The morning after the storm, Riverbend was too quiet. The air hung heavy, the kind of stillness that followed destruction. Windows were shattered, streetlights burned out, and the smell of rain clung to everything. Yet above it all, there was something else—an absence, a hush that felt like the world holding its breath.
Lila stood in the middle of Main Street barefoot, her shoes forgotten somewhere behind her. The silver mark over her heart pulsed faintly, casting soft ripples of light through her damp shirt. She could still feel it—the pulse of power, the echo of something vast that had passed through her. It wasn't a dream. She had opened something last night. A door that wasn't meant to exist.
She ran her fingers over the mark, half afraid it might burn. Instead, warmth spread through her chest, steady and soothing. A whisper curled through her mind, a voice neither male nor female.
You carry what was once divided.
She spun around, scanning the empty street. "Who's there?"
The whisper faded. But the meaning stayed—she was different now. Something between mortal and divine.
Behind her, footsteps crunched on broken glass. "You shouldn't be alone right now."
Lila turned. Elior stood at the edge of the street, his once-luminous wings faint as shadows now, his green aura barely visible. He looked… exhausted. Every step seemed heavy.
"You look worse than the city," she said softly.
He gave a tired smile. "It cost more than I thought to keep you alive through that."
Guilt tugged at her. "I didn't ask you to."
"I know." His voice held no bitterness. "But I would've done it anyway."
They stood there in silence for a moment, surrounded by the aftermath of celestial warfare disguised as weather.
Finally, she asked, "Where's Adrian?"
Elior's expression darkened. "Gone. For now."
"For now," she echoed, the words feeling too certain to comfort her.
Elior stepped closer, eyes flicking toward the silver mark on her chest. "That shouldn't exist."
"It's mine," she said defensively.
"I know," he said again, softer this time. "That's what scares me."
Lila frowned. "You're afraid of me?"
"I'm afraid for you," he corrected. "The Concord will sense it soon. What you did last night broke the veil. They'll come to decide whether you're a threat."
"Let them decide," she said, chin lifting. "I'm done being judged by rules I never agreed to."
Elior's gaze softened, but sorrow lingered there too. "They won't see it that way. To them, you've become the proof Adrian was right—that love can rewrite creation."
Her breath caught. "And you? What do you believe now?"
For a moment, his eyes glowed faintly, the last echo of his fading power. "I believe you've become something I can't protect anymore."
Before she could reply, the air behind him shimmered. A ring of gold and frost spread across the ground, and from it stepped Virel—the same celestial who had once threatened Adrian. His armor gleamed like liquid sunlight, his wings edged in ice.
"Lila Moreau," Virel said, his tone both reverent and cold. "Child of the Feather. The Concord summons you."
Elior moved instantly, placing himself between them. "No. She's not ready."
Virel's gaze flicked to him with faint disdain. "You've already done enough damage, half-fallen."
Lila stiffened. "Half-fallen?"
Elior didn't look at her. "Ignore him."
Virel's voice sharpened. "He broke his Oath when he shielded you last night. His wings will fade by dawn. He's one of us no longer."
The words hit like a blade. Lila stepped forward, anger flaring. "Then maybe that's a good thing. If being one of you means deciding everyone else's fate, I want nothing to do with it."
Virel studied her quietly, then tilted his head. "You sound like him."
"Adrian?"
"Yes." His eyes narrowed. "And that is precisely the problem."
A cold wind stirred around them. The air hummed with divine energy, thick enough to taste. Elior's light flickered violently, and pain twisted across his features.
Lila reached for him instinctively. "Elior—"
He stumbled, his knees hitting the ground. His wings, once radiant, splintered into shards of emerald light that fell around him like broken glass. Each one vanished before touching the street.
Virel watched without emotion. "The Concord reclaims what it gave."
"Stop!" Lila shouted. Her silver mark blazed, the light surging outward in a fierce wave that pushed Virel back a step. The wind howled, and the faint outline of new wings shimmered at her back—not green, not gold, but a blend of both, translucent and alive.
Virel's composure cracked. "Impossible…"
Lila helped Elior to his feet, her hand glowing where it touched him. The faintest hint of color returned to his eyes. "You don't get to take what he's earned," she said fiercely.
Virel straightened, his expression unreadable. "You think you understand what you are. You don't. That power doesn't belong to mortals—or fallen."
"Then maybe it's time the rules changed."
Virel's golden eyes met hers, cold and assessing. "Then you've chosen your side."
The street trembled as the circle beneath his feet reignited. "When the Concord comes," he said, "remember—Adrian Vale won't be your only enemy."
And then he was gone—vanished into light, leaving behind only silence and the faint scent of frost.
Lila turned back to Elior, her heart pounding. His light was flickering weaker by the second. "You can't lose this, not because of me."
He gave her a faint, weary smile. "It's already gone. And maybe that's okay. For the first time, I get to choose who I am."
Her throat tightened. "Then choose to stay."
"I will," he whispered. "As long as you need me."
Above them, dawn began to break—soft and uncertain, painting the city in muted gold. Lila looked toward the horizon, where faint golden sparks hinted at Adrian's presence, watching from somewhere unseen.
The storm might have passed, but its shadow lingered.
And as the first rays of light touched her silver mark, Lila understood what the whisper meant.
She wasn't just part of their story anymore.
She was the thread that could unravel or remake everything.
And both heaven and hell would come for her because of it.