The temple crumbled behind them, roots shattering like glass underfoot. The walls of the Grove trembled, vines convulsing as if the land itself recoiled from what had awakened beneath its soil.
Aelira — no, Seraiya — stood tall, her name etched now across fate and flesh.
But it wasn't pride on her face.
It was fear.
Ashar didn't look back at her as they ran.Theron cursed under his breath.Kaelen stayed close but silent.Only Riven glanced back — and even then, with eyes that held too many ghosts.
The forest shifted around them, the trees no longer silent. They whispered warnings in ancient tongues, leaves rustling with words older than war.
And then—
They weren't alone.
The first arrow struck the ground at Kaelen's feet, glowing red.
The second grazed Aelira's arm before she could deflect it with magic.
Dozens of figures emerged from the trees — cloaked in black, faces veiled in silver, bearing curved blades marked with a three-eyed sigil.
Kaelen's eyes widened. "The Thorn Order."
Ashar froze. "Impossible. They were wiped out after the Fall."
"No," Aelira murmured. "They were mine."
The leader stepped forward. A woman in armor like shadow, her face thin and cruelly beautiful beneath her veil. She knelt before Aelira — not in reverence, but in challenge.
"Our Queen has returned. And we, your blade, await your command."
"I'm not your Queen," Aelira said sharply. "That name—"
"Belongs to you," the woman interrupted. "You may wear another face, but we know you, Seraiya. We followed you into ruin. We've been waiting in the dark for your light to rise again."
Ashar's voice was like cut stone. "She's not that woman anymore."
The Thorn leader smiled. "Then she is weak."
In a flash, she drew her blade and lunged.
Riven stepped between them — blade drawn — and blocked her strike in a burst of sparks.
Kaelen and Theron sprang into action, and the clearing erupted into chaos.
Aelira's hands burned with magic, but she didn't strike. She couldn't. Every Thorn that attacked her now had once sworn themselves to her — had bled for her, killed for her.
She whispered, "Stand down—"
A dagger slashed toward her throat.
And Ashar caught it, bare-handed — flame roaring to life, rage in his eyes.
"You should've let us burn your past," he growled. "Now it's coming for all of us."
The Thorn woman laughed even as her soldiers fell around her. "You don't understand, boy. We're not here to kill her. We're here to bring her home."
She whistled once — and the shadows surged.
Aelira was ripped backward by force magic, her body lifted into the air. The Thorn Order conjured a rift — a dark, swirling tear in reality, and the woman turned back with a smirk.
"Your Queen will remember. She always does."
Then — they vanished into the rift, dragging Aelira with them.
Gone.
—
Silence followed.
Ashar stood frozen, his hands still burning, breath ragged.
Riven punched a tree — hard enough to splinter bark.
Theron swore like a sailor.
Kaelen picked up the bloodied dagger left behind. "They'll try to awaken the rest of her power. The part she sealed away."
Ashar looked up, eyes blazing.
"Then we find her."
Riven didn't speak.
He simply turned to the fading rift — and walked through it.
The others followed.
And somewhere far ahead, Aelira opened her eyes in a stone chamber lined with bones.
Her past waited there.So did her oldest vow.And a man she thought she'd killed… would be waiting to take her crown back.