’s weird he decided to swim in the rocky area alone.”
A lot didn’t make sense to Arah, but if she dwelled on it too much, she'd feel sorrier for the poor guy.
Pushing stray blue curls out of her eyes, she said, “Um, the mayor’s doing a public funeral for him. You should come with me.”
“Public funeral?” He raised a brow. “Where’s the body?”
“Yeah, it’s public,” she replied, reaching for her pineapple juice. “He didn’t have any family left, so there’s no one to organize it. But almost everyone on the island knew him, so—”
“Arah, where’s the body now?” His sharp voice cut her off, almost making her spill her drink.
What was up with him all of a sudden?
GILDEONHe remembered what Yonah had told him: once he recovered the dagger, the path into the Shining Keeper’s domain would reveal itself.The Fallen Immortal had given him nothing else. No map. No warning. Just that the chance would come when it came.Standing here now, Gildeon had to wonder if Yonah had seen all of this coming.“How do I get there?”His father turned and motioned for him to follow.Gildeon threw one last glance at the shifting projection on the wall. His eyes searched for Araheen. He didn’t see her. Relief came fast and sharp. Kohina and the others were missing too. That told him enough. They were likely together somewhere, trying to stop their people from gutting each other before there was anything left to save.That might buy him time to end this once and for all.The passage tightened as they moved. The walls folded inward until it felt less like a corridor and mo
GILDEONHe stopped dead.Seeing his father was the last thing he had expected when he stepped into the Dark Plane. For a second, his mind refused to take it in.“How?” he asked, the word rough in his throat. “Are you real?”Then the realization hit him. Back then, Daego had never truly returned from the Dark Plane. He and the thing that had worn his shape had only been sealed inside it.“I am, son.”That single word landed harder than any blow. Son. Daego smiled, and something in Gildeon’s chest gave way. For a moment, he was a child again.“Are you alive?”Daego shook his head once. “Not as a mortal lives in the breathing world,” he said. “I’m a spirit now. The plane took me in. I became part of it.”Gildeon’s mouth tightened. His lips trembled despite himself. “You know it’s me?”Daego ste
GILDEONHe didn’t wait to watch the situation turn worse. He shifted at once, flesh and bone cracking wide into his full dragon beast form, and went straight for Garud. He meant to kill it. Yonah’s dagger was in that thing’s body, and he would stop at nothing to take it.He hit Garud hard enough to shake the ruins.His jaws closed around the creature’s side with a wet, splintering crunch, and the force of it drove them both through the half-broken spine of the citadel. The air filled with the scream of shearing metal, the roar of breaking rock, and Garud’s shrill, furious cry as Gildeon dragged it through what little was still standing.Garud fought like a trapped beast. Its great wings beat once, twice, then the feathers changed. Each one hardened into steel with a ringing, murderous sound. A storm of them slammed into Gildeon’s hide. Some skidded off his scales. Some punched in between them. A few dro
ARAHEENHer mother had warned her about this. If Zephyr ever forced his way through the sigil, there was only one measure left. It would cost her. She had prayed she would never have to pay it.But right now, there was no other choice.She drew the sigil needle and cut it across the mark hidden on her forearm. The air around her turned sharp and bitter, cold rising fast enough to sting her lungs. Her Awakened core shuddered inside her, then broke loose in violent pulses. Ribbons of teal light tore out of her body in hard, whipping bursts and shot toward Zephyr. They wrapped him from throat to ankle, binding his arms, his chest, his legs, locking him in place like chains forged from raw will.Zephyr’s indigo eyes lit up. His face pulled tight with strain, every line in it hard and furious. Indigo fire bled across his skin as power surged off him in waves, battering against her restraints. He tried to tear through them by force.
ARAHEENThe girl could not have been older than six or seven.Her being here still made no sense to Araheen, though at this point the whole operation had become strange enough that she should have stopped expecting sense from it.“Where’s Zephyr?” she asked.“I can’t let you hurt him.”The child stood her ground when she said it. Small body. Steady eyes. No fear in the words.“Why?” Araheen asked. “Who is he to you?”The girl said nothing.Araheen stepped closer and crouched in front of her. “Little girl, I don’t know who you are, but Zephyr is dangerous,” she explained. “He means to hurt people. He means to tear apart the balance of the natural world. I’m here to stop him.”The girl tipped her head. “He isn’t a bad person.”“How can you say that?”“I know it.&
ARAHEENHer heart lurched the instant Zephyr went still and dropped.“It’s time,” she said quietly.The moment she urged her eagle mount downward, Feviel followed.Araheen caught sight of Gildeon diving too, a black shape cutting through smoke and open air. Below them, Zephyr still had enough strength left to bend the wind around himself, slowing the fall just enough to keep it from breaking him on impact. He hit the rubble-strewn courtyard hard, but not hard enough to die. When Araheen saw him clearly, he was on his knees, sitting back on his heels, arms hanging limp at his sides, head bowed so low the curtain of indigo hair hid most of his face.Gildeon landed in a violent crouch, clawed hand already lifting, ready to tear Zephyr apart. Araheen jumped from her mount before it had fully descended. Air rushed past her as she dropped the last few feet and caught Gildeon by his steaming arm. She stopped him just as
ARAHIt was up to her to pull him out of it.The weight of that realization pressed down on Arah like a boulder. She was determined—of course, she was—but how was she supposed to do it? The thought of failing, of not being enough to help Gildeon, curled around her ribs like a vice.She shook her he
GILDEONHe thought it was a figure of speech at first. He hadn’t expected the Indigo Sylph to mean it literally—centuries into the future.Jumping into the next scene, Gildeon braced himself. The air was cool, and the sky stretched dark above him. He stood at the edge of what appeared to be a small
STRINGMASTERThe salamander’s arrival struck her like a thunderclap. She had hoped Vergilius would have done what needed to be done. Or, at the very least, that Drusden’s carefully laid trap would hold long enough for the harvest ritual to be completed. Yet, Gil
GILDEONHe’d seen enough to know this would end badly. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder how Kana would manage to crawl out of this alive. These shamans were not to be underestimated. Their power carried the weight of something ancient—something likely bestowed by Yonah himself. Even the strongest







