Chapter 68 Chapter Sixty-Eight
Kaelani turned sharply, her violet eyes still glowing faintly.
“What the hell was that?”
Her voice cracked through the silence, sharp and thunderous in its wake. The chamber pulsed with residual energy as she strode toward the Fae women, her presence no longer questioning—commanding.
Three of them visibly flinched. Their confidence dissolved under her glare, and in an instant, they dropped to their knees. Heads bowed. Shoulders trembling. Fear flickered in their eyes like they’d just knelt before a goddess they hadn’t realized was real until now.
But one remained standing.
She didn’t move. Didn’t kneel. Didn’t even blink.
Instead, she looked down at the others with subtle disdain, then lifted her chin and met Kaelani’s gaze head-on.
“We were only following your lead.”
The words weren’t spoken with malice, but there was challenge in them. A refusal to cower.
Kaelani stopped just short of her, jaw tense.
“My lead?” she repeated, voice low but scathing. “You nearly killed a man… in his sleep.”
Draevyn stepped forward, voice laced with careful curiosity.
“Nearly killed who?”
Kaelani didn’t take her eyes off the standing woman.
“Garrick,” she said evenly, her tone clipped and tight.
Draevyn’s brows lifted.
“Garrick? Your father?” he echoed, clearly surprised.
The Fae woman—tall, regal, chin still high—shrugged slightly.
“We were simply acting on her emotions,” she said coolly. “She was radiating vengeance. Anger. She wanted him to pay.”
Kaelani’s voice sharpened.
“I didn’t want to kill him.”
Her steps brought her closer, slow and deliberate.
“He went into cardiac arrest. He was terrified.”
The woman scoffed, then glanced down at the other three still kneeling, their heads bowed in silence.
With a bitter edge, she muttered in Vaelorin:
“Sënai’va kiran valessari? Kaer etha norin. Stel’var atros.”
(You’re really going to cower before her? We did nothing wrong. Stand and defend yourselves.)
Draevyn parted his lips to speak—
But Kaelani was faster.
She closed the distance in a single breath. Her voice, low and fluent, slid like a blade through the air as she answered in Vaelorin:
“Valen’tir vesari nënthar venos, kael’ythar morathi unsanctia,
Andar’vel en croven… etha’var, etha’vorn.”
(You fed on vengeance without consent, shaped death without sanction,
and mistook my pain… for permission.)
She was in the fae woman’s face now. Her next words, though spoken in common tongue, struck like prophecy.
“Look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t feel it.
That ripple in your chest when I ejected you from the dream?
That was me deciding to spare you…
because I could have ripped you apart.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
The woman’s eyes widened. All color drained from her face. She stared at Kaelani as though seeing her for the first time—
Not as an outsider, but as something ancient. Sovereign. Dangerous.
Her knees buckled.
She dropped.
Head bowed.
“Forgive me,” she whispered. “I… overstepped.”
Draevyn approached slowly, the quiet stretch of his boots against the floor echoing like a judgment long withheld.
He stopped before the kneeling women, his gaze sweeping over them with cold, yet eerie calm.
“You were instructed to follow her lead. Not twist her emotions into your own version of retribution.”
He turned to the one who had resisted the longest, his tone sharpening just enough to bite.
“And your arrogance nearly cost a man his life. Be grateful she showed you mercy… I would not have.”
The woman flinched.
With a flick of his hand, a faint shimmer passed over them—like a binding charm laced with shadow. The women gasped softly as it took hold.
“You are forbidden from entering the dreamscape until the next full turning of the twin moons. Until then, you will serve in the Hollow Archives—translating the old tongue for the Lorekeepers.”
A murmur of dread rippled through them.
The Archives were ancient, silent, and buried deep within the mountain roots of the court. A place of tedium, isolation… and reflection.
Draevyn gave a subtle tilt of his head.
“Go.”
The four women scrambled to their feet. No protest. No lingering defiance. Just the sound of retreating footsteps as they hurried for the exit.
The moment they vanished, three figures stepped forward from the edge of the chamber.
The Seers.
Eyes pale as moonlight, faces etched with wisdom and time, they moved in graceful unison—robes trailing like mist behind them. Their attention wasn’t on Draevyn.
It was on her.
The eldest among them couldn’t help but fixate on her for a moment, wonder softening her ageless features.
“She bends the dreamscape already. Commands it. Not with fear or force… but with will.”
Another stepped closer, her voice reverent.
“She’s aligning faster than we imagined. She’s nearly mastered what takes others years.”
Their eyes turned to Draevyn.
“It’s time.”
Draevyn’s expression darkened. He shook his head once—sharp and final.
“No. She’s not ready.”
Kaelani looked between them, brows knitting.
“Ready for what?”
The Seers exchanged glances, their gazes weighty with unspoken meaning.
Finally, the third one answered, voice solemn.
“The Trial of Resonance.”
Kaelani blinked.
“What is that?”
Draevyn’s gaze flicked to the Seers.
“It’s the final test,” he said—more to them than to her. “And she’s nowhere near ready.”
The eldest Seer stepped forward, expression calm but resolute.
“You’re underestimating her,” she said quietly. “She is the chosen one. Every sign confirms it.”
“I’m not questioning the signs,” Draevyn replied, voice cool but edged. “I’m questioning the timing.”
“What does the test consist of?” Kaelani asked.
There was a brief silence. Then the second Seer answered:
“Teleportation.”
Kaelani shrugged. “So let me try it.”
Draevyn’s head snapped toward her, a rare crack of emotion in his voice.
“It’s not just teleportation.”
The third Seer stepped forward, her voice sure and soft.
“She will succeed. She is meant to.”
Kaelani drew a breath, steadying herself.
“Then let me do it,” she said, turning to Draevyn now. “Please. Just let me try.”
Draevyn exhaled slowly, his jaw tightening as his eyes locked onto hers.
“All right,” he said, voice low and sharp. “You want to try it?”
He extended his hand.
“Very well.”
Kaelani hesitated, her breath catching. But she stepped forward, heart pounding, and slipped her hand into his.
Behind him, the three Seers moved in perfect silence. Each placed a hand on his shoulders.
Draevyn closed his eyes.
And then—
Everything vanished.
The chamber.
The dim lights around her.
Gone.
In the next blink, Kaelani was hit by a blinding rush of wind and light. The sun blazed against her face—unforgiving and stark. Her eyes squinted hard, watering instantly; she hadn’t seen daylight in what felt like forever.
Her stomach lurched.
She staggered, catching her balance, and looked down.
Miles below stretched the endless sprawl of Rio de Janeiro—glittering blue ocean on one side, mountains and green hills on the other.
Her breath caught.
They were standing on the outstretched arm of Christ the Redeemer.
Smooth stone beneath her boots. Nothing but sky around them.
And if she stepped forward—one inch too far—she would fall.
Kaelani blinked against the harsh sunlight, shielding her eyes before glancing around in disbelief.
“What the hell are we doing up here?”
Draevyn didn’t answer right away. His gaze was fixed on the open sky, the city far below them, the dizzying height.
Then, calmly, “This is where the Trial of Resonance is done.”
She turned to him sharply, the wind tugging at her clothes.
“What?” Her voice pitched higher with disbelief. “Am I supposed to teleport back to the Fae realm from here?”
Draevyn’s eyes shifted to hers.
“Close. You’re to jump”—he nodded to the edge—“and teleport back to your exact standing point.”
Kaelani stared at him.
“Close?” she echoed. “How the hell is that even remotely close? That’s not the same at all.”
Draevyn gave a faint, humorless smile.
“Yes. I know. I was being sarcastic—further proving my point that you are not ready for this.”
One of the Seers spoke now, her voice a gentle balm against the roaring panic in Kaelani’s chest.
“You can do this,” she said softly. “We believe in you.”
Kaelani swallowed hard and looked down again.
The city seemed even farther now—like the ground had pulled away just to spite her. Her vision warped, depth stretching into vertigo.
“No…” she whispered, backing up half a step. “Draevyn’s right. I’m not ready for this.”
She turned, eyes filled with regret as she faced the Seer.
“I’m sorry, but… I need more time.”
The Seers exchanged a look—silent, indecipherable.
Then the same Seer nodded, her expression serene.
“We understand.”
Relief bloomed in Kaelani’s chest. She let out a shaky breath and offered a small, grateful smile.
Then… without warning—
The Seer stepped forward and pushed her.
Hard.
Kaelani’s eyes went wide as her body tipped backward, the wind ripping the scream from her throat.