A warm noon sun bathed Carosso's central courtyard, where humans and elves gathered in a momentous celebration of their hard-won victory. Emperor Ethan stood before the assembled crowd with Celestia at his side. Around them were their loyal companions—Nina, Eileen, Seraphina, Israya, Lyssandra—and the high elf envoys Lucianna, Tyriel, Aetherlyn, and others from the hidden forests. Every face in the courtyard, whether human or elf, shone with cautious hope."Today," Ethan announced, his voice carrying proudly over the murmuring throng, "we stand as one united family, having fought together under the banner of justice to save the people of Avelline. Let this victory—and our unity—be a beacon for the future." He turned to the foremost high elves, who were now rested and bandaged from their ordeals. For the first time in centuries, the reclusive High Elves of Illyanfir stood openly among humans, their eyes glimmering with tentative trust. "The High Elves have left their forest at last. We

Seraphina's instincts kicked in a heartbeat before Theros's dark spell could pierce her. She threw up both hands, and a dome of shimmering golden light flared around her body. Theros's fingers, crackling with malevolent energy, struck the holy barrier instead of her flesh. There was a crack like thunder. Seraphina staggered under the impact, her boots skidding on the rocky ground as her barrier trembled.Theros's form flickered, and for an instant his eyes glowed a hellish blackish-purple in the dark. He pressed against her barrier, face contorting with effort and glee. "Ah, a lively one," he hissed. "Your soul shines so brightly, little saint... it will make the perfect offering to the dark god of the Black Market."Seraphina's heart pounded. The pressure of his attack was cold and invasive, eating away at her protective light—and she reached for more and found the bottom of it much closer than it should have been. Four hundred miles away, seven stones in Carosso's wall were drawing o

For a heartbeat, the chamber fell silent. Ethan and his companions stared in shock and relief at the dozens of elven captives they had freed from the living root-cages. Frail elf women and girls huddled together, their silver eyes blinking in the unfamiliar torchlight of the subterranean lair. Some wept with joy, clutching the hands of their rescuers through broken cage bars; others simply sank to the ground, overcome and trembling.Celestia immediately moved among them, her draconic senses on high alert even as she offered gentle reassurance. "You're safe now," she promised softly to a young elf girl, wrapping a soft cloak around the child's thin shoulders. The girl looked up at Celestia's silver hair and warm crimson eyes, and managed a timid smile.Nearby, Nina guided an elderly elf woman out of a splintered cage, supporting the frail figure with an arm around her waist. "Easy does it," Nina murmured kindly. The woman's lip quivered as she touched Nina's face, whispering words of gr

Seraphina woke to the sound of the world trying to pull her apart.She was lying in Ethan's arms—she knew the shape of them, the warmth, even before she opened her eyes—but the warmth could not reach the cold spreading from her shoulder. The curse had been a slow frost for weeks. Now it was a tide. And the tide was being called.Below them, through the ragged hole where half the cavern floor had fallen away, the great violet seal blazed in the dark, and its light did not fall on Seraphina so much as reach into her, finding the black veins beneath her skin and tugging, gently, the way a fisher tests a line. With every pulse of that glow she felt herself thinning—felt some essential thread of Last Updated : 2026-07-02

By the time Carosso's white walls rose out of the winter haze, Ethan had stopped feeling the cold. He had given his cloak to Seraphina two days back, on the road down from Shadow Peak, and he kept it wrapped tight around her now where she rode before him in the saddle—and still, every so often, he felt her shiver against his chest with a chill that had nothing to do with the season. He would tighten his arm around her, and she would murmur that she was fine, and they would both pretend to believe it.She was not fine. He had seen the veins beneath her jaw that morning, when she thought no one was watching. They had been black, and they had been climbing.