zan dragged a limp and bleeding Saél over the ground by her neck, her long, sharp nails digging in her daughter's many bruises. The latter's legs were numb and unmoving as they trailed on the floor before her mother pushed her onto a small tabouret with a missing leg. Ûzan gagged her, tearing a piece of the younger one's nightdress covered with blood and dirt and sweat, and shoving it hard enough it almost choked her.

Despite the ache shooting in her veins, despite the dark spots swimming in her vision, despite the coldness devouring her bones, Saél still stared at the cauldron. At the remaining of her daughter: a pile of ash. Skeleton-like fingers grabbed her chin, vicious, green magic seeping from the fingertips and into her veins, coursing in every single blood vessel. Saél jerked, entire body quivering as more magic penetrated her system.

Her screeches and wails were muffled, falling back into her throat, squishing her heart. The rattle of skin against skin as Ûzan hit her daughter's face echoed in the dull, unlit room. Another followed, and another, and another, whipping Sael's face from side to side, crimson dropping from her nose and busted lips to her chest. Red, not green like all the other Souleaters. She was different from the very beginning, forged from another sort of magic and flesh. The sort we carried in our bodies, the sort the Five created.

There was no possible outcome that the dead babe would ever have been born a witch-not a dark one, at least.

Chains erupted from under the wood panels covering the floor, wrapping themselves around Sael's calves, wrists, and chest. A vibrant shade of green feebly illuminated them, warming the metal with magical heat. Saél screamed again, trashing in her seat and falling, back arching from the pain as she hit ground. Her skin burned beneath the chains, tears running down her face, the salty trails igniting an unholy agony as they seeped into her wounds.

A heavy scent of iron wafted in the air, blooming with each stifled cry and kick to the young one's ribs. The room spun, darkness licking the edges of the corner the three ghosts of our minds were standing in. The earth shook and the darkness grew stronger, harder, almost to the point it could be touched.

The memory broke.

The forest reappeared. The night sky peeked between the massive branches. The air was crisp in my lungs. I didn't move from my position against the direwolf and said nothing as I stared at the woman whose daughter was killed in front of her eyes.

She was younger than I was when she had her in her womb and watched the torture that took her infant from her arms. I couldn't imagine the pain, couldn't imagine the hollowness in her soul after all that happened. And what I saw in the eyes that stared back at me was so little of the real destruction left unspoken in her soul.

Yes, death would have been a mercy for her that night.

"I didn't even name her,'' breathed Saél, her voice breaking the silence building between us. "She died nameless because witches never name their offspring before they are born. I never saw her smile. And each night, when my head hits the pillow, I can't sleep because I still hear her cries. They are the only thing I heard from her; there was no laughs, no whimpers. Only gasps and small, heart-wrenching cries."

"What after that?" I deigned asking, needing to keep my mask intact. She shouldn't see what was beneath the red, swirling eyes. Shouldn't know I wanted her mother dead as much as she did for this. Not now, at least.

"She made me her slave. For two years straight, I was beaten every single night. Then, it became twice or thrice a week, depending on whether she thought I was still worth that much humiliation."

"

You never tried escaping?" questioned Aedis, body perfectly idle in his resting position pressed against the outer side of the wall.

"Many time,'' she admitted. ''The only time I almost made it to freedom was last winter when the Eleven Winds hit the continent. She was sleeping, warm in her bed and weary due to the potion I slid in her tea. I snuck out and was ready to walk for days under that weather; even the thought of being swallowed by one of those whirlwinds was more pleasant than spending the rest of my days locked here."

She paused, turning in her seat and giving us her back. She pointed deep into the woods, aiming at the far boulder springing out of the earth like a mighty beast clawing its way out toward the sky. Even with easily a kilometer separating us from the plunging earth-the place there lower than the place this cottage was built on-the boulder still looked massive enough. Up close, words said it reached more than two hundred meters in length, the upper half invisible in a foggy day. Some legends said it was a rock that fell from the Thrones, all the way from heaven the day we won the war. Others said it was the fang of a monster that snaked its way out of the deepest pits of this word so it could fight against Apocalys.

"I made it this far.'' She turned back to face us. "It took an hour and half of walking as I made my way between trees and roots, gripping everything I could so I wouldn't get carried by the winds."

Because the Eleven Winds were a deadly surge of air that hit Cantelot annually each winter, winds howling and ravaging and reaching every corner of these lands. But they never destroyed. Never killed. And the ones swallowed by the eleven whirlwinds were always infiltrating demons. No one knew from where those winds birthed; one step out of Cantelot's limits and they would die, not even existing.

"What brought you back then?"

"My daughter did. Ûzan picked her ashes that night, sealing them in a small, silver box that she paid so much attention to. I never touched it, never was capable to sneak into her room and feel what remained of my child." She titled her head, eyes falling again on the gigantesque stone--the Fang of Laros, they called it. Claws of memories surged in her mind.

"I didn't find it in myself to leave as her cinders remained trapped in this damned cottage with her."

"Then you doomed yourself and came back."

"I did. I stole the box from my mother's room and stood in this very spot." She gestured to the trunk she was seated on. "The winds were howling. The world was trashing. Everything was wild and deadly like a beast awoken from sleep. I watched how the trees swayed, listened as small animals screeched and howled, and tossed her cinders in the air, the swirling winds carrying them around the world."

Aedis rubbed his jaws, fingers tapping over the scar Deres had painted on the right side of his face. "You didn't escape after that. Why?"

"Because," Saél explained, crossing her arms and locking her eyes with my mate. "Ûzan was waking up from the sleep I put her in. Her magic, at least, did. If I tried evading with it roaming around my powers, it would snap all my bones at once before my very blood would turn to stone."

He huffed a breath, pupils splitting for a heartbeat as he sensed something approaching. I did too, the presence familiar: the same one following us for a good few days now. I met the Shadow's red eyes and shook my head, one hand falling behind my nape to pet the direwolf.

Aedis barely nodded. "So what did you do, then? Stand right here, watching the cell door closing on you again?"

"Yes." Cold. Brutal. Hollow. That was what her voice was in this very word. A broken echo. A lifeless breath. For her daughter, she locked herself here. For her, she traded her life for the freedom of a life that was already free far away in the skies. "I stood right here, doing nothing"-her voice cut a sharp, broken edge, memories suppressed and hidden in her eyes-"watching as my girl's cinders erupted to embers then to flames."

Aedis blinked. I blinked. We locked eyes.

Holy Gods above.

"What was the fire shaped like?" I asked, inching forward. Cinders didn't turn to fire. Bodies did, when buried in the nevorian way: the body placed on an adorned bier under the setting sky. Each dying ray of sunlight seeped into the pallid skin, filling his veins, running through his core. And then, the body would start glowing, the edges turning to glimmering flames the colors of amber and gold. The fire would keep growing until the heart burned before it erupted entirely, leaving nothing behind but clothes as a remainder to be placed under dirt.

But cinders and ashes were not claimed by Nevor's flames.

"Do you think I am a fool to tell you this?" Saél countered. "I have told you enough to earn knowing what you are planning for."

I got up from my position, crossing the distance between Saél and the direwolf with quick, soundless step. I was an arm's breadth in front of her when I halted, crossed my arms, and stared at her.

With an arched eyebrow-something only for Elayda's mask-I breathed, "Do you trust us?"

Laughter boomed around us. Sardonic. Feral. Mocking. "Absolutely not."

A lie.

"I don't believe you." I crouched, both elbows resting on my knees. "You are cold and wise and way smarter than letting us this deep into your mind. Something pushed you to do it, to confine in us." I grabbed her hand, pulling it out of her lap, and pointed at her veins. "This the reason." I met her eyes. "Your magic."

She was still, motionless like sculpted ice beneath my grip. I had picked the string.

"Light never lies, Saél." I let go of her hand and propped myself up, looking down at the neutral face and quizzical thoughts beneath it. "Remember this."

With those words, I glided my hand over my face, all the way from my collarbone to the top of my head, feeling magic melt under my fingertips.

Silver burned to black darker than the night. Paleness turned to fairness. Swirling red became glowing emeralds. And the Elayda standing was gone, leaving the real me instead.

Saél, I doubted, did not breathe at that moment. Not as she took in the face of her princess. She knew who I was-everyone in Ardoria knew whose face this one was after the ball.

Slowly, carefully, her eyes lowered from my face towering above her to the one waiting behind. And so did I. It felt as though my heart forgot how to beat at that very moment I saw Leon, his glorious eyes glowing in the dimness of the night.

My bones felt weak. And I smiled. Perhaps it was more to myself than to him, perhaps it was the burning ache to see him again that made me do it, but he still caught that smile.

And winked.

My world would have spun if it wasn't for Sael's heavy intake of breath. Her face was gaunt as she flicked her eyes from one side to the other.

"Some Windreapers are born with the ability to shift. This doesn't fool me."

"They do," Leon confirmed, getting up. "But can they can't fake this."

Fire lit up his hand, snaking around his fingers and dancing on his skin. Saél fell from her trunk, knees sinking in mud. Even in the darkness of night, I saw her shoulders quiver. She knew now for sure who was in her presence: two of the strongest heirs to take upon the new court.

I waved a hand and the mask came back, hiding every single trace of the princess beneath it. At that, Saél got up, head still lowered as she stood in front of me, eyes fixed on her old, falling slippers.

"How long until the Arowcinders are done?"

She lifted her chin at that, eyes meeting ours. There wasn't quite fear in them, nor the unspoken need to bend down to us. But the titles we bore demanded their presence, or else, she would have not bowed, would have not acknowledged the presence of her rulers as much. And that shakiness, half of it was faked.

"They are already prepared and poured in the vials."

I lifted my eyes to the night sky, searching for the moon hidden far from me. I could tell time with my connection to the celestial bodies, could control it, could see through it. It was still the same day we arrived in, our bodies sleeping only for sixteen hours.

Not two days.

"The duration Ûzan spoke-"

"She likes to augment her time, saying she loves the potions to rest after being brewed. But she only ever do it so she can hold her visitors hostage for longer whiles."

I cocked my head to the side, hands rubbing the base of my neck.

"Why is she still sleeping then?"

"Arowcinders consume its owners' strength during the procedure and its maker's after that. She gave two days so she could be in her full strength when giving it to you. I didn't expect you'll be up this early,'' she paused, stares drifting to the silent cottage. "But the stronger the holder is, the stronger the potion is."

I only glanced back at Aedis, hearing Téors's words ringing in my ears. Sixteen hours was still far from being within the range he gave us.

"Ask him,'' my mate whispered, voice as low as the rumble of air in the bushes.

I did.

My mind drifted through the sky, shooting between dimensions like running light until I found him. He wasn't in the White Realm; instead, he wandered in the sky, the mightiness of his transparent, ablaze wings rattling the world as they batted.

My thoughts met his. And I came back.

I turned on my heels, walking to the cottage, only stopping once I was alongside the Shadow. I let him hear my phoenix, let him know the potions were ready. Téors hadn't quite the explication for the shortening of the time-or did, but was restricted to tell me-but he assured that the Arowcinders were ready. I didn't' question further.

"Bring them to us," I commanded the young witch, not even turning to see her. I tore a small piece of my threadbare shirt, bit my hand, and soaked the fabric with my blood that ran black as fluid coal. "Hide this somewhere Ûzan won't find it as you do."

"Why-"

"No questioning.'' I stared over my shoulder, glances jumping from Aedis to Saél to the direwolf. "Once we have them, we leave,'' I added. I eyed her, voice unwavering and as commanding as the one I used in courts as I spoke, "You come with us."

For a long moment, none of us moved. There weren't many outcomes to this situation; I knew Saél wanted to evade more than anything from this rotting prison. But it was either she went by her own will to the castle or I sent someone to take her there forcefully. Father needed to see her. I needed to save her from the deal Ûzan had bargained.

At last, the witch took the fabric from my hand, entered her house, and disappeared in its darkness.

I remained there, frozen in my spot, waiting for her until I felt a hand on my back and warm breaths on my neck.

"What have you seen in her eyes?"Aedis asked, fully aware of what and how the plans in my mind were turning.

Fully aware I snuck into her being and dared peeking at her future.

"Many things. All of them horrible if she remains here."

"To your house?"

I nodded. And waited.

It was midnight as we trekked, three cloaked figures silent between the trees. Even the wolf's fur turned black on will, its fire-forged eyes vanishing into invisible pupils. I couldn't find it in myself to leave it behind, chained and trapped, under the command of a monster wearing a woman's skin. I had held the collar of runes around its neck with one hand, crushing it and pressing the weight of my magic until it erupted in a puff of smoke and dust.

We were nearing the Fang, Saél on the direwolf's back, cloak well wrapped around her to keep her warm against the coolness of the autumn wind. We had been in such a rush she didn't have time to get out of her nightdress. We drank the potion, obeying Sorcha's prescription, much to the witch's horror. The rest, I hid it in a small pocket between the dimensions of this world. Somewhere empty and void, an ability only spirit wielder's had.

"Where are you heading?" asked the witch's daughter, voice lost in the howling winds. She had her hands gripping the wolf's fur so hard I feared she would tear it off. But she was so thin, so malnourished the winds could blow her off it if she ever let go.

"A nearby temple before heading to a port another good few days of walking." I spared her a glance as I jumped over a tremendous root covered with moss and champignons. "As for you, we're sending you to the castle. You will-''

"Take me to the temple with you."

I stopped, halting both Aedis and the direwolf in the middle of a descending road, the Fang of Laros poised in its end.

"Please," she begged."Please. I will say nothing, do nothing, but please take me there."

"Why?" questioned Aedis, focus sharp and keen on every movement she did.

''I made a vow, that night when I threw the ashes in the air. I never trusted prayers or cared about worshiping because I was never heard, but when my daughter erupted in flames and drifted away, I promised Nevor and the Five that, if I ever got out, I would go to a temple the soonest possible. I owe my daughter and her father as much."

"If you are planning anything,'' Aedis warned, ''I will make sure you-"

"I am not,'' she cut him, voice verging to a broken tone. "You can chain me, you can dull my powers. You can have me blindfolded and gagged, but I beg you. Take me to the temple."

"Fine.'' I walked once again, not waiting to hear more to the discussion.

"What was the piece of fabric for?'' she asked as she eyed the gigantesque stone in front of us-the farthest point she ever made so far.

"To send words to the castle guards when Ûzan tries to report us. The curse I left on her will kill her the moment she does as much as think of turning us over and the guards will burn the place down.''

I felt her aura momentarily freeze, her magic fluctuating in a heartbeat. I turned to her, eyebrows arched, trying to read her expression. When she noted it, she explained, "With the haste, I forgot the ring I had taken from the soldier that night. I always kept it as a reminder of that night and everything that followed. Knowing it will burn just like her...'' her words died.

I said nothing, not truly finding what words to say. We continued in silence then, every step light and cautious as I followed the map inked in my memory.

It was after we stepped past the boulder, after Saél released a mighty breath she had been holding for years it seemed, that she confined, "She burned into a bird. Enormous and magnificent, and flew towards the stars.''

And Saél, now far from her mother after years of slavery and abuse, didn't look back to stare at what was once her home.

She was free.