Elowen’s POVI didn’t sleep. Not really.After the bathroom, after Alaric’s kiss, I’d sat on the edge of my bed for hours, staring at the wall, his words echoing like a heartbeat in my head. You’re Elowen. Ours.A part of me had wanted to curl back into that warmth and never leave. To let Alaric hold me until the fear faded, until the world forgot.But I couldn’t hide.Not when I’d been seen.Not when my power—that part of me I never understood, never controlled—had surged out and made the whole Academy flinch.So when the sun rose and the corridors filled with the noise of footsteps and hushed whispers, I got up. Dressed. Pulled my hair back.And walked straight into the storm.The cafeteria went silent the second I entered.Utensils froze halfway to mouths. Students glanced at one another, nudging their friends, pretending they weren’t all watching me like I’d walked in wearing armor and a crown of fire.I didn’t stop.I headed toward the table near the windows where Ranon sat, his
Elowen’s POVThe silence in the Academy was a suffocating blanket, heavy with unspoken truths and the tremor of impending change. It wasn’t the peaceful hush of a sleeping forest, but the strained stillness before a lightning strike, the air thick with a tension that prickled my skin.Since Caelum’s pronouncements had shattered the carefully constructed reality I’d known, I felt like a fractured mirror, each shard reflecting a distorted version of myself. Something primal had awakened within me, a dormant power stirring from its ancient slumber. It pulsed beneath my veins, a low, insistent hum that vibrated through my bones, a wild and untamed thing that both terrified and intrigued me.The following morning was a blur of avoidance. I skirted the familiar paths where I might encounter Theron’s simmering fury, Alaric’s quiet concern, or even Ranon’s possessive gaze. Their worry would feel like a cage, their need to protect me a suffocating weight. I wasn’t ready to be handled, to be s
Ranon’s POVFrom the shadowed vantage point of the balcony overlooking the training pit, I watched her move. She was a whirlwind of raw power, a dance of untamed energy that both captivated and terrified me. Each strike, each parry, was imbued with a ferocity I hadn’t seen before, a primal strength that seemed to emanate from the very core of her being.Elowen was changing, evolving into something magnificent and terrifying. The girl I had known, the one I had fiercely protected and possessively loved, was fading, replaced by a force of nature I barely recognized. She was shedding the constraints of her past, breaking free from the mold we had unknowingly cast for her.And with every passing day, with every flicker of that burgeoning power in her eyes, I felt her slipping further and further out of my reach. The invisible thread that had bound us together for so long was fraying, threatening to snap entirely.Alaric was a constant presence at her side now, a silent guardian and patien
Ranon’s POVShe was really slipping away. The realization was a slow, agonizing unraveling, like a precious tapestry being pulled thread by thread. It wasn’t a conscious decision on her part, not a deliberate act of distancing. Elowen’s heart, when given, was a fierce, unwavering thing. There were no lukewarm affections in her soul. This was something more profound, more elemental. Like a fragile skiff caught in the relentless pull of an unseen current, drawn towards a distant, powerful shore I couldn’t even glimpse. It was as if a stronger moon had begun to govern her tides, an astral influence I was powerless to counteract.Every time she walked past me in the Academy halls, her very presence thrumming with a nascent magic that shimmered just beneath her skin, a faint, ethereal glow that seemed to emanate from her very bones, I felt it. It was a subtle shift in her aura, a deepening of the shadows that lingered in the depths of her usually vibrant eyes, a quiet intensity that separa
Elowen’s POVDays bled into nights, each one a relentless cycle of training, exhaustion, and the gnawing fear that clung to me like a second skin. Sleep offered little respite, my dreams filled with swirling shadows and the echoing whispers of a past I didn’t remember, yet felt deep within my bones.The Academy, once a sanctuary, now felt like a cage. Every glance, every hushed conversation, seemed to center around me, a constant reminder of the change that had irrevocably altered my place within its walls. The awe in some eyes felt like a judgment, the unease in others a premonition of the fear I myself harbored.Caelum remained a peripheral figure, a silent observer whose presence was a constant, unsettling hum beneath the surface of my awareness. He didn’t approach me, didn’t offer any further cryptic pronouncements. He simply watched, his gaze unnervingly knowing, as if he held the missing pieces of my fractured identity. And that silence was perhaps the most terrifying thing of a
Elowen’s POVThe midnight air was a cool balm against my fevered skin, heavy with the earthy scent of rain-soaked soil and the sharp, clean fragrance of pine. A gentle breeze whispered through the trees surrounding the training grounds, carrying with it the distant hoot of an owl and the rustling of unseen creatures in the undergrowth. But the peace of the night was a stark contrast to the turmoil that raged within me.I sat hunched against the rough stone of the training pavilion’s outer wall, my injured leg stretched out before me. Each shallow breath sent a fresh wave of throbbing pain radiating from the deep gash that marred my inner thigh. The wound, a testament to my reckless desperation to push beyond my limits, was a dark, angry red against the pale moonlight. It pulsed with a dull ache that mirrored the ache in my heart.I shouldn’t have come out here. The rational part of my mind, the part that still clung to a semblance of self-preservation, screamed at me. It was foolish,
Alaric’s POVDawn bled across the horizon, painting the ancient stone floor of our shared chamber in hues of rose and gold. The light, usually a welcome sight, felt like an intrusion this morning, starkly illuminating the emptiness beside me. My hand, still heavy with the remnants of sleep, instinctively reached for the familiar warmth of Elowen’s presence.It met only the cool, crisp linen of undisturbed sheets.A jolt, sharp and unsettling, shot through me. My eyes snapped fully open, the lingering fog of sleep instantly banished. The blanket she habitually burrowed beneath lay folded with an unnerving tidiness at the foot of the bed, a stark testament to her absence.“Elowen?” The name escaped my lips, a rough whisper in the echoing silence of the room.I pushed myself up, the silk of my sleep shirt clinging uncomfortably. My gaze swept the room, lingering on the small, familiar details – the scattered books on her nightstand, the half-finished sketchpad resting against the wall, t
Alaric's pov She was curled in on herself, her bare feet pale against the damp earth. Her head rested against the rough stone armrest, her posture suggesting she had succumbed to exhaustion mid-sob. And then I saw it – the stark crimson stain seeping through the roughly wrapped fabric around her lower leg.Ranon reached her first, dropping to his knees beside her with a strangled cry. “Elowen!” His voice, usually so steady, trembled with undisguised fear.She stirred weakly, her long eyelashes fluttering open like she was fighting her way back from a deep, troubled dream. “Ranon…?” Her voice was barely a whisper, thick with exhaustion.“What the hell are you doing out here?” he breathed, his hands hovering over her, as if afraid to touch her and break her further. His eyes darted over her pale face, her slumped posture, the bloodied bandage.Theron and I reached them seconds later, our breath coming in ragged gasps. The sight of her – so small, so vulnerable, her face ashen and her e
Theron’s POVThe moon, a silent sentinel in the inky sky, cast long, skeletal fingers of light through the heavy velvet curtains of our shared chamber. The silvered illumination painted Elowen’s face in stark relief against the deep shadows of the room. She had finally succumbed to the exhaustion that clung to her like a shroud, her breathing shallow and uneven, each inhale a fragile whisper against the silence. Tucked beneath layers of soft, comforting blankets, she looked unnervingly small, almost childlike, her usually vibrant presence muted, subdued. Her dark hair, usually a riotous tangle, now lay spilled across the white linen pillowcase like a pool of dark ink, framing her pale features.Alaric sat vigil on one side of the bed, a weighty tome resting in his lap, its pages untouched. His gaze remained fixed on Elowen, his intense focus a silent testament to the fear that still lingered in the air. Ranon, ever restless, was sprawled in the large armchair near the dying embers of
Alaric’s POVThe weight of her in my arms was a stark contrast to the vibrant, fiery spirit that usually defined Elowen. She was a whirlwind of motion, a sharp wit, a force of nature barely contained within her slender frame. To feel her so pliant, so utterly still, sent a fresh wave of icy dread washing over me. She barely stirred as I carried her across the worn threshold of our shared sanctuary, the grand doors of the mansion closing silently behind us, shutting out the lingering shadows of the dawn.Her head nestled beneath my chin, her dark, tangled hair brushing softly against my jaw. One arm, usually so quick to gesture or to reach out in affection, lay loosely around my shoulder, offering no real support. The other rested limply in her lap, her fingers pale and still. I hated this. I loathed the sight of her diminished, drained of the incandescent energy that usually crackled around her like summer lightning. ‘Fragile’ was a word that should never be associated with Elowen. Sh
Alaric's pov She was curled in on herself, her bare feet pale against the damp earth. Her head rested against the rough stone armrest, her posture suggesting she had succumbed to exhaustion mid-sob. And then I saw it – the stark crimson stain seeping through the roughly wrapped fabric around her lower leg.Ranon reached her first, dropping to his knees beside her with a strangled cry. “Elowen!” His voice, usually so steady, trembled with undisguised fear.She stirred weakly, her long eyelashes fluttering open like she was fighting her way back from a deep, troubled dream. “Ranon…?” Her voice was barely a whisper, thick with exhaustion.“What the hell are you doing out here?” he breathed, his hands hovering over her, as if afraid to touch her and break her further. His eyes darted over her pale face, her slumped posture, the bloodied bandage.Theron and I reached them seconds later, our breath coming in ragged gasps. The sight of her – so small, so vulnerable, her face ashen and her e
Alaric’s POVDawn bled across the horizon, painting the ancient stone floor of our shared chamber in hues of rose and gold. The light, usually a welcome sight, felt like an intrusion this morning, starkly illuminating the emptiness beside me. My hand, still heavy with the remnants of sleep, instinctively reached for the familiar warmth of Elowen’s presence.It met only the cool, crisp linen of undisturbed sheets.A jolt, sharp and unsettling, shot through me. My eyes snapped fully open, the lingering fog of sleep instantly banished. The blanket she habitually burrowed beneath lay folded with an unnerving tidiness at the foot of the bed, a stark testament to her absence.“Elowen?” The name escaped my lips, a rough whisper in the echoing silence of the room.I pushed myself up, the silk of my sleep shirt clinging uncomfortably. My gaze swept the room, lingering on the small, familiar details – the scattered books on her nightstand, the half-finished sketchpad resting against the wall, t
Elowen’s POVThe midnight air was a cool balm against my fevered skin, heavy with the earthy scent of rain-soaked soil and the sharp, clean fragrance of pine. A gentle breeze whispered through the trees surrounding the training grounds, carrying with it the distant hoot of an owl and the rustling of unseen creatures in the undergrowth. But the peace of the night was a stark contrast to the turmoil that raged within me.I sat hunched against the rough stone of the training pavilion’s outer wall, my injured leg stretched out before me. Each shallow breath sent a fresh wave of throbbing pain radiating from the deep gash that marred my inner thigh. The wound, a testament to my reckless desperation to push beyond my limits, was a dark, angry red against the pale moonlight. It pulsed with a dull ache that mirrored the ache in my heart.I shouldn’t have come out here. The rational part of my mind, the part that still clung to a semblance of self-preservation, screamed at me. It was foolish,
Elowen’s POVDays bled into nights, each one a relentless cycle of training, exhaustion, and the gnawing fear that clung to me like a second skin. Sleep offered little respite, my dreams filled with swirling shadows and the echoing whispers of a past I didn’t remember, yet felt deep within my bones.The Academy, once a sanctuary, now felt like a cage. Every glance, every hushed conversation, seemed to center around me, a constant reminder of the change that had irrevocably altered my place within its walls. The awe in some eyes felt like a judgment, the unease in others a premonition of the fear I myself harbored.Caelum remained a peripheral figure, a silent observer whose presence was a constant, unsettling hum beneath the surface of my awareness. He didn’t approach me, didn’t offer any further cryptic pronouncements. He simply watched, his gaze unnervingly knowing, as if he held the missing pieces of my fractured identity. And that silence was perhaps the most terrifying thing of a
Ranon’s POVShe was really slipping away. The realization was a slow, agonizing unraveling, like a precious tapestry being pulled thread by thread. It wasn’t a conscious decision on her part, not a deliberate act of distancing. Elowen’s heart, when given, was a fierce, unwavering thing. There were no lukewarm affections in her soul. This was something more profound, more elemental. Like a fragile skiff caught in the relentless pull of an unseen current, drawn towards a distant, powerful shore I couldn’t even glimpse. It was as if a stronger moon had begun to govern her tides, an astral influence I was powerless to counteract.Every time she walked past me in the Academy halls, her very presence thrumming with a nascent magic that shimmered just beneath her skin, a faint, ethereal glow that seemed to emanate from her very bones, I felt it. It was a subtle shift in her aura, a deepening of the shadows that lingered in the depths of her usually vibrant eyes, a quiet intensity that separa
Ranon’s POVFrom the shadowed vantage point of the balcony overlooking the training pit, I watched her move. She was a whirlwind of raw power, a dance of untamed energy that both captivated and terrified me. Each strike, each parry, was imbued with a ferocity I hadn’t seen before, a primal strength that seemed to emanate from the very core of her being.Elowen was changing, evolving into something magnificent and terrifying. The girl I had known, the one I had fiercely protected and possessively loved, was fading, replaced by a force of nature I barely recognized. She was shedding the constraints of her past, breaking free from the mold we had unknowingly cast for her.And with every passing day, with every flicker of that burgeoning power in her eyes, I felt her slipping further and further out of my reach. The invisible thread that had bound us together for so long was fraying, threatening to snap entirely.Alaric was a constant presence at her side now, a silent guardian and patien
Elowen’s POVThe silence in the Academy was a suffocating blanket, heavy with unspoken truths and the tremor of impending change. It wasn’t the peaceful hush of a sleeping forest, but the strained stillness before a lightning strike, the air thick with a tension that prickled my skin.Since Caelum’s pronouncements had shattered the carefully constructed reality I’d known, I felt like a fractured mirror, each shard reflecting a distorted version of myself. Something primal had awakened within me, a dormant power stirring from its ancient slumber. It pulsed beneath my veins, a low, insistent hum that vibrated through my bones, a wild and untamed thing that both terrified and intrigued me.The following morning was a blur of avoidance. I skirted the familiar paths where I might encounter Theron’s simmering fury, Alaric’s quiet concern, or even Ranon’s possessive gaze. Their worry would feel like a cage, their need to protect me a suffocating weight. I wasn’t ready to be handled, to be s