LOGINARAHEENThe dining hall was quiet, save for the soft clink of her utensils and the occasional scrape of steel against porcelain. She sat alone at the table, eating her dinner, while Zephyr stood on the balcony, watching the citadel below.She hadn’t realized how famished she was until the servants laid a spread of food before her. After her long rest, and the power drained by her visit to her mother’s mausoleum, she needed to restore enough strength to sustain the Containment Sigil she had etched into her belly, concealed beneath a powerful masking sigil.Not even Zephyr would detect it… unless he knew exactly what to look for.“You’re not going to eat?” she asked casually, lifting her wine glass for a generous sip.“I have no longer use for food,” Zephyr replied without turning. “You’ll understand when you reach my state.”“What if I don’t want t
ARAHEENCatheria and Zephyr moved through the same narrow tunnel. Shadowy arms reached from the walls, grasping for them, but they avoided the touch—just as Araheen had during her own passage through the Dark Plane.They emerged into a white room, which dissolved in an instant into a vast cosmic expanse surrounding them.Golden streaks threaded through the fabric of the universe, interwoven with drifting stars, gas, and dust suspended in the void.Catheria approached a silvery structure resembling a vast spider’s web. She pressed her hand to its center, only to recoil moments later, tears streaming down her face.She then stumbled back, finding Zephyr still standing before his own web, his hand pressed firmly at its core. His eyes had turned white. His body was completely still.Catheria approached him slowly and, without a word, placed her hand over his.Her head snapped back. Her eyes turned white as wel
ARAHEENThe memory shifted again, this time to the dining hall.Oracle Guards stood by the doors, overseeing the Broken Ones—as sylphs like Catheria and Zephyr were called.Even here, strict rules were enforced, though they were permitted to speak with one another.After whatever rigorous “rehabilitation” the Oracles subjected them to—something her mother had clearly spared her from witnessing—Araheen could see how drained the others were. Most were too exhausted to even attempt conversation during meals.But her young mother did not seem as broken.Catheria obeyed without protest, and perhaps because of that, the Oracles had grown more lenient with her movements. No one questioned it when she took a seat beside Zephyr, who sat alone at his table.Zephyr paused mid-bite, turning to her with a look of open irritation.“What do you want?” he asked dismissively.&ld
ARAHEENHer mother rose and walked toward her, a proud smile gracing her beautiful face.Tears spilled down Araheen’s cheeks. Emotion swelled in her chest, overwhelming and unrestrained, and she found herself meeting her mother halfway, throwing herself into her arms.She felt warm. Solid. Alive.Impossible, she knew that. But for a few fleeting moments, she allowed herself to believe it was real. And so she cried even harder.“I’ve missed you so much,” she whispered against her mother’s chest, breathing in her familiar, sweet scent. “Are you real?”“No,” her mother said gently. “I’m an Echo.”Araheen pulled back just enough to look up at her. “Echo?”“A remnant of consciousness that was sustained after death.” Her mother brushed a hand through her hair, and Araheen leaned into the warmth of the gesture. “But u
ARAHEENShe wasted no time flying to Lothair’s estate.On the grounds, she encountered Lady Vaelina and Isalee. They did not seem surprised to see her, but instead of the usual reflexive snobbery they had often greeted her with, they simply lowered their gazes and stepped aside.Araheen already knew that being Zephyr’s marked bride came with its privileges, but she didn’t know how to feel seeing her stepmother and stepsister under these circumstances.She moved past them, intent on ignoring them, until a thought brought her to a halt.Turning, she asked bluntly, “Have you both been Fractured as well?”These were the last two women she would have suspected of being swayed by a Fractured. But after everything she had learned, she could no longer be certain.“How dare you insinuate that?” Lady Vaelina snapped, her offense restrained in the measured way of the Non-Fractured. It fl
ARAHEENShe had slept for what felt like forever, unable to tell whether it was from exhaustion or from the grief of knowing she would never see her father—the only true family she had left—again. All her life, all she had ever wanted was to please him. To become a daughter worthy of him.In the end, she had heard the words she needed—both the hurtful truth and the satisfying closure.She sat up slowly, her gaze drawn at once to her father’s ceremonial robe, carefully hung on a stand in the corner. She couldn’t tell whether Zephyr truly believed that placing her in the same private chamber her father had been using whenever he stayed at the Grand Castle was an effective way to grieve.Nevertheless, she was grateful. It would serve as a reminder of what she needed to do to bring him down.She rose from the bed and retrieved her sigil needle and phoenix dagger from the nightstand before stepping onto the
ARAHDark Plane.This was one of those moments where the word felt familiar... like it was right there on the edge of her memory, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t grasp it completely.Drusden continued explaining to Marianne the two types of w
ARAHShe helped Zylas prepare lunch for everyone in one of the prison kitchens. It felt strange doing something so mundane with a witch, and just hours before they were set to fight another coven. But she welcomed the downtime—a quiet moment before the chaos that was bound
ARAHMore than anything, that was what intrigued her the most. “Why is a sylph helping witches on Earthland?” She still couldn’t make sense of it. Sylphs were supposed to be protectors of humanity... guardians against supernatural and interdimensional threats. That was thei
ARAHShe was transported to a lavish party at a big house that didn’t belong to Marianne and her father. The air was filled with chatter and laughter. Couples danced in the spacious center of the room as violins and cellos played in the background. Women talked about fashio







