Raven POV We walked back toward the sanctuary, the familiar scent of herbs and smoke guiding us to where Loira and the priestess were still helping people settle down. Blankets were being handed out, and soft murmurs of comfort were exchanged. Children clung to their mothers. The wounded leaned on the strong.But Gwen and Elisha were still nowhere in sight.As soon as we stepped into view, I felt the tension ripple.Loira’s eyes caught on the stranger beside me, her brow furrowing sharply. She set down the bundle of herbs she was carrying and strode toward us. Asher followed close behind, his hand instinctively brushing the hilt of the dagger at his hip.“Raven?” Loira’s voice was cautious, but not unkind. “Who is this?”Asher’s tone was sharper. “Who’s the stranger?”I looked at them both, my heart still fluttering in my chest. “This is my father.”There was a beat of stunned silence.Asher blinked. “What?”Loira’s mouth parted slightly, her eyes snapping between me and the man b
Raven POV I watched them slip through the crowd just as I was finishing my speech… Elisha and Gwen, hand in hand, their faces were lit with something fragile and beautiful. My heart caught in my throat. Even here, in the aftermath of blood and betrayal, there was still room for hope and love.A smile bloomed on my lips before I could stop it.This experience…this nightmare…had scarred us. We had lost people. Pieces of ourselves. But even in the wreckage, we had found something. And that was something worth holding onto.I took a deep breath and turned to face the crowd, letting my voice rise above the murmurs and quiet sobs.“This experience was a terrible one,” I said, my gaze sweeping across the bruised and battered survivors, “but it has given us an important lesson. One I pray we never forget.”The silence was heavy.“And that is, to love while we can. To speak it. Show it. Live it…before the moment passes us by.”Heads nodded. Some wept. Others held each other just a little tig
Gwen POV I was lucky to have found Elisha when I did. It wasn’t so hard…thanks to the unmistakable scent of death and the distant cries of battle near the palace. I was close when I heard it and decided to check. Sure enough, he was in the thick of a suicide mission, fighting against impossible odds.As I led the people he had managed to save through the clearing, I tried not to think about what would have happened if I had lost him today.We kept walking for hours until I reached the place where the spell I had cast murmured under my breath. Slowly, the exact location of the hidden sanctuary revealed itself, shimmering like a secret carved into the very air around us.I crouched down to meet the little girl’s wide, fearful eyes. “Don’t be scared,” I said softly, my voice steady despite the tension pressing down on us all. “It’s safe here.”She clutched my hand tighter, trembling. I gave her a small, reassuring smile before turning to the crowd. “Just walk through this place, al
Elisha POV After I turned my back on Ansel, my heart pounded like a war drum in my chest.Every step away felt like a gamble, and I kept expecting the cold bite of his dagger between my shoulders. But… it never came.He let me go.I didn’t know if it was mercy, hesitation, or just part of some twisted plan, but I didn’t stop questioning it. I kept walking, my boots crunching over dead leaves and fractured stone, retracing my steps down the broken path we once took together. My mind screamed for direction, clarity, anything…but all I had was a single thought, to find Raven, our only hope.I had no idea where she was, not exactly. Just that she was out there, somewhere in the ruins of a shattered alliance, somewhere nursing a dying man and carrying the weight of a crumbling world. I needed to get back to her. To all of them. Because it wasn’t safe yet…not for any of us.The sky darkened with thick clouds, the wind whispering warnings I couldn’t afford to ignore. Every shadow looked
Gwen POVThe sun hadn’t risen yet, but the sky had begun to shift…inky black giving way to the softest blue. I stood at the edge of the sanctuary’s protective barrier, staring out into the woods. The trees swayed gently, as if whispering secrets to each other, their leaves rustling like a warning I couldn’t quite decipher.Sleep hadn’t come for me. Not really. I’d closed my eyes and tried to will my thoughts into stillness, but Elisha’s face kept flashing behind my lids…his voice, the last look in his eyes when he chose to go back to Ansel.He hadn’t returned.And I couldn’t decide what scared me more: the thought of him dead, or the thought of him still alive… but changed into a man I won’t recognize.I hugged my arms tighter around myself, pushing down the dread that clung to my ribs like a vice. The sanctuary was quiet now. Raven had finally fallen into a restless sleep, and the others kept watch in shifts. But the weight in the air hadn’t lifted. Not even close.The sound of fo
Raven POV When the water began to cool and the steam faded from the air, Asher looked at me gently.“You should get out now,” he said, his voice still soft, still careful not to break whatever fragile peace had settled between us. “The water’s gone cold.”I nodded, too tired to speak, and he turned away slightly to give me a sliver of privacy.. Slowly, I stood, the water slipping down my body in quiet rivulets. My limbs were heavy, each movement a quiet ache.Without a word, Asher held out a thick towel, wrapping it around me with a gentleness that made my chest tighten. He didn’t let his eyes wander, didn’t treat me like I was broken or delicate…just someone who’d been through hell and needed help standing on her own again.He helped me step out, drying my arms and shoulders before guiding me toward a nearby chair. He sat beside me, the towel still draped across my frame, his hands resting in his lap, silent and waiting.“I’m sorry,” he said again, barely above a whisper. “For ev