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Gnarled trees twisted toward the sky, their bark slick with silver moss. Mist clung low to the forest floor concealing our path in soft, shifting clouds through the trees.

As Kai and Nyx took in the unique surroundings with this being their first time here, Vorzyr spun toward me, confusion swimming in his molten golden pools. “Meforian Forest? Why did you bring us here?”

“You’ll see,” I said, gesturing for the three of them to follow me.

As I led the way, Vorzyr called out to me, “You knew about the Celestial Eclipse Peonies, didn’t you?”

“Yes. It just wasn’t the time to get into all of that. And I couldn’t understand howyouknew about them either. It took some time to figure out. But after what’s happened, itistime. More than that, it’s become undeniably apparent that you have a connection to this sort of thing like me.”

As we walked deeper into the forest, everyone immersed in a heavy, stunned silence, I felt the air shift. It was subtle, but unquestionably charged. As that sensation deepened, I followed it with the guys at my back, knowing it was my guide toward that which I wanted to show them.

And there, tucked beneath a veil of wild ferns and bramble, the Celestial Eclipse Peonies revealed themselves, sensing my presence—well, more specifically, my Celestial being. And now, as had become clear, Vorzyr’s also.

I marveled at their deep burgundy and plum petals that curled like velvet, each bloom pulsing faintly with a white shimmer.

“This is where they grow. The one place on earth.” I turned to the guys, eyeing Vorzyr in particular. “No one else is supposed to know, outside of me and my family.”

I knelt down and ran my fingers over a couple of them. “Clearly,youwere meant to find them also.” I smiled out at them. “The energy in this forest is the living, pulsing energy of Cornelius Martel, the most infamous Fallen. Vorzyr, you were drawn here like a beacon when you left the Dracoryn Realm and set upon this plane. That’s far from a coincidence. You possess a Celestial link.”

As my heavy words hung there, and a thick silence enveloped them all, I called my power and swept my glow over the space between the peonies and an age-old tree.

It cast aside the magical veil and left roots and moss in its wake.

I carefully brushed them away to reveal a weather-worn hidden stone beneath.

I sucked in a breath as the air hummed with Celestial energy.

As my fingers brushed the stone, silver symbols shimmered across its surface, illuminating like firelight in the darkness.

It revealed Celestial Script.

Val’shuraen el’Martel. Fael’thi ka’reth nael. Shaddai ven eltharan.

As the guys gazed at it, I translated,“Here fell Cornelius of the Celestial Flame. The stars grieved, the forest remembered, and the bloom rose from ash.”

I went on, explaining, “When my grandfather was cast out and became Fallen, this is where he first landed and the forest absorbed some of his Celestial essence. It remembers him. The moment a Fallen, an Immortal, crashed onto this mortal plane, it didn’t just scar the land here, it consecrated it. It’s why this forest is the only place Celestial Eclipse Peonies can grow. It’s not just enchanted, it’s sanctified by a Fallen. You told me that you believed the flowers symbolize the balance between chaos and control, and they do, because this place is a paradox of grace and defiance, of purity and punishment. And the fact that you knew that… it meant the forest spoke to you, this consecrated land did. It drew you here, feeling the Celestial connection in you. Youshouldn’thave known that about the peonies, and the fact that you did says a great deal.” I gazed out at him. “That you’re more than even dragon.”

I held out my hand to Vorzyr as I walked around to the other side of the stone, and he followed me, then stood over it, taking in the split sun and moon carved above a peony entwined with flame marks. I pressed my hand over the carved imagery and it glowed a bright white. “Try,” I beseeched Vorzyr.

He hesitated for a few moments, before drawing in a breath, then pressing his hand to it as well.

Sure enough, that same white glow emanated at his contact, recognizing him, connecting with him.Andconfirming that he was bonded to the Celestial Plane in some way, just like his Primal Celestial Resonance ability had suggested.

“This confirms it, beyond a shadow of a doubt,” I told him, as he eased away, his eyes wide, looking between his hand and thestone, then around at the peonies. “A Celestial link runs in your blood.”

“What are your other abilities that eclipse those of other dragon kind?” Kai asked him.

Vorzyr looked out at each of us, before folding his arms across his chest, and telling us, “When I felt your power, Ariana, it was more than just that. Thinking about it now, I know it was. It wasn’t just the magical maturity thing. I didn’t understand it at the time, but now, knowing this, and what happened at the Unity Council, I think I was seeing between planes, between Realms, and what I saw was you. I was pulled to you.”

“That’s Rift Vision,” I told him. “You can see between weak points in the realms and alterations to the balance between them as well. It’s sort of like an early-warning system for supernatural breaches. It’s difficult to control and dangerous if you don’t have somebody to guide you, because seeing shadows in reality, things moving in the space between the realms, things you’re not really meant to see, it could drive you mad. You need to be very careful with it.”

“Hold on,” Kai spoke. “You said it functions as an early-warning system? Then that suggests that something about you, Ari, could be warning of an imbalance, or something connected to you could be.”

“Pops told me that when I reached magical maturity, he felt the balance shift. I couldn’t because I put away a good portion of my power, so I’m not properly connected currently. That’s one of the reasons I need to analyze that Unity Council test. Combined with the symbols from my shadow weaving that I told you about.”

“You’re afraid that if you take it back, this warning, this imbalance could come about?” Kai asked.

“My family told me to take back my power, so perhaps it’s not aboutme,but something connected to me, like the True Celestials themselves.”