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“We’re in this together,” Sienna replied, her voice steady and reassuring, yet I could sense an undercurrent of anxiety beneath her calm exterior. Today, even her strength felt like a tenuous lifeline.

“Together,” Elora echoed, though her face remained grim. The notion was both comforting and suffocating. The three of us had faced challenges before, but this… this was different.

“Okay, let’s get going. We have memories to change,” I said with dread, my words sinking in. Each syllable felt like a stone dropped into the depths of the ocean, rippling with the implications of what we were about to undertake.

As we swam away, the unease coiling in my gut sharpened into something colder, a prickle at the nape of my neck that refused to fade. It crawled down my spine, each pulse sending a shiver through me.

The palace corridors blurred past, their luminescent delesseria casting ghostly flickers of light as I surged forward, cutting through the currents with frantic speed. My lungs burned, my heart slammed against my ribs, but I couldn’t slow down.

Panic wasn’t just a whisper in my mind, it was in my blood, surging, clawing, demanding to be heard.

The cavernous hall ahead loomed, its entrance dark and foreboding, swallowing the faint glow of laminaria that adorned the walls.

A chill crept down my spine as I stepped closer, my heart pounding with a sense of impending dread. Ronan, who was supposed to be on guard, was nowhere to be found. His absence felt like a fracture in our carefully constructed reality, unsettling and strange.

“Something isn’t right.” The words left me in a hush, laced with a tension and confusion I couldn’t shake. A weight settled deep in my chest, pressing tighter with each breath.

“Where’s Ronan?” I turned to Elora, my pulse hammering as I caught the flicker of confusion in her eyes, an eerie echo of my own rising dread.

“He would never leave without an order,” Elora replied, her brow furrowing in concern. “It’s not like him at all.”

A knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach. Ronan was cocky, but he was also loyal. He wouldn’t disobey orders, and his absence meant that something was wrong.

“Elora, go find Ronan,” I commanded, my voice resolute. “Sienna, we are going in. I don’t like this.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” they both replied in unison, their voices tinged with the seriousness that the situation demanded. Elora bowed slightly, her features set in determination, while Sienna’s brow furrowed with concern.

Every moment felt like an eternity as we swam through the maze towards the moon pond. The silence of the cavern only amplified the chaos in my mind.

As we approached the clearing that led to the pond, an icy dread settled in the pit of my stomach. The water felt colder and its glow was now overshadowed by the horror of the scene unfolding before us. My heart sank as I took in the sight.

Ithra, her tail coiled around Adrian’s legs like a venomous sea serpent, pulling him deeper into the depths. His arms flailed helplessly, his face contorted in a mask of panic and despair as he fought for air.

The image of Adrian struggling against the icy grip of despair sent a wave of nausea to my stomach .

A surge of fury ignited within me, burning hot and consuming. How dare she? My thoughts raced, swirling like a tempest in my mind. How could she do this? How could she betray our world and everything we stood for?

Sienna’s sharp intake of breath beside me snapped me back to the moment, and I could see the anguish mirrored in her eyes.

“Iryen, we have to do something!” she exclaimed, her voice a blend of urgency and fear.

“Ithra, let him go, now!” I commanded, my voice echoing with a strength I didn’t fully feel inside.

She laughed, a cruel sound that cut through the water like a jagged shard of glass.

“Why should I? Besides, I don’t listen to childish demands.” Her eyes glinted with malice, but I could see the flicker of uncertainty in her bravado.

My anger flared, an icy chill spreading deep within me, fueled by the sight of Adrian’s body slowing, his struggles waning as desperation seeped into his gaze.

Determined to act, I closed my eyes, centering myself as I summoned my powers. I felt the familiar rush of energy coursing through my veins, my connection to the water sharpening my focus.

Mustering all my will, I controlled the water, creating restraints that bound her wrists, pinning them to her sides. With every stroke, I swam closer, my determination growing stronger.

“You will release him, or I will make you,” I said, my voice low and threatening, the words tasting like steel on my tongue.

For a moment, her expression shifted, fear flashed across her features, and I could sense her unease. She knew better than to mess with me. I inherited my mother’s rare gift, the ability to take hold of the mind, and in that moment, I wielded it.

The pressure in the water felt electric, crackling with tension as I prepared to unleash my full power if she dared to defy me.

“Do you really want to make an enemy of me, Ithra?” I continued, my tone chillingly calm. “You may think you have the upper hand, but you’re mistaken. I won’t allow you to take him from me.”

The shadows danced in her eyes, a testament of her doubt.

I could see her weighing her options, calculating the risks of defiance against the reality of her situation.

The power I possessed was palpable, and in that moment, the fear that coursed through her veins was like sweet nectar, fueling my determination.

“Free him!” I commanded again, this time infusing my words with a sense of urgency and authority that I hoped would penetrate her arrogance. “You know you can’t win this fight. Let him go, and I may consider sparing you from the consequences of your actions.”

I swam even closer, my heart racing as I locked eyes with Adrian. His gaze flickered with fear and… regret. The look in his eyes pierced through me, a mix of confusion and helplessness that sent a wave of panic crashing over my heart. Why was he looking at me like that?

I couldn’t afford to dwell on it now. His eyes fluttered closed, and that was the breaking point. Ghostly fingers clawed at my throat, constricting my breathing as the world around me blurred.

“I can’t lose him.” The words slipped out in a whisper, raw and trembling. Desperation coiled tight in my rib cage, threading through my veins like a rising tide. My grip on patience frayed with every passing second, unraveling beneath the dread.

I summoned every ounce of willpower, delving into myself to access my mother’s legacy. It was time to take control. I focused on Ithra, feeling the tendrils of my psychic energy reach out and wrap around her mind, turning her into my puppet.

“Release. him. Now.” I commanded, my voice laced with authority, resonating in the water like a thunderclap. She froze, the malevolent glint in her eyes replaced by a blank stare as I seized her will .

With a swift motion, I forced her to release Adrian, and I watched as he broke free from her grip, his body sinking slowly into the depths, unconsciousness pulling him under.

Just then, Elora and Ronan burst into the clearing, their expressions shifting from confusion to alarm as they took in the scene before them.

“What happened?” Ronan demanded, his voice cutting through the tension.

“Take her away. I will deal with her later.” I harshly ordered.

“And all of you leave.” I add, returning my focus solely on Adrian, who sank beneath the surface, his once golden skin now pale, contrasting against the dark water.

I surged toward him, wrapping my arms around his limp form as I broke the surface, dragging us both onto the shore. Each frantic heartbeat pounded against my ribs, a desperate rhythm that matched the ragged gasps tearing from my throat.

Panic clawed at me, ruthless and all-consuming, shredding through the fragile composure I had fought to hold. The fear of losing him was unbearable, a crushing weight that settled deep in my chest, suffocating, unrelenting.

Tears blurred my vision as I cradled Adrian’s head against me, his skin deathly pale, slick with seawater.

No. I wouldn’t let this happen again.

Pressing trembling hands against his chest, I channeled my power into him, willing warmth and light to flow through my fingertips.

The energy surged, but the connection felt tenuous, like trying to catch water in cupped hands, slipping away faster than I could hold it.

His life teetered on the edge, a thread unraveling, and I could do nothing but fight to pull him back before it was too late.

“Breathe!” My voice trembled, raw with desperation, as I poured every ounce of my power into him.

My aura intertwined with his, seeking, pleading, forcing warmth into his fading light.

Beneath my trembling hands, I felt the fragile rhythm of his heart, an unsteady flutter that sent ice through my veins.

“Please, Adrian, breathe!”

A sharp pain lanced through me. Not my own, but his.

It crashed into me, an unbearable ache that burrowed deep into my bones.

Wasn’t just his suffering I felt, it was something more, something primal and inescapable.

The pull I had tried to ignore, the unrelenting force that had tangled my thoughts since the moment I met him, suddenly bared its truth.

He was mine. My mate.

The realization struck with the force of a crashing wave, drowning me in its certainty.

The bond between us wasn’t just a fleeting attraction, a dangerous distraction, woven into the very fabric of my being.

His pain, his struggle, the unbearable fear constricting my chest. It was all because of the connection threading us together.

If he faded, I would feel it, I would know it, I would lose a part of myself I hadn’t even understood was his to claim.

“No,” I whispered, shaking, my fingers pressing harder against his chest. “No, you don’t get to leave me.”

His pulse stuttered beneath my touch, growing weaker, his essence slipping away, like grains of sand through my fingers. A wild, primal terror took over me, raw and all-consuming, constricting my throat. I couldn’t lose him. I wouldn’t.

“Please,” I breathed, my voice breaking, my soul unraveling with the possibility of losing him. “Hold on.”

Please, Goddess. The silent plea echoed through every fiber of my being, a desperate cry to the divine. Do not take him. Not yet. We just met. His story isn’t over. I clung to that belief, to the fragile hope that fate had not yet sealed his end.

Give me strength. My hands pressed against his chest, trembling with effort as I poured everything I had into him, my power, my will, my very soul. The darkness that coiled around him resisted, thick and suffocating, threatening to pull him beyond my reach.

“Fight, Adrian,” I whispered, my voice barely a breath against the crushing weight of fear. “Stay with me.”

Time stretched unbearably, every second an eternity as the silence pressed in, deafening and cruel. My heart pounded, frantic, as if trying to beat for him. And then—

A flicker. A spark of warmth beneath my palms. The faintest shift in his chest.

Then a gasp.

I jolted as his body lurched, water spilling from his lips in violent coughs. Relief slammed into me so hard I nearly collapsed, my grip on him tightening as if I could anchor him to this world.

“That’s it! Come back to me!” My voice broke with raw emotion, urging him forward, away from the abyss that had nearly swallowed him whole.

The suffocating darkness receded, unraveling in the wake of his returning strength. The invisible pull of Thanatos loosened its grip, and I sensed it, his will to live, to fight.

His eyes fluttered open, locking onto mine. Confusion swirled in their depths, laced with fear… and something else. Something I couldn’t yet name.

But none of it mattered. Only that he is alive.