The first signs of danger came with the silence.
No birds. No wind. Even the trees stood still, like they were holding their breath.
Elara slowed her horse, glancing at the canopy above. "Something's wrong."
Kael rode beside her, his hand already resting on his blade. "I feel it too."
Lucien and Evelyn brought up the rear, and even Evelyn—usually sharp-tongued and steady—looked pale.
"This isn't normal," she murmured. "The forest feels... watched."
And it was.
Just past the ridge, cloaked in dark mist, Thorne stood beside his new ally—Nyra, the flame priestess of the Forgotten Order. Her silver eyes gleamed with cruel delight.
"You were right," she said, her voice like smoke curling through bone. "They came straight into our trap."
Thorne's jaw was tight. "I don't care how we kill them. Just make it slow."
The ambush came like a scream.
Arrows of fire tore through the trees, exploding on impact. The horses panicked. Kael threw himself in front of Elara, shielding her with his body as a blast hit nearby.
"Move!" Evelyn shouted, casting a dome of golden energy around them.
Lucien dragged Elara up. "We have to split!"
"No!" Kael shouted. "We stay—"
A second blast hit the ground, sending them flying.
Elara's ears rang. Smoke burned her throat.
She scrambled up, coughing. "Kael?"
No answer.
"Kael!" she screamed, panic rising.
She found him slumped against a tree, blood running from a gash on his head.
Her chest squeezed. Not like this. Not now.
She dropped beside him, shaking his shoulders. "Wake up—please."
His eyes fluttered open. "Elara…?"
She laughed, even as tears streamed down her face. "You idiot. You're not allowed to die."
He grinned weakly. "Then stop yelling. My head's already broken."
Despite the chaos, she held his face, forehead to forehead again.
"You're not dying," she whispered fiercely. "Not until I'm ready to forgive you. And I'm not ready yet."
His hand rose to hers. "Then I'll stay."
Elsewhere, Evelyn was locked in battle.
Nyra had summoned flames that moved like serpents, striking faster than thought.
"You can't win," Nyra hissed. "Your power comes from control. Mine comes from surrender."
Evelyn's hands trembled. The magic inside her surged and cracked, growing too strong to contain.
"You're right," Evelyn whispered. "I've been afraid of my power."
She closed her eyes—and let go.
A wave of raw energy exploded outward, slamming into Nyra and the trees around her.
When the smoke cleared, Evelyn was on her knees, panting, her hands scorched. But she was still alive.
And Nyra was gone.
Elara and Kael reached the others, bloodied but standing. Evelyn looked pale, her hands shaking.
"I almost lost control," she whispered. "I could feel it… the god-magic inside me."
Kael met her gaze. "But you chose humanity."
"For now," she said softly. "But what happens if next time… I don't?"
Lucien rested a hand on her shoulder. "Then we'll bring you back. Like you brought us back."
That night, the group camped in the ruins of an old watchtower.
No one spoke for a long time.
Elara sat beside Kael, his hand in hers. She didn't let go, not even as he slept.
She watched the stars. They looked the same as the night she first met him—when she hated him. When she thought he was just another cursed thing in her already broken life.
But now…
Now, she saw something else.
She saw a man who shielded her with his body. A man who saw the parts of her no one else dared to. A man who let her be angry, soft, strong, and afraid—and never once turned away.
She leaned down and kissed his temple.
"I think I'm falling in love with you," she whispered.
Kael, barely awake, smiled. "Took you long enough."
She laughed through tears.
And for a moment, there was peace.
But only for a moment.
Because far away, in the shadows of a mountain temple, Thorne and Nyra stood before the second gate.
And the god below stirred.