Isla's POV
"I'm going." I stood up, ignoring my screaming muscles. "I'll surrender. I won't let innocent people die because of me."
"Absolutely not." Kael grabbed my arm. "It's a trap."
"I don't care!" I yanked free, anger and guilt burning through me. "Someone from the Institute is already dead. My former coworker. Maybe Lyra. Maybe someone else I knew. And they'll kill more people every hour until sunset. I can't let that happen!"
"If you surrender, they'll use your power to destroy the Veil," Elder Seraphine said firmly. "Millions will die instead of dozens."
"She's right," Captain Theron added, his deep voice gentle. "I know it's hard, but—"
"Hard?" I spun on him. "People are dying because the Shadowsworn want me! How is running away and hiding here the right choice?"
"Because dying won't save them," Kael said coldly. "The Shadowsworn will kill those people anyway, whether you surrender or not. They're trying to manipulate you with guilt. Don't let them."
"You don't know that! Maybe if I go, they'll stop—"
"They won't stop." Kael's silver eyes blazed. "They're dark mages who've murdered thousands. They'll take you, force you to tear the Veil open, and then kill everyone anyway because they can. Your sacrifice would be meaningless."
The words hit like a slap. "So what do I do? Just let people die?"
"No," Seraphine said. "We send a team to the human realm to evacuate anyone connected to you. Meanwhile, we strengthen the Court's defenses and prepare for war. Because that's what's coming, child. War."
My legs gave out. I sat down hard, the weight of it all crushing me. "This is my fault."
"It's the Shadowsworn's fault," Theron corrected gently. "You're just the excuse they're using."
I looked up at the massive warrior. He had kind eyes despite his scary appearance—broad shoulders, battle scars, and hands that could crush stone. But his expression held only sympathy.
"I know it doesn't feel like it right now," he continued, "but you being here is the right choice. In the human realm, you'd be defenseless. Here, we can protect you while you learn to protect yourself."
"Come," Seraphine said. "We need to identify the body and assess the threat. Kael, Theron, with me. Isla—"
"I'm coming too," I said firmly. "If it's someone I know, I need to see."
They exchanged glances but didn't argue.
We walked to the east gate where guards stood around something covered with a white cloth. Even from a distance, I could smell blood.
Seraphine pulled back the cloth.
Relief and horror hit me simultaneously. Not Lyra—I didn't recognize this woman. But she was young, maybe my age, with Institute identification around her neck. Someone's daughter. Someone's friend.
And carved into her skin in jagged letters: ONE DOWN. SEND THE VEILWEAVER.
I turned away and vomited.
Theron steadied me while I shook. "I'm sorry you had to see that."
"We need to evacuate the Institute," Kael said, his voice hard. "Anyone connected to Isla. Now."
"Already sent a team," Seraphine confirmed. "But it will take hours to locate everyone and bring them through the Veil safely. The Shadowsworn will kill more before we finish."
"Then we move faster." Kael looked at me. "Isla, give Theron a list of names. Everyone you worked with. Everyone you knew. We'll find them."
I tried to think through my panic. "Lyra. She's my only real friend. Professor Grimshaw, even though he's terrible. The kitchen staff—Maria, Chen, old Thomas. The library assistants..."
Theron pulled out paper and started writing names. "Anyone else? Family?"
"My stepmother and stepsister are Shadowsworn, so they're safe," I said bitterly. "I have no one else."
"What about your fiancé?" Seraphine asked. "The one who betrayed you?"
"Ex-fiancé. Marcus Aldridge." Saying his name hurt. "He might be Shadowsworn too. But if he's not..." I swallowed. "Save him anyway. I don't want anyone dying because of me. Even him."
Kael's jaw tightened, but he nodded to Theron. "Add him to the list."
"I'll lead the extraction team personally," Theron said. "We'll move fast and careful." He looked at me. "Try not to worry. We're good at this."
After they left, I stood there staring at the covered body. Someone had died because of me. More would die before sunset.
"This isn't your fault," Kael said quietly.
"Everyone keeps saying that. But it feels like my fault."
"Feelings aren't facts." He guided me away from the gate. "You didn't kill that woman. The Shadowsworn did. You didn't start this war. They did. You're just trying to survive it."
We walked in silence until we reached a quiet garden. Kael made me sit on a bench.
"You need to eat and rest," he said. "You've been training all morning, and you'll need strength for whatever comes next."
"I can't rest. People are dying—"
"And you collapsing from exhaustion won't save them." His tone softened. "Please, Isla. Eat. Rest. Let others do their jobs while you recover."
A Guardian brought food—bread, cheese, fruit. My stomach churned, but I forced myself to eat. Kael sat beside me, silent and solid.
After a while, footsteps approached. Captain Theron appeared, and I jumped up. "Did you find them?"
"Not yet. We're still organizing the team." He held up a hand. "But I came back because I wanted to talk to you. Privately, if the Commander permits."
Kael studied him, then nodded. "I'll check on Seraphine's defenses. Don't let her do anything stupid, Theron."
"Wouldn't dream of it, sir."
After Kael left, Theron sat beside me. Up close, he was even more intimidating—easily seven feet tall with muscles like iron. But his brown eyes were warm.
"You're probably wondering why I wanted to talk," he said.
"Is something wrong? Did you find bad news about my friends?"
"No, nothing like that." He smiled slightly. "I wanted to tell you something about Kael. Something that might help you understand him better."
I leaned forward. "I'm listening."
"I've served with the Commander for three hundred years," Theron began. "Watched him fight a thousand battles, save countless lives, protect this realm from every threat imaginable. And in all that time, I've never seen him adjust training for anyone. Never seen him show patience. Never seen him care if someone succeeded or failed."
"But today?"
"Today, he was gentle with you." Theron's voice held wonder. "He made training hard, yes, but he also encouraged you. Defended you. Believed in you. Do you understand how unprecedented that is?"
I thought about Kael's harsh words but also his steady presence. How he'd stayed up all night watching over me. How he'd helped control my nightmares.
"The soul-bond changed him," I said.
"The soul-bond gave him the ability to feel," Theron corrected. "But you gave him something to feel about. There's a difference." He looked at me seriously. "Kael lost everything a thousand years ago. His parents, his sister, everyone he loved. The guilt destroyed him. So he made a deal with the Moon Goddess—take away his emotions so he'd never fail to protect someone he cared about again."
"Because if you don't care, you can't fail," I whispered.
"Exactly. For ten centuries, he's been the perfect Guardian. Cold. Efficient. Ruthless. Most of us forgot he was ever anything else. We started thinking of him as just a weapon."
"But he's not just a weapon."
"No." Theron smiled. "And you saw that immediately. You see the man underneath the curse. That's rare. Most people are too scared of him to look deeper."
"I'm scared of him sometimes," I admitted. "But I'm also grateful. He saved my life. Multiple times."
"And now you're saving his." Theron's expression turned serious. "Learning to feel again after a thousand years of nothing? That's harder than any battle he's ever fought. He's overwhelmed, confused, probably terrified. But he's trying. For you. Be patient with him."
"I will," I promised.
"Good." Theron stood. "Now, I should teach you something while Kael's busy. Consider it a friendly shortcut."
"A shortcut to what?"
"Building strength without destroying yourself." He grinned. "The Commander's training methods are effective but brutal. I know easier ways to get strong fast. Interested?"
For the first time since seeing that body, I felt a spark of hope. "Yes. Show me."
For the next hour, Theron taught me breathing techniques to build endurance, stretches to prevent injury, and tricks for maximizing training results. He was patient and encouraging—so different from the other Guardians who'd mocked me.
"Why are you helping me?" I asked during a water break.
"Because you're helping Kael," he said simply. "He's my commander, but he's also my friend. And I haven't seen him this alive in centuries. Whatever happens with the Shadowsworn, whatever danger you face—you gave him back his humanity. That's worth protecting."
Footsteps running. A Guardian burst into the garden, face pale.
"Captain! We have a problem!"
Theron was instantly alert. "What happened?"
"The extraction team reached the Institute. Most people had already evacuated—someone warned them. But we found one person locked in a basement storage room." The Guardian looked at me. "It's your friend Lyra. She's alive but barely. And there's a message."
Relief flooded through me. "Lyra's alive! Where is she? I need to see her—"
"There's more," the Guardian interrupted. "The message was delivered by your ex-fiancé, Marcus Aldridge. He said to tell you he's sorry for everything. Sorry for betraying you. Sorry for helping the Shadowsworn. And sorry for what he has to do next."
"What does that mean?" I demanded.
The Guardian swallowed hard. "He said Victoria has his sister. If he doesn't deliver you to the Shadowsworn by midnight, they'll kill her. He's been given a token—something that can bypass the Court's defenses and open a portal directly to you."
"What kind of token?"
"We don't know. But he said to tell you he's coming tonight. And he's begging you not to fight him because he doesn't want to hurt you, but he will if he has to. His sister's life depends on it."
My blood ran cold. Marcus was coming here. Tonight. To kidnap me.
And somewhere in this Court, there was a token that would let him bypass every protection Kael and the Council had put in place.
"Where's Kael?" I asked urgently.
"Still checking defenses on the south wall—"
An explosion rocked the garden. The ground shook. Screams erupted from somewhere in the Court.
"That came from the south wall," Theron said grimly. "Where Kael is."
Another explosion. Then another. The sky lit up with dark magic.
"It's a full assault," the Guardian gasped. "The Shadowsworn are attacking the Court directly!"
Theron grabbed his weapon. "Get Isla to the safe room. Now!"
"Wait!" I caught his arm. "Kael's out there. The soul-bond—if he dies—"
"Then we make sure he doesn't die." Theron looked at me seriously. "But you need to hide. You're what they're after. Don't make his job harder by being a target."
He ran toward the battle, leaving me with two guards who immediately tried to pull me toward safety.
I resisted, torn between following orders and running toward Kael. Through our soul-bond, I felt his emotions—determination, focus, and underneath it all, fear. Not for himself. For me.
More explosions. The sky turned black with shadow creatures pouring through tears in reality.
This wasn't just an attack. This was an invasion.
And somewhere in the chaos, Marcus was coming to kidnap me while Kael fought for his life.
One of my guards suddenly gasped and fell, a dark arrow in his back. The second guard spun, weapon raised, but another arrow took him down too.
I stood alone in the garden, defenseless, as a figure emerged from the shadows.
Not Marcus. Not Victoria. Someone worse.
A man in black armor, his face hidden behind a helm carved with terrible symbols. Power radiated from him like heat from a furnace.
"Hello, Veilweaver," he said, his voice ancient and cold. "I've been hunting your bloodline for twenty-six years. Time to finish what I started with your mother."
He raised his hand, and darkness swallowed everything.