Chapter 105 Six Months Later
SERA
Being dead was surprisingly boring.
I existed in the bond. A consciousness without body. Watching Kael and Nyx live their lives while I floated in the space between thoughts.
Most days I stayed dormant. Resting. Preserving what little energy death had left me.
But today was different. Today something was wrong.
I pushed into awareness. Felt through the bond. Found Nyx first.
She was in the new council chamber. Seventeen years old now in appearance—time-walkers aged weird. Arguing with Cassian about trade routes.
"The eastern merchants are price gouging. We need regulations." Her voice was fierce. Confident.
"Regulations stifle commerce. Let the market balance itself." Cassian countered. Still golden. Still insufferable. But genuine in his partnership with Kael.
I moved through the bond to Kael. Found him in the training yards. Sparring with Theron. Moving with lethal grace that still made my non-existent heart race.
He'd aged in six months. Not physically. Emotionally. The grief had carved lines around his eyes. But he was still here. Still fighting. Still leading.
Pride flooded through me. He'd kept his promise. Had lived. Had built something worth protecting.
Then I felt it. The wrongness that had pulled me to awareness.
The bond was changing. Shifting. Something was interfering with it. Trying to sever it. Trying to break what death hadn't managed to destroy.
I pushed harder. Trying to understand.
Found it in the Shadowlands. A ritual. Blood magic mixed with void magic mixed with something older.
And at the center—
Elena.
Still alive somehow. Still plotting.
No. I pushed through the bond. Hard. Found Kael mid-sparring. Kael! Elena's alive! She's in the Shadowlands! She's trying to break our bond!
He stumbled. Nearly took Theron's blade to the face. "Sera?"
"Your Majesty?" Theron lowered his weapon.
"Fine. Just—" He touched his chest. "Sera's here. Warning me."
Elena. She survived. She's performing a ritual. Trying to sever the blood bond. If she succeeds—
"If she succeeds, you disappear completely." Kael's voice was grim. "Where is she?"
The Shadowlands. Old temple. Three hours east. She's almost finished. Maybe an hour left.
"Theron. Get Nyx. Get Isolde. Eastern gate in ten minutes. Full combat gear." Kael was already moving. "We have a ghost to kill."
NYX
I felt Mother's presence before Father found me.
She was agitated. Afraid.
Mother? What's wrong?
Elena. She's alive. She's trying to break our bond. If she succeeds, I'm gone. Completely.
"How is she alive? Father said she burned herself out."
I don't know. But she's there. I can feel her. And she's powerful.
Father burst into the council chamber. "Nyx. We need to go. Now."
Cassian stood. "What's happening?"
"Elena. She's alive and trying to destroy what's left of Sera." Father's eyes were black. "I need Nyx and Isolde. You hold things here."
"Elena's dead—"
"We saw her burn out. Apparently that's not the same thing." Father grabbed my arm. "Come on. Maybe an hour before she finishes."
We ran. Met Isolde at the eastern gate. She took one look at Father's face and nodded.
"Elena. I should have known." She pulled weapons from her coat. "What's the plan?"
"Kill her. Permanently. Before she destroys Sera's consciousness." Father mounted a horse. "Fast travel. We make the temple in under two hours or we're too late."
We rode hard. Pushing the horses beyond safe limits. The Shadowlands loomed ahead. Dark. Twisted.
"How do you kill someone who already died once?" I asked.
"Thoroughly." Father's voice was ice. "We destroy her body. Burn her essence. Whatever it takes."
Be careful. Mother's voice whispered. She's not alone. I can feel others. Multiple presences.
We reached the temple. Ancient structure that predated kingdoms.
And standing in front, alive and smiling, was Elena.
She looked different. Burned. Scarred. Like fire had consumed her and she'd rebuilt herself from ash. Her eyes were wrong. Too bright. Too hungry.
"Kael. How lovely. I was hoping you'd come." Her voice was rough. Damaged. "Just in time to watch me finish what I started."
"You're supposed to be dead." Father dismounted. Void energy crackling. "You burned yourself out."
"I did. And I died. For about six hours." She laughed. Broken. Wrong. "Turns out dying isn't as permanent as people think. Not when you've got the right friends."
"What friends?"
Three figures stepped out from behind her. Cloaked. Hooded. Radiating power that made my skin crawl.
"Oh, just some people who want Morvenna free. Who think trapping her was a mistake." Elena gestured. "They brought me back. Gave me power. All I have to do is break your precious blood bond. Sever your connection to Sera's ghost."
"Why? Why keep fighting—"
"Because I spent seventy years dead! Because I came back for revenge and you survived! Because Sera's death wasn't enough!" She screamed it. Raw. Furious. Insane. "So I'm breaking the bond. Destroying what's left of her. Making sure you lose her twice."
The three figures raised their hands. Power gathered. Ancient. Terrible.
The ritual intensified. I felt it through the bond. Felt Mother's consciousness being pulled. Torn. Destroyed.
Father! Do something!
"I know!" He attacked. Void against void. But the three figures blocked him. Their power was immense. Impossible to break through.
"Isolde! Help me!"
She joined the attack. Two Shadowborn against three. But they were outmatched.
The bond stretched. Thinned. Started to tear.
Kael. Mother's voice was fading. I love you. I can't hold on—
"No! Sera! Don't you dare—"
Something inside me snapped. Not the bond. Something else. Something I'd been suppressing since birth.
Time magic. Pure. Unfiltered. Everything I'd been holding back.
I let it loose.
The world stopped. Literally stopped. Frozen in a single moment. Elena mid-laugh. The three figures mid-casting. Father mid-scream.
Only I could move. Only I existed outside the frozen moment.
I walked to Elena. Looked at her hateful face. Felt pity. Felt rage.
"You're pathetic. You died for revenge and came back for more. You can't let go. Can't move on. Can't be anything except anger and pain." I touched her forehead. "So I'm going to help you."
I pushed. Hard. Sent her consciousness backward through time. Back to the moment before her first death. Back to the cell where she died seventy years ago.
And I locked her there. Created a time loop. Made her live her death over and over. Forever. Eternally dying. Eternally raging. Eternally trapped.
Her body in the present collapsed. Empty. Consciousness removed. Gone.
The ritual shattered. The bond stabilized. Mother's presence returned. Weak. Damaged. But present.
I turned to the three figures. Still frozen.
"Your turn."
I looked at them. Really looked. Saw through their cloaks.
They weren't Shadowborn. They were worse.
They were fragments. Pieces of Morvenna's consciousness that had escaped before the prison sealed. Hiding. Waiting. Planning.
"No more waiting." I erased them. Not killed. Erased. Removed them from time completely. Made it so they'd never existed.
Reality screamed. Didn't like being edited.
But I didn't care. I was done playing nice. Done letting people threaten my family.
I unfroze time. The world resumed. Father stumbled. Isolde gasped.
Elena's body hit the ground. Dead. Empty. Gone.
"What—what happened?" Father looked around. "Where are the others—"
"Handled." My voice was cold. "Elena's trapped in a time loop. Dying forever. The others are erased. They won't threaten us again."
"Nyx." Isolde's voice was horrified. "What did you do—"
"What needed to be done. What I should have done from the start." I looked at Father. "Mother's safe. The bond is stable. We can go home now."
He stared at me. Seeing something in my face that hadn't been there before. Something cold. Dangerous.
"Nyx. That kind of power. That kind of time manipulation. It changes you—"
"Makes me what? Effective? Powerful? Willing to do what's necessary?" I smiled. Felt how wrong it looked. "I'm tired of being weak. Tired of almost losing people. Tired of playing by rules while our enemies break them." I turned away. "From now on, I protect our family. No matter what it takes. No matter who I have to become."
I walked toward the horses. Left them standing in the ruins. In the aftermath of what I'd done.
And for the first time since Mother died, I felt powerful.
Felt in control.
Felt dangerous.
Maybe that should have scared me.
It didn't.