Kaelen didn’t let go of her until they reached the higher ground. His hand stayed warm against her lower back, steadying her when her breathing slipped or when the aftershocks from the pool flickered under her skin.The wind moved softly across the ridge. It should have felt calming. It didn’t.Selene kept her arms close to her body, trying to stop the tremor she couldn’t fully control. Lyra stood ahead of them with her arms crossed and her gaze locked on the valley below, almost daring the pool to try something again.Kaelen finally spoke. “You’re still cold.”Selene nodded. “It’s not like normal cold. It feels like it’s inside me.”Lyra turned her head just enough to look back at her. “Residual contact. When you touched that thing, part of its energy latched onto your light.”Selene swallowed. “Can I get rid of it?”“Yes,” Kaelen said. He stepped around her so he was standing right in front of her. His voice lowered. “But not by force. If you push against it, it pushes back.”“What

The world around her felt thin, almost weightless, as if she were standing inside a memory that hadn’t decided whether it still existed. Light poured from the fracture beside her, bright enough to burn through shadow but not enough to blind her. It moved like a living river, shifting and pulling against the edges of the tear as if it wished it could break free.The woman stood only a few steps away.Her skin held a faint glow, not constant but pulsing softly like the stone veins in the hollow. Her hair was long, falling in loose waves that shimmered at the ends. And her eyes were the thing Selene couldn’t look away from. They carried the same kind of light she had always felt inside herself, but steadier. Calmer. Older.The woman didn’t move at first. She just watched Selene, as if making sure the vision had truly brought her here.Selene took a slow breath. “Who are you?”The woman stepped closer, her expression painfully gentle. “You already know.”Selene shook her head. “No. I’ve n

The edge of the valley felt different now.Selene noticed it first. The light on the surface still glowed, but something beneath it had shifted. It felt heavier, as if each step pressed against layers of memories waiting to surface. Kaelen walked slightly ahead, his pace even and controlled, but Selene could see the tension in his shoulders. Lyra stayed close on her other side, every movement sharp, her eyes moving constantly over the shifting ground.None of them spoke for a while.The silence didn’t feel empty. It carried expectation, like the valley already knew they were coming.Selene kept her gaze forward, breathing slowly as her heartbeat settled. The memory of the first bearer clung to her like a warmth she couldn’t shake. She could still feel the echo of that touch against her chest, steadying her, grounding her.Kaelen glanced back at her only once, just enough to check she was steady. She nodded, and he kept moving.They walked until the ground began to slope downward.The

The room stayed quiet after that last breath between them, the kind of quiet that didn’t settle but hovered. The air still carried the warmth of everything they had just shared. The sheets were still pulled unevenly around them, soft against their skin. Kaelen hadn’t moved yet. His hand stayed resting at the side of Selene’s waist, not gripping, not guiding, just there like he was trying to keep her inside the moment a little longer.Selene lay on her back, her chest rising slowly as she tried to steady herself. Her thoughts hadn’t caught up with her body. She felt the pull of him still moving through her, not physical anymore but deeper, an echo that refused to fade. She turned her head slightly, her eyes finding him in the dim light. He looked different like he was holding something back again but not out of coldness. More like he was afraid of the truth sitting between them.She shifted closer, her thigh brushing his. He didn’t pull away. If anything, he leaned into the contact.He

The light didn’t touch Selene’s hand at first. It hovered there, trembling softly in a way that didn’t feel uncertain. It felt new. Like it was learning how to reach for something solid after existing only as memory.Selene kept her hand steady, her breathing slow, aware of Kaelen’s presence at her back. His warmth, his stillness, his focus she relied on it more in this moment than she wanted to admit.The figure of light leaned closer, the glow shifting in uneven pulses. Every movement it made seemed shaped by instinct, not intention. Not malicious. Just alive in a way that was still unfamiliar to itself.Selene felt a faint pressure against her palm. Not a touch, not yet. More like a soft warmth brushing the surface of her skin.Her heart lifted into her throat.“It’s trying,” she whispered.Kaelen didn’t move. His voice stayed calm. “Let it come to you.”The glow pulsed again, brightening around her hand. Selene felt the small hairs on her arm lift with the current of warmth. Her b