The Binder reveals

There was something different about the air this morning.

It didn't feel heavy with magic or dread like it did before. No fire, no blood. Just… stillness.

But somehow, that felt worse, because I knew peace never stuck around for long, especially not for someone like me.

---

“I need some fresh air,” I said to Aria as we stood on the upper balcony.

She smiled softly and slipped her arm around mine. “Let’s take a walk then, just the two of us.”

Moments like this were rare. Quiet, peaceful, real. Just like my previous life where nothing bothered me apart from healing the wounded. 

We wandered past the training fields and into the thick trees beyond the mountains. Birds chirped lazily, and sunlight filtered through the leaves.

Then, out of nowhere… The shadows shifted.

Aria came to a halt. “They’re here,” she observed.

“Who?” I asked, retracing my steps.

“The other Vessels, please be careful.” 

They appeared without making a sound.

The second Vessel— the one who threatened me through the flames and in my dreams, and just two days ago, I realized she’s the Breaker. She stood tall and fierce, her silver eyes sharp like knives. She looked a bit like me, but tougher. More hardened.

Next to her was another girl.

Softer. Smaller. There was a quiet energy about her, pulling inward like gravity.

And just then, it dawned on me that she’s the third vessel. She’s the one Aria saw the glimpse of her shadow from the ancient mirror, and I recognized her from my vision, 

She's the “Binder” and her name is Elira. In her eyes held the weight of countless secrets.

Elira spoke first.  

“You need to understand, May… we weren’t meant to meet like this. But time’s unraveling faster than we thought.”

I stepped forward. “Why are you two here?”

She glanced at the Breaker, who simply crossed her arms and stayed silent.

Then Elira turned back to me. “I have something to tell you. Something Nyra never wanted you to know.”

My chest tightened. “What is it?”

“The war within vessels has already begun,” she said. “And it ends with you killing her.”

I blinked. “Who?”

She nodded toward the second Vessel. “The Breaker.”

Elira continued, her voice low and steady. “Nyra doesn’t want balance. She wants chaos. She’s been feeding her shadows with darkness for months, pushing her to hate you… to believe you took what should’ve been hers.”

I glanced at the 2nd vessel. She still didn’t say a word, but her expression cracked a bit with dissatisfaction.

“She’s not evil,” Elira said. “Just lost. Broken.”

“Elira, stop,” the breaker shot back coldly. “Who made you the spokesperson, Hush it! You talk too much. She doesn’t need to know anything.”

But Elira pressed on.

“She needs to understand what I’ve seen. What I was created for.”

She stepped closer to me.

“There’s a prophecy buried in the Mirror texts. It says the Moon’s light will be tested, not only by enemies… but by reflections. The Bearer must face her shadow.”

I swallowed. “She, the Breaker, my reflection?”

She nodded. “You two will fight. And when you both do, only one of you will survive.”

A heavy silence hung in the air, like thunder rumbling in my bones.

“Though it will be tough but when she dies,” Elira finished, “Nyra’s power will crack.”

***

Suddenly, black smoke rose from the ground, and the temperature dropped. 

And Nyra stepped through the shadows, her smile wicked and cruel.

“You disobedient little witch,” she spat at Elira. “You forget who commands you.”

Elira didn’t flinch. “Not anymore.”

“You think this Bearer will save you?” Nyra hissed. “She can’t even save herself, you forget I could still send you back through the pieces of the mirror I have?”

“Then we’ll see,” Elira whispered, slipping something off her wrist — a small glowing band — and placing it in my palm.

“She’s mine now,” I said, locking eyes with Nyra.

Nyra snarled. “Have it in mind that you’ll regret this May.” And immediately, she vanished.

But the chill she left behind? It lingered.

–––

Later that night, Aria and I returned to the temple, the bracelet snug around my wrist.

It pulsed with Elira’s energy — soft, strange, and oddly comforting.

She was now my shadowed informant. Bound by choice and linked to me through the band. With a whisper of her name, I could reach her from anywhere.

I could control her shadows and make her mine.  And now… I had eyes in the dark.

***

As I made my way back to the Alpha wing, I heard it.

A low laugh, soft footsteps. It was Melina’s voice.

I rounded the corner and found her — standing in Laziel’s doorway, wearing one of his shirts and looking like she owned the whole place.

“Nice of you to wear your confidence out loud,” I said, crossing my arms akimbo

She turned with a smirk. “My presence here shouldn’t bother you May, He invited me.”

Laziel appeared behind her, shirtless and surprised.

“May—” he startled.

I cut him off with a raised eyebrow. “You know what? I don’t care what you two are up to. Just keep it down, okay? Some of us are trying to deal with world-ending chaos here.”

“And some of us are just trying to survive. You have told me to avoid you, and I’m doing just as you instructed.”She replied with a chuckle.

“What’s funny? Hopefully, you don’t get to betray him too” I uttered with a mean stare. I didn’t crack a smile.

“Betray me, what does that even mean?” Leziel asked, and he seemed lost. 

“Ask your mistress” I sneered, and swaying my hips I walked away. 

I don’t know how to cope with a betraying friend. Even though I don’t hate Melina but I wanted distance from her, and seeing her rigmarole around the Alpha wing with Laziel irks me. 

She was chaos personified.  

And somehow… Laziel seemed to be into that. Good luck to him.

---

That night, I rolled and paced through my room, and sleep was nowhere to be found. The bracelet was humming softly.

So, I got up and headed to the Mirror chamber.

The shards from the broken Mirror, the ones Aria retrieved after Nyra was captured by Aether, were still locked away in glass cases—too dangerous to destroy, too sacred to just leave be. 

But as soon as I opened the case, one of them started to bleed.

Silver blood. Thick and glowing. Then, I heard a whisper behind me: 

“It’s begun.”

I turned around, and there was no one there except for the reflection in my dressing mirror.

And it wasn’t my reflection.

It was the 2nd vessel. Not the binder but the breaker herself, my look-alike formed with destruction, and there she stood smiling with fangs.