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But the darkness was already reaching for me again, its tendrils wrapping around my thoughts, pulling me under. I tried to fight it, tried to hold onto this moment of lucidity, but the shadows were stronger. They dragged me down, down, until consciousness fractured once more.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Darkness stretched in every direction,but this time it was different. Not the suffocating nothingness of before, but something alive. Shadows writhed and twisted around me, their whispers growing louder, more insistent. They spoke of power lying just beyond, waiting to be claimed.

In the distance, two images shimmered like mirages. On one side, I saw Ravenfell, its people wasting away as the essence drained from their land. Vexa cradling a lifeless Effie. Lael collapsed in the street. Even Aether's golden eyes had gone dull, his shadows fading as the drought consumed everything.

On the other side, Sídhe blazed with stolen vitality. The Guard gathered at the border, Laryk at their head, preparing for war. They didn't understand what they were doing—that their prosperity came at the cost of an entire realm. That they were destroying everything.

The shadows coiled around my ankles, sliding up my legs with seductive grace.We can give you the power to stop this, they seemed to whisper.To save them all.

I could feel it—that impossible strength hovering just out ofreach. All I had to do was let go. Stop fighting. Let the darkness consume everything I was, everything I'd built myself to be. My web, my memories, my will—all of it would dissolve into shadow.

We can show you how, the shadows purred, wrapping around my waist now, my ribs, my throat.You've only touched the surface of what you could become.

The images shifted. I saw myself wielding shadows like they were extensions of my body, tearing holes between realms, commanding armies of darkness. I could force peace through sheer power. I could make them all stop fighting, stop killing each other. No more lies, no more theft of essence, no more death.

But something deeper than my bones knew the cost. I would lose everything—not just memories, but the very essence of who I was, transformed into something unrecognizable. I would become like the Void itself. Endless. Hungry. Absolute.

The shadow-version of myself turned to look at me with eyes like the endless dark. Not cruel, not kind—simply rid of everything that made meme. No trace of the girl who'd grown up in Ma's apothecary. No remnant of the fighter Laryk had seen potential in. Nothing left of the person who'd found something worth fighting for in this dying realm.

You've always been meant for this, the shadows whispered.Why else would we call to you so strongly?

They were right. I'd felt it from the beginning—that pull, that sense of recognition. The shadows had never felt foreign, never felt wrong. They felt like coming home.

Just let go.

I closed my eyes, feeling the darkness press against my skin, seeping into my pores, trying to merge with my essence. One simple choice. Sacrifice everything I was to become something powerful enough to save everyone.

The power sang through my blood, promising everything I'dever wanted. An end to the war. An end to suffering. An end to having to choose sides.

All I had to do was stop being Fia.

The shadows pressed closer, wrapping around my throat like a lover's caress. It would be so easy. Just one moment of surrender and all of this—the pain, the choices, the weight of two realms—would dissolve into pure power.

The visions shifted again. I saw myself standing between armies, my mere presence enough to make them lower their weapons. I saw essence flowing freely through Umbrathia once more, saw children playing in gardens that had sprung back to life. I saw Sídhe's people learning to live without stolen power, adapting, growing stronger on their own.

You could end it all, the shadows promised.Right now.

My web gave one last desperate pulse against my spine as the darkness began to seep into it, beginning to transform its pearlescent strands into something darker. The pain was exquisite—like being unmade and remade all at once.

I felt myself starting to fade, my memories becoming liquid, slipping through my fingers like water. Ma's smile. Laryk's emerald eyes. Aether's golden gaze in the firelight. They began to blur, to lose meaning.

Let go, the shadows sang.Let go let go let go?—

"It's not about surviving."

The words cut through the darkness like a blade, sharp and familiar. Aether's voice.

"It's about choosing to keep fighting even when everything inside you wants to give in."

The shadows hissed, tightening their grip, but the words had already taken root. Fighting. Not surrendering. Not letting go.Fighting.

The shadows writhed, their whispers turning sharp, desperate.You're making a mistake. Think of what you could become. Think of what you could save.

The visions flickered faster now—Ravenfell restored, Sídhe at peace, both realms thriving under my absolute power. But beneath those promises, something darker pulsed. A hunger that would never be satisfied. An emptiness that would consume everything, even after there was nothing left of me to give.

You cannot fight what you are meant to be, they hissed.You cannot deny your true nature.