Morning dawned slowly, shrouded in a pale gray mist that wrapped around the spires of Arcanis Academy like skeletal fingers. Elira walked alone on the stone paths, her head spinning from all that Kael had revealed to her the night before. His mother. The curse. The prophecy.
And the voice—echoing in both their minds—urging them to recognize that what bound them was not just magic, but fate.
She cinched her cloak tight around her shoulders as she made her way through the eastern courtyard. The students she encountered did not speak to her. Some shunned her gaze entirely. Others whispered behind her back when they believed she was not listening.
Void-bound.
Cursed.
Aether-born.
All names. None of them sounded like her.
The worst of it? She did not even know who she was anymore herself.
"Elira!"
The soothing voice made her jump. She turned around to find Sera coming towards her, her braid streaming wildly, her arms full of books.
"You've been avoiding me!" Sera panted. "Don't even try to deny it."
"I haven't," Elira lied, summoning a sheepish smile. "Okay, okay, fine, maybe I have a little bit. I just needed. space."
"I guessed," Sera said, her tone melting. "After the whole Council's fangs and whirlwind of bedlam thing? Yeah, you were due for some space."
Elira let out a harsh laugh, but it was short-lived. She looked around, then motioned for Sera to walk with her. "There's something happening, Sera. Something big."
Sera raised an eyebrow. "Bigger than being bonded to the Void Prince and possibly sparking an old prophecy?"
"Yeah. Bigger than that.".
They found an empty bench beneath the shadow of the old library's wall. Elira told her everything—what Kael had revealed, the voice they both heard, the mention of Kael's mother and how she had been consumed by the Void.
Sera listened without interrupting, her fingers tightening around the edges of her books.
"Stars above," she muttered when Elira finished. "This is bigger than any history text I've read."
"That's not the worst of it," Elira replied. "I think something is hidden within the Academy. I can feel it. Like the walls themselves are hiding things."
Sera looked around warily. "You sound like Kael now."
Elira stopped. "That's the point. I think our bond is. strengthening. I've started to dream things when I'm asleep—memories that don't belong to me. Broken images. Blackness. A tree that glows. A silver-eyed woman screaming in a burned hall."
Sera's eyes widened. "That's not a dream. That's a memory."
"But whose?"
"Maybe… hers? His mother?"
Elira's heart pounded. "If the bond can share memories—what else can it do?"
Before Sera could answer, the air around them seemed to ripple, as if raw magic whooshed past them like a breeze. The two girls turned around.
Standing at the edge of the courtyard was Professor Malrik, History of Ancient Bloodlines lecturer—and Council informant. His gaze fell directly upon Elira. He did not nod, nor smile, just a cold, knowing glance.
Then he turned and vanished into the east wing of the library.
Sera grasped Elira's sleeve. "He knows something."
"I think he wants me to follow."
"Or he wants to trap you."
Elira stood there, her breath catching. "Either way, I am entitled to some answers."
Sera didn't stop her. She simply pressed one of her books into Elira's hand. "Take this. It's a book on Void Lineages. If you notice anything that looks like those visions… mark the page."
Elira clutched the book to her chest and took off for the east wing.
Inside, the library was gloomy and cool, lit by drifting balls of white fire which moved sluggishly between rows. She followed the quiet noise of footsteps further inside, past stretches of aged scrolls and faded leather books.
She finally discovered him.
Professor Malrik stood before a stone door she'd never noticed before—hidden in the shadows of the western archives. Symbols glowed along its edge, whispering in tongues she couldn't understand.
"You've awakened the bond," Malrik said without turning. "I wasn't sure it would happen in this lifetime."
"You knew?" Elira asked, her voice sharper than she intended.
"I knew of the potential," he replied. "But it's never happened in over five hundred years. I believed the line was cut."
"What line?"
He faced her now, his colorless eyes shining. "The one you and Kael both bear. The last heirs of an ancient covenant between the Aetherion light and the Voidborne darkness. Your bond is not just rare, Miss Thorne—it's catalytic."
Elira's mouth went dry. "Catalytic… for what?"
He retreated and indicated the stone door. "For opening this."
The runes illuminated as Elira approached. Her sigil throbbed on her chest—hot, searing. Her hands went up unbidden, and the moment they touched the stone, the door creaked and split in two with a jet of dust and magic.
A spiral stair descended into darkness.
Malrik's voice was calm. "What lies beneath comes before even the Academy. The Council has forbidden individuals for centuries."
"Then why bring me down?"
"Because the Council doesn't know, and it frightens them. I, however, study that which they fear."
Elira doubted him, still uncertain. "What will be down there?"
"Truth," he said. "And perhaps, your future."
Not even hesitating, Elira walked into the door.
The descent was silent except for the thumping of her boots against ancient stone. The deeper she went, the colder it became. Her bond pulsed to the rhythm of her footfalls, a constant heartbeat in the blackness.
At the bottom, there was a circular room before her. Murals covered every inch—scenes of animals entwined in light and darkness battling in heavens. A woman standing over a broken altar with silver eyes. A boy kneeling with black wings beside a tree of gold.
There was a pedestal in the center.
On. It. A crystal sphere, glittering with. Both. Darkness. And. Light, the two powers churning within like a tempest imprisoned in interminable conflict.
Elira touched it with her fingertips.
A voice. Full. The room—not. Malrik's, not. Kael's. "The Soul-Bond. It. Is. Not. A. Tether. It. Is. A. Gate. And. When. Both. Ends. Awaken,. The. Gate. Shall. Open."
.Light. Burst. Around. Her.
.Visions. Filled. Her. Mind.
Kael standing before a throne of bones, screaming.
The Council chamber on fire.
The heavens ripped asunder by a beast of endless eyes and mouths poured from a void.
And herself—surrounded by silver flame, her hand in Kael's, as they stood against the end of everything.
Her knees gave way, and she collapsed.
A voice whispered in the back of her mind.
"Choose. Light or Void. Salvation or Destruction."