The sky hadn't stopped trembling since the moment Nyra stepped out of the crypt.
Thunder rolled without sound. The clouds above the forest twisted like they were alive—shaped by something unseen, something ancient. And perched high on the craggy ridge overlooking the Vale, the winged creature watched her. Its eyes were molten moonfire, just like hers.
It didn't speak. It didn't move.
It simply waited.
Nyra stood at the edge of the silver pool, soaked in power. Her body pulsed with new strength, raw and unruly. Magic crawled under her skin, her fingers twitching with every breath she took. The ground beneath her feet cracked as she stepped forward.
A whisper coiled in her mind.
"You were never the heir they wanted. You are the ruin they feared."
The Watcher tilted its head, wings folding in slowly, like a creature recognizing its kin.
Before she could reach it, a sharp snap echoed through the trees.
"Nyra!" Iris burst through the brush, her chest heaving. "Thank the stars. You—what the hell happened to you?"
Nyra turned, eyes glowing like suns. Her voice was steady, colder than before. "I passed the Trials."
Iris's gaze swept over her. "You look like you survived a war. What did they do to you?"
Nyra didn't answer. Instead, she looked past Iris—to the treeline, where shadows moved unnaturally.
"We're not alone."
The Watcher released a low, vibrating sound. Not a screech. Not a growl.
A warning.
Suddenly, arrows sliced through the air.
Nyra yanked Iris down just in time, the projectiles thudding into the trees behind them. Then came the scent—ash, steel, blood magic.
Nightveil Enforcers.
Kael had moved faster than she thought.
She rose to her feet, the moonstone blade she'd carried through the trials now reforged in her palm—longer, meaner, hungrier.
"Iris," she said, "run."
"No way in hell," Iris snapped, already summoning her shadows. "You're not doing this alone."
Nyra smirked. "Didn't plan to."
They fought like chaos incarnate. Iris's darkness twisted around Nyra's light—two forces that shouldn't have worked together, but did. Enforcers screamed as they were torn apart, their sigils burning against the forest floor. And Nyra… she didn't just fight.
She unleashed.
With every movement, her power expanded, unhinged and ancient, pulling from wells she hadn't even known existed.
And then—
Kael stepped into the clearing.
His armor was obsidian-black, marked with the crest of the Nightveil line. But his face… his face was unreadable.
Nyra froze, blood dripping from her blade. Her voice was low. "Come to kill me yourself, Duskbane?"
Kael's jaw tensed. "No."
"Then step aside."
"I can't."
The wind howled between them, lifting her white hair and flaring his cloak. The Watcher above them remained still, as if this too was part of the prophecy.
"You betrayed me," she said. "Sent me to rot in Bloodfang."
"I protected you," he hissed. "If I hadn't—"
"Don't," she cut in, voice sharp enough to pierce. "Don't rewrite what you did."
The ground cracked again beneath her feet, and Kael took an instinctive step back.
"You were right to fear me, Kael," she whispered, stepping closer. "But it's too late to undo what you've unleashed."
Behind her, the Watcher finally moved. Its wings stretched across the sky like stormclouds made flesh. Iris backed away, eyes wide. Even the Enforcers trembled.
Kael's voice dropped into a whisper. "What are you now?"
Nyra's eyes locked with his. "The end of your legacy."
⸻
Cliffhanger Ending:
The Watcher descended.
Not to destroy.
To kneel.
And with that, the earth shook again—not from battle.
But from prophecy awakening