The trek back from the ruins was colder than Jayden remembered.
Even with the moonlight trailing after them like a silver ribbon, he couldn't shake the feeling that something had shifted. The prophecy burned in his mind like a brand:"The Moon chose one. But the Shadow chose another."
What did that mean?Who was the other?And what would be "remade"… or broken?
Aerin walked ahead, silent for once, her fingers twitching as though she could feel something crawling just beneath her skin. The usual fire in her step was dulled, like a lantern dimmed by too much smoke.
"Aerin," Jayden said at last, breaking the silence. "That monster… have you seen something like it before?"
She didn't look back. "No. But I've seen worse."
He waited, expecting her usual flippant remark. Instead, she kept walking.
Then, finally: "Do you want to know where I got my magic?"
Jayden blinked. "You… want to talk about it?"
"Don't flatter yourself. I just don't feel like watching you guess and get it incredibly wrong."
Jayden gave a small laugh. "Okay, sure. So, where?"
Aerin stopped at the edge of the cliff that overlooked the valley below. The wind tugged at her wild hair as she spoke, not looking at him.
"My father was a fire mage. Court-appointed. Big deal. Fancy clothes. Wine that cost more than most people's lives. You know the type."
"Sounds… awful."
"Oh, he was worse. He married my mother for her bloodline—she came from the Ember Isles, descended from flame spirits or something. Didn't matter. All he cared about was that any children they had would be powerful."
Jayden stood still, listening. He'd never seen her this… open. It was strange and sad and kind of terrifying.
"Well, I didn't have the magic at first. I was a late bloomer." Aerin smirked, but it didn't reach her eyes. "So he locked me in the furnace room. For two days. Said it might 'wake something up.'"
Jayden's stomach turned. "He what?"
"I was eight. And I hated fire. Hated it more than anything." She finally turned to him, her voice quiet. "Until it hated him back."
"…What happened?"
"I burned the entire west wing of the estate down. He lived, but the court took one look at me and called it 'divine fire inheritance.' They were thrilled. Gave me tutors, jewels, and a title I never wanted. My mother left. I never saw her again."
Jayden didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Aerin said, a flicker of flame curling around her fingertips. "I survived. And now I burn for me."
She turned and started walking again. "But the reason I'm telling you this, moon-boy, is because monsters like that thing we fought? They don't come for people with boring destinies. Something's changing. Fast."
They returned to the outer edge of the Moon Temple by dawn. The silver lanterns had dimmed, and the wind smelled like frost and lightning.
Eryndor was waiting.
But she wasn't alone.
A man stood beside her, draped in midnight-blue armor embroidered with gold. His cloak bore the seal of the royal house of Andralis—the same one that had adopted Jayden. His presence was like a cold wind in a quiet room.
"Jayden," Eryndor said, tense. "This is Commander Aldric. He's come with news from the capital."
The man stepped forward. He was tall, built like a statue, and had a face carved from marble. He looked at Jayden the way one might examine a sword that had been left out in the rain.
"I bring word from your father—the King Consort," he said. "Your siblings have returned from the Eastern Territories. And they were attacked."
Jayden's breath caught. "By what?"
"They don't know. Shadow-creatures. Like nightmares given flesh. Your sister Leonora is wounded. Gravely."
Aerin glanced at Jayden. "Shadowborn?"
Eryndor's face darkened. "It's too soon to say. But the old magic is stirring. And Jayden must return to the capital."
Jayden took a step back. "Why? I can't go back there. Not now. Not when I—"
Aldric cut him off. "Because someone in the palace has been dreaming of silver flames. Of you. And of the end of the realm."
The wind howled through the temple's arches.
And far beneath the mountain, where no lanterns reached, something opened its eyes.