Pain.It was the first thing Lena felt.A dull, throbbing ache beneath her skin, curling into her very bones. It pulsed through her veins, coiling around her like an iron chain, anchoring her to something—something unnatural.She tried to move. Her fingers twitched. Her breath came in ragged gasps. Every nerve in her body screamed in protest.Where was she?The last thing she remembered was Kael’s touch. His voice whispering against her ear. The cold darkness swallowing her whole.Now—she was awake.And she wasn’t alone.The air around her felt thick—charged with something foreign. A presence. A power she couldn’t yet name.Slowly, she forced her eyes open.The world that greeted her was wrong.She wasn’t on the battlefield anymore.Gone were the ruins, the blood-soaked ground, the dying flames. Instead, she lay in a chamber of polished obsidian. The walls pulsed with faint, glowing veins of blue light, like living stone. Strange symbols burned into the floors, shifting when she tried
Lena held the stranger’s gaze, every muscle in her body tensed despite the chains binding her. The woman stood poised, composed—too composed. It was the way a predator watched its prey.Her silver eyes gleamed in the dim chamber. "I was wondering when you’d wake."Lena’s wrists burned against the enchanted cuffs as she forced herself upright. "If you’re here to gloat, get in line."The woman chuckled, the sound low and rich. "You mistake my intentions, Lena. I am not your enemy.""Right. And I’m not chained to a wall in a room pulsing with Rift magic," Lena bit out. "Try again."The woman stepped closer. A faint hum filled the air, something ancient stirring between them. Lena could feel the Rift reacting to her—recognizing her."I am Vasira," the woman said. "High Priestess of the Rift."Lena’s blood ran cold.A priestess. A devoted servant of the very thing she had sworn to destroy.Lena’s lips curled. "You’re Kael’s lapdog, then."Vasira didn’t flinch. "I serve no man.""Could’ve f
Lena sat in silence long after Kael had left, her heart pounding against her ribs like a war drum. The walls of her prison seemed to close in, whispering with Rift energy—pressing, waiting, watching.She wanted to believe it was a lie.That Kael was just another manipulator, twisting truths to suit his agenda.But deep down, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something inside her had already changed.The Rift wasn’t fighting her. It wasn’t trying to consume her.It was waiting.A shiver ran through her as she tugged against the chains again, testing their hold. The enchanted cuffs still pulsed with energy, leeching off her strength the moment she tried to summon it.She gritted her teeth.She needed to think.She needed a way out.The door creaked open again.Lena tensed, expecting Kael. Expecting Vasira.Instead, a hooded figure slipped inside, moving quickly, urgently.Then—A familiar voice."Lena."Her breath caught.The hood fell back, revealing Cassian.Relief and fury clashed
The chamber still hummed with the remnants of Rift energy, a lingering pulse that thrummed through Lena’s veins. It wasn’t fading. It wasn’t leaving. It was waiting. Ronan and Cassian stood on either side of her, their gazes locked on the place where Kael had vanished. The silence between them was thick—too many unspoken words, too many questions neither of them wanted to voice. Finally, Cassian broke it. “We need to move.” His voice was sharp, his usual composure strained. “Now.” Lena hesitated. The weight of Kael’s words still clung to her like a second skin. The Rift answers to you. She turned to Ronan, whose knuckles were still white from gripping his ruined sword. His green eyes searched hers, as if trying to find some part of the Lena he had always known beneath the power now pulsing through her. Ronan’s jaw tightened. “You okay?” Lena forced a nod. “We need to get out of here.” Cassian didn’t waste another second. He moved to the door, checking the corridor. The tensi
The tunnels twisted around them like a living thing, the damp walls pressing in as Lena, Ronan, and Cassian moved swiftly through the darkness. Their footsteps echoed, but they weren’t the only sounds. Something was following them. Lena could feel it—an unnatural presence slithering through the shadows, watching. Waiting. Cassian kept his blade at the ready, his sharp eyes flicking to every turn before they took it. Ronan stayed close to Lena, his breath uneven from their sprint. They didn’t speak. None of them wanted to acknowledge the truth. Kael had let her go. But he wasn’t finished with her. Lena clenched her fists, the remnants of Rift energy still humming beneath her skin. It hadn’t faded. It hadn’t left her. And that terrified her more than anything. “Stop.” Cassian’s voice was low, urgent. They halted at an intersection where three paths stretched before them—each one an abyss of blackness. Cassian knelt, running his fingers along the stone floor. His expre
Lena tumbled into darkness. There was no ground. No walls. No sky. Just an endless abyss swallowing her whole. She tried to scream, but no sound came. Her voice was lost to the void. She wasn’t alone. The whispers followed her, weaving through the shadows, curling against her skin like smoke. You cannot run. You cannot hide. The Rift pulsed around her, vast and unrelenting. It wasn’t just a place—it was alive. And it wanted her. Lena clenched her fists, willing her power to surface. She could still feel the Rift’s energy inside her, humming beneath her skin. It had answered her before. It had saved her before. So why wouldn’t it listen now? Not enough, the voices murmured. Lena’s body jerked as invisible hands seized her, dragging her downward, deeper into the nothingness. Panic clawed at her chest. She fought, twisting, thrashing. “Let me go!” The Rift did not listen. It showed her instead. A vision burned into the darkness. She saw herself. Stand
The tunnels pulsed with an eerie stillness, broken only by the distant echoes of pursuit. Footsteps—light, inhumanly fast—whispered along the stone walls, closing in.Lena ran, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Ronan kept pace beside her, his grip on her wrist firm but not painful, as if afraid she would vanish if he let go. Cassian led them, his blade drawn, his sharp eyes scanning every twisting corridor for a way out.The air grew colder.Not just from the underground dampness—this was something else. Something unnatural.The Rift was stirring.Lena could feel it in the marrow of her bones.“Left!” Cassian hissed, yanking them into another passageway.The moment they turned the corner, Lena heard it—The scrape of claws against stone.The scent of decay curling through the air.And then—A shadow lunged.Cassian barely had time to react before a Rift-spawned creature dropped from the ceiling, its elongated limbs stretching toward him.He twisted, blade flashing, but the thing move
Lena’s breath came in ragged gasps as she pressed a trembling hand to the tunnel wall. The stone was cold, solid—real. But the power pulsing beneath her skin, the whisper of the Rift still humming in her veins, told her otherwise.She wasn’t just standing in the underground tunnels anymore.She was standing at the edge of something else.Something hungry.Cassian’s sharp gaze flicked between her and the empty tunnel ahead. “We need to move. Whatever you just did bought us time, but they’ll be back.”Ronan tightened his grip on her wrist. Not hard, not demanding—just there. Grounding her. “Are you okay?”Lena wanted to say yes. Wanted to tell them she was fine, that she had control.But that would be a lie.Because the Rift wasn’t just inside her anymore.It was watching.Listening.And it wasn’t letting go.She swallowed hard, nodding despite the unease twisting in her gut. “I’ll manage.”Cassian gave her a long look but didn’t press. Instead, he turned, motioning for them to follow.
The cavern felt wrong.Even though the Riftgate had disappeared, something lingered in the air—an unnatural stillness, thick with expectation. The Riftfire still simmered inside Lena, coiled like a beast waiting for permission to strike. But it wasn’t just hers anymore.It belonged to her.And she belonged to it.A cold shiver crawled up her spine, but she forced her body to move. One step. Then another.Behind her, Cassian exhaled sharply, shaking his head as he slid his daggers back into their holsters. “Alright. I have questions. Many, many questions.” His voice was light, but his eyes were sharp as they flicked toward her. “Starting with what the hell just happened?”Lena flexed her fingers, watching the faint traces of violet fire dance along her skin before flickering out. The Riftfire wasn’t resisting her anymore. It wasn’t raging. It was waiting.The realization made her stomach twist.“I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice quieter than she meant it to be. “I—I felt it. The R
Lena’s pulse roared in her ears. You were meant to open it. The King’s words curled around her mind like smoke, insidious and inescapable. She wanted to deny them, to cast them away like a lie. But the Riftfire inside her didn’t reject them. It recognized them. She staggered back, breath ragged. “You’re wrong.” The King only watched her, his golden eyes steady, unreadable. “Am I?” Lena clenched her fists, nails biting into her palms. “I came to close this gate, not—” A sharp pulse of power cut through her words. The Rift trembled. And suddenly, she wasn’t alone. Not just with the King. But with the echoes of something long buried. The vision struck like a lightning bolt to the skull. A battlefield. The air thick with Riftfire, burning violet against the endless night. Creatures—monstrosities—crawling from the gate, their shrieks tearing through the void. And at the center of it all— Her. Or rather— The woman who wasn’t her. The woman who was. A w
The pull tightened around Lena like invisible chains, wrapping around her ribs, her spine, her mind. It wasn’t violent. It wasn’t forceful. It was patient. A silent whisper, a presence at the edges of her thoughts, waiting. "Lena?" Ronan’s voice cut through the haze, grounding her. She blinked. The tunnel stretched before her, Cassian and Ronan already a few steps ahead, both watching her now—Cassian with wary confusion, Ronan with something closer to understanding. She forced herself to move. One step, then another, until the pull loosened its grip. It didn’t leave. But it let her go. For now. She exhaled slowly and followed them into the narrowing passageway. The tunnel walls pressed in, rough stone scraping against her arms. The air smelled of damp earth and something older—something untouched by time. Their footsteps echoed, the sound swallowed too quickly, as if the Rift itself was listening. No one spoke. Cassian led the way, navigating the uneven terrain wi
The cavern still hummed with the remnants of Lena’s power, the air thick with the scent of scorched flesh and magic. The Riftfire coiled around her fingers like a living thing—no longer wild, no longer resisting. It had chosen her. Lena’s breath came in ragged pulls, her heart hammering against her ribs. She wasn’t just standing in the aftermath of battle; she was standing at the edge of something irreversible. She could feel it. The Rift’s presence, no longer just a force that haunted her, but a part of her. Her. Cassian took a hesitant step forward, his daggers still in hand, though his grip had loosened. “Lena… what the hell was that?” Lena swallowed hard, but the words tangled in her throat. She didn’t know how to answer. Because she didn’t fully understand it herself. Ronan was watching her closely, his jaw clenched. His sword was sheathed, but his stance hadn’t relaxed. “Your fire—” He cut himself off, then exhaled sharply. “It’s different.” Lena flexed her fingers, st
The ground trembled beneath Lena’s feet. Not with violence, but with recognition. The Rift knew her now. And it wanted her back. Lena’s breath came in sharp, uneven pulls as the air around her thickened, reality bending at the edges. She could feel the Rift pulling, not with brute force, but with something far worse—familiarity. She was sinking into it. Becoming part of it. No. Lena clenched her fists, summoning every ounce of willpower to push back against the weight pressing on her chest. Riftfire surged at her fingertips, flickering wildly, caught between obedience and rebellion. The King watched her struggle, his burning gaze unreadable. “You still resist.” Lena swallowed against the rising panic. “I don’t belong to this place.” The King tilted his head slightly. “No,” he agreed. “But it belongs to you.” The words struck something deep inside her, something she wasn’t ready to face. Because part of her felt it. The Riftfire inside her wasn’t just reacting
The cavern trembled as the Rift’s energy expanded outward, swallowing the air, pressing against Lena’s skin with a force so dense it was almost suffocating.The King stepped forward.He wasn’t like the mindless creatures that had come before. He wasn’t grotesque or malformed.He was whole.His form was cloaked in shadows that moved like living smoke, shifting around him in slow, deliberate waves. Beneath the darkness, glimpses of something ancient and inhuman flickered—jagged obsidian armor, silvered veins pulsing with Rift energy, a face that was too sharp, too perfect, too unnatural to belong to anything mortal.His eyes—twin voids of fire and stars—settled on Lena, and the cavern dimmed, as if the very world was bracing for what came next.A voice, low and endless, rumbled through the chamber."You are the one."Lena’s pulse pounded in her ears. Her Riftfire reacted violently to his presence, rising in defense or recognition—she wasn’t sure which.But she forced herself to stand he
The world tilted.Lena’s breath caught in her throat as the weight of realization slammed into her. The Rift’s power thrummed beneath her skin, but it was nothing compared to the force radiating from the woman standing before her.Her mother.No. That couldn’t be right. Her mother had died when she was a child. She had no memories beyond fleeting warmth and a lullaby whispered in the dark.And yet—The woman’s presence felt familiar.Ronan shifted closer, tension coiled in his frame. “Lena…?”Cassian didn’t speak, but his fingers tightened around the hilt of his blade.Lena swallowed hard. “Who—who are you?”The woman smiled, stepping forward. The edges of her form flickered, like she existed between realms. “You already know, child. You’ve always known.”Lena’s pulse roared in her ears. “That’s not possible.”“And yet, here I stand.”The Riftfire in Lena’s veins surged, responding to the woman’s presence like a long-lost tether being pulled taut.“No.” Lena shook her head. “You can’t
Lena exhaled, steadying herself as the cavern pulsed with anticipation. The Herald stood motionless, hand still outstretched, its offer tangible in the air. The Rift’s power thrummed beneath her skin, no longer just a whisper but a steady, insistent call.This was the moment.She reached forward—then clenched her fist, drawing her hand back. “No,” she said, her voice stronger than she expected.The Herald’s expression didn’t falter, but the cavern trembled in response. “You refuse?” it asked, tilting its head.Ronan let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, but his stance remained guarded. Cassian edged closer, his eyes never leaving the Herald.Lena swallowed hard. “I’m not a pawn in whatever game the Rift is playing.”The Herald regarded her with something that almost resembled amusement. “A pawn? No, Riftborn. You were never a mere piece. You were meant to be the one who shapes the board.”The cavern walls pulsed again, and the Rift’s energy surged forward like a wave.Le
Darkness swallowed them whole.Lena’s breath caught in her throat as the air rushed past her, cold and unrelenting. The abyss stretched endlessly below, an empty void that felt like falling through time itself.Ronan’s grip on her wrist was iron-tight. He refused to let go.Cassian was just ahead, his body twisting midair, trying to prepare for whatever awaited them below.But there was no ground.No end.Just falling.The Rift’s presence coiled around Lena’s mind, whispering in a voice that sounded so much like her own.You are home.You were never meant to run.The air shimmered.Lena gasped as reality split apart.For a single, horrifying second, she saw it—the Rift in its true form. A world between worlds. A chasm of shifting energy, pulsing with life and death, beginning and end.And at the center—a throne.A throne waiting for her.Her blood burned. The mark on her skin pulsed in time with the Rift’s heartbeat.It was trying to pull her in.No. No, I won’t—“Lena!”Ronan’s voice