FAZER LOGINThe scream beyond the Veil did not fade.It crawled through the arena, low and ragged, vibrating through my bones until my teeth throbbed with the tension. Crimson light poured from my mother’s palms and bled across the barrier, painting every jagged crack in the ruined floor a blinding shade of red."Mother!"I lunged toward her, but the barrier slammed into me like a physical wall.The impact threw me backward, pain exploding across my shoulder blades as stone bit into my flesh."Seraphina!"The other Seraphina snagged my arm before I could throw myself against the barrier a second time."Don't.""She's dying!""I know.""Then let me go!"Her grip only tightened. For once, I didn't try to tear myself away.Her eyes were overflowing, tears cutting pale tracks through the ash on her face.Outside the barrier, Lyra stood with both palms pressed against the glowing wall. Blood dripped from her nose, painting her chin red, but she didn't so much as blink.Aster stood severa
The Crown Blade burned between our hands.Blistering heat crawled through my palms and bled up my forearms, following the pulse of my veins toward my shoulders. Beneath our boots, the crimson circle tightened, its jagged border flaring brighter with every ragged breath I took.Across from me, the other Seraphina stared into my eyes.For the first time since this nightmare began, I didn’t see an enemy.I saw myself.The same gut-wrenching terror lurked behind her stormy gray eyes. The same stubborn, desperate refusal to yield.Neither of us moved an inch.“Choose who stays,” the ancient, disembodied voice commanded, vibrating through the bedrock of the arena.My fingers dug deeper into the hilt of the Crown Blade. "No."The single word echoed off the ruined stone pillars.Aster’s head snapped toward me, his face pale. "Seraphina—""I said no."I hauled back on the hilt, trying to wrench the steel free. It didn't budge. It was as if we were gripping a rod of iron set in sol
For several seconds, the battlefield fell dead silent.I stared at the man standing beyond the shattered doorway, searching for any trace of the father I remembered.There was nothing.My father had been warm hands, a rough laugh, and the comforting scent of cedar oil clinging to his training clothes. He had carried old battle scars and complained whenever his knees burned after a long ride through the frost.This man looked as though time itself had forgotten to touch him.Silver hair framed a face that might have been carved into ancient stone. His golden eyes were calm—almost gentle—yet something lurking beneath that composure made every instinct in my body recoil.Beside me, the other Seraphina raised the Sword of Dusk, her knuckles white around the hilt. "You expect us to believe you're our father?"His gaze shifted to her. "I don't expect anything from you." Then his eyes found mine. "I've waited too long for either of you to trust me."My grip tightened around the Swor
"No."The word tore from my throat before I could stop it.The woman didn't argue. She simply watched me, her gaze possessing the quiet, agonizing patience of someone who had already lived through this precise heartbreak a thousand times over."I'm not letting anyone else die for me," I said, my voice shaking despite my best efforts to hold it steady.A faint sadness softened her angular features. "It isn't about dying, Seraphina.""Then what is it?""The door." She turned her face toward the widening rift, where raw, violet light bled across the sky. "It was never meant to remain open."Behind her, the First Hunger let out a low, gravelly rumble that vibrated through the soles of my boots—a laugh stripped of all warmth."You always explain too much, little guardian," its monstrous voice echoed, the sound like grinding millstones. Countless golden eyes along its hide rolled toward me. "Ask her what waits beyond the threshold.""I know enough," I snapped, raising my chin."Y
No one moved.layout The battlefield—moments ago a chaotic hell of clashing steel and monstrous roars—fell into a silence so absolute it rang in my ears.The First Hunger remained bowed.The sight unsettled me more than the creature itself ever had. A nightmare that had devoured ancient kingdoms, a monstrosity that had ground the great Hall to rubble with its bare claws... now knelt in the dirt before someone it hadn't even fully seen.Only a single bare foot rested on the scorched earth past the threshold. The rest of her body remained hidden inside the suffocating black of the doorway.Then she spoke again."You've grown."The words weren't directed at Orion. Or the First Hunger.They were meant for me.Every instinct roared at me to answer, but my throat locked up.Before I could process the sound of her voice, Kael stepped in front of me. His sword was gone, his armor shattered, and blood dripped from his knuckles, but his stance never wavered."Stay where you are," he
The door opened beneath my feet.There was no warning. No crack in the stone, no groan of iron. One moment, I stood inside the ruined heart of the Hall with the Crown Blade buried in both hands. The next, the floor vanished, and cold air rushed past my face.Kael caught my wrist.His fingers locked around my flesh hard enough to bruise. The force of my fall dragged him over the brink, his shoulder slamming into the broken edge of the stone threshold. The bedrock split beneath his weight.“Seraphina!”The name tore from his chest as he reached for the ledge with his free hand.His claws scraped across the slick black rock, throwing sparks.Nothing held.We dropped together.Above us, the Hall shrank into a jagged circle of crimson light. Orion’s voice thundered through the collapsing chamber, but the words were swallowed by the rush of wind. Somewhere farther up, the First Hunger screamed—a high, wet screech that followed us down.It crawled through my bones like winter fros







