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The darkness rippled, and suddenly Lael's weight vanished from my arms. My vision blurred, and I found myself under a starlit sky, flames roaring all around me. Through the inferno, I saw them—a couple locked in an embrace. The woman's hair was almost like mine. Unruly, and long, but darker, more blonde than white. The man who held her had skin nearly as gray as the smokesurrounding them, long black hair falling in intricate braids down his back. And shadows. Shadows around his eyes.

Their arms tightened around each other, golden bracelets hanging on both of their arms, reflecting the raging fire surrounding them. One last look—one last glance of understanding. A look I'd never shared with another person.

They clung to each other as the flames descended, consuming them.

And then they were erased from existence.

Reality snapped back to darkness, and I choked on phantom smoke, my lungs burning. Lael's weight returned to my arms.

"What was that?" I gasped. "Who were they?"

Silence answered.

"It's not like them to intervene. They must truly fear what awaits."

"Who?" I demanded. "What are you talking about?"

"I believe these belong to you now."

The words hit like a physical force. Darkness whipped around me, through me, into me—but this time it didn't try to consume. Power surged through my veins as I clutched Lael to my chest. Intoxicated. I was intoxicated—just as I had been on the lawn in Emeraal. Just as I had been when Aether touched me. But I fought through the sensation. I needed to get Laelthe fuckout of here.

I shot upward through the nothingness, my feet leaving the bladed grass behind, Lael hanging in my arms. I wasn’t quite sure how I knew where I was going, but I did. Not in any conscious way, but it was more of a feeling, a magnetism from the shadows pulling me. The darkness melted around us like liquid night. And finally, I was there. I could see the hint of a gray sky beyond the dark mist. I slammed into it.

Breaching the barrier between Void and reality felt like flying through weighted water, the pressure pulling my frame, slowing me down. Finally, we burst into dulled air. And every murmurmuted to nothing. The shadows didn't dissipate but rather coiled around me like a living cloak, dancing with my hair as it whipped wild and white against the gray sky.

My eyes scanned the crowd below, searching. Nobles in their finery, Council members, citizens of Ravenfell—all of them blurred together until I found what I was looking for. Aether. His golden eyes locked onto mine, then dropped to Lael's limp form. He was moving before I even landed, shouldering past nobles, cutting through the crowd.

Lael's breathing grew more labored, each shallow gasp tearing at something inside me. The shadows carried me down, my feet slamming into the earth. The crowd parted before me as I rushed forward.

"He needs help," I said as Aether reached me, my voice hoarse. The void burns on Lael's skin crawled up his neck in the twilight, spreading across him like smoke. My arms that wrapped around him were untouched by such markings.

"Please."

Aether moved without hesitation. That hard edge that normally permeated his entire presence seemed to crack as he helped support Lael's weight. I saw it then—the fear in his eyes as he looked at the boy he'd saved from Croyg.

"Get the medics." Aether's voice carried a desperation I'd never heard before. "Now!"

The shadows still curled around us, but I barely noticed them, barely registered the whispers from the crowd. All that mattered was the labored rise and fall of Lael's chest, and the way Aether's hands trembled slightly as he checked the boy's pulse.

As the medics rushed forward, I caught Aether's eye once more. The mask had fallen completely now, replaced by something raw.

“Behold,” Karis’s voice boomed from behind me, his feet crunching through the dead grass. “A Duskbound has emerged from the Void.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The Void stretched before us.Whispers from the crowd drifted across the empty space behind, but I kept my eyes forward, searching for any sign of movement. Vexa stood beside me, uncharacteristically silent.

"How long was I in there?" I finally asked, my voice still raw.

"Twelve hours." She shifted her weight, crossing her arms. "Theron emerged first, then Mira. You came out with Lael about an hour ago."

I nodded, processing this. The medics had taken Lael immediately, working quickly to stabilize him. He was unconscious but alive—that's what mattered. Time had felt impossible to track in there, stretching and compressing without logic or reason.

"Twelve hours," I repeated. "It felt like weeks. And also like minutes."

"That's normal." Vexa's lips quirked, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Though emerging with another person? That’s… rare.” She glanced at me. "Want to talk about what happened in there?"

"Not really."