The woods hold their breath. Ffion’s hand in mine is cold, trembling—real, but only just. I can feel the Herald moving in her, in me, like a splinter beneath the skin. We stand at the heart of the mist, tangled in roots, memory, and dread.“I don’t want to hurt you,” I say, voice shaking, blue fire licking at my fingertips—hungry, eager, afraid. “I never wanted to hurt anyone. Not before. Not again.”Ffion steps back, terror flickering across her half-formed face. “Thalia, wait. Last time you let that fire loose, you burned down the world.”“I know.” My breath hitches. “But the world needs burning, sometimes. Just not you.”A whisper runs through the trees. The Herald’s voice, inside both our heads—cold, unhurried, patient as hunger.“You are both mine. You called me with your grief and kept me with your shame. Let me root deeper, and you’ll never be alone again.”I clench my fists, fire guttering blue and white. “You’re not welcome here.”The Herald pulses in Ffion—her eyes blacken,
We stand in a clearing so choked with mist it could be anywhere—no path, no stars, just the suggestion of trees pressing in from every side. I cross my arms, magic thrumming beneath my skin, and fix Ffion with the kind of glare that could curdle milk.“Are you going to tell me what this is, or are we going to do the cryptic stare-down all night?” My voice sounds braver than I feel. “If you’ve brought me out here to kill me, I hope you brought snacks. It’s going to be a long night.”Ffion lets out a dry laugh. “Always the mouth on you. I should’ve known you’d greet the end of the world with a punchline.”Lightning flashes in the clouds above—no thunder, just light, as if the sky is too tired to make a sound. I take a step forward, squinting through the fog. “What are you, Ffion? Because you’re not just my old friend anymore, are you? You’re… changed.”Her eyes flick, and for a moment something alien moves behind them—a shadow, a ripple.“I’m not the Herald. Not entirely.” She swallows,
I walk until my legs ache, the cold gnawing at my knees, the world narrowing to a corridor of black-green pine and silver-flecked fog. The path has faded to nothing but a suggestion—a broken line of scuffed earth, a memory of footsteps from another life. Maybe Emyr’s, maybe mine, maybe something else’s. All I know is that I’m still moving, and it’s not entirely by choice.Fear prickles under my skin, bright and electric. If you were smart, Thalia, you’d turn back right now. Of course, I was never accused of being overly wise, not where magic and bad decisions are concerned.The woods change as I go. Branches twist closer, clawing at my sleeves, snagging hair and hope alike. Frost beads in strange patterns—spirals, webs, broken runes I can’t quite read. My boots leave no print in the earth. That’s when I realize: If I vanish here, no one will find me. Not Rowan, not Mara, not even the Herald. Not unless I want them to. The thought is both comfort and curse.The light begins to bend—war
The suspicion seeps in slow, a sour taste at the back of my throat. I recognize the look in their eyes—the careful distance, the watchfulness, the way conversation shudders to a halt if I pass too close. I’ve worn this before, like a too-tight coat, all those weeks in Silverpine. I survived it, barely, then. But now I’m not sure I’ve survived anything at all.The urge to run starts as a whisper behind my ribs. Just a tickle, a flutter. Maybe it’s memory—maybe it’s the Herald, scratching at the inside of my mind, begging me to move, to flee before suspicion hardens into accusation. Maybe it’s self-preservation. Or maybe it’s something darker, a tug on a string I can’t see.Outside, the village is brittle with waiting. I slip through the hall and out into the grey morning, the air sharp with cold and woodsmoke. No one stops me. I think some of them are relieved.My boots crunch frost as I cross the square. I keep my head down, my breath a ghost trailing behind me. Don’t run. Don’t give
Dawn drags its slow fingers across the sky—grey, raw, hesitant. It seeps through the warped glass of the old village hall, painting Thalia’s skin with pale, uncertain light. She hasn’t slept; no one truly has. The room is a tangle of blankets, shivering bodies, and the sour scent of burnt fear.Mara sits close, a silent guard, her eyes flicking between Thalia and the door as if expecting some new horror to burst in. Rowan is never far, but he’s changed—his care edged with wariness he tries, and fails, to hide.Thalia sits upright, arms wrapped around her knees, back pressed to the cold stone wall. Her mind is a storm of ash and broken glass—shards of memory, half-whispers, things the Herald pressed into her like splinters.I’m here. I’m here. I’m still me. Aren’t I?She remembers the vision’s voice, velvet-soft and full of venom:“You bring the fire. You were always the spark.”She’s still not sure it was a lie.She’s so tired. When she blinks, shadows dance at the edges of her vision
The air crackles with the aftershock—blue fire still burns on the hearth, licking at stone and shadow. The villagers and pack cower where they’ve fallen, every face turned to the center of the hall. Rowan, dust rising from his knees, stares at Thalia, half-afraid to move.Thalia stands in a broken circle of scorched floorboards. Her hair clings wild and damp to her cheeks; her skin is ghost-pale except for two burning spots of color high on her cheeks. Her eyes, wide and glassy, glow like coals struck by moonlight.She breathes out—a long, shuddering breath, full of fog and grief and something hungry.No one dares speak at first. Then, Fen whispers, “Thalia?”Her gaze flicks to him. For a second, he flinches—not at her, but at the thing in her eyes. Then she blinks, and it’s just Thalia again—only more raw, more real, more present than ever before.Rowan crawls to her side, voice barely above a prayer. “You came back. You’re here. Gods, Thalia—what did it do to you?”She sways, and Ma