Chapter 46 THE WORLD BREAKS WHEN HE IS TAKEN
Chapter 46 THE WORLD BREAKS WHEN HE IS TAKEN
Magic exploded from her in a surge of silver and black, spiraling upward like a storm. The trees bent violently, the ground cracked beneath her palms, and the air screamed as the world bent to her grief.
“RAINE!”
Her voice tore the sky.
She pushed her hands against the earth, trying to ground herself, trying to breathe—
but the merging-thread between them pulsed with emptiness, a void that felt like drowning.
Kael grabbed her shoulders. “Ella—listen to me—look at me—he isn’t dead—”
Her head snapped up, eyes glowing. “THEN WHERE IS HE?”
Kael flinched at the force of her voice but held her steady. “The Echo pulled him into its plane—its memory realm. It’s not physical. It’s not alive. It’s not supposed to take the living.”
Ella’s pulse thrashed against her ribs. “Then how did it take him?”
Kael swallowed. “Because he mirrors it. Because it remembers him. Because—because it felt incomplete without—”
His voice broke off.
Ella rose to her feet, shaking with fury and grief. Silver-black flames curled around her hands, bright enough to scorch the stones. “Take me to him.”
Kael shook his head sharply. “Ella—not like this. You’re unstable. If you enter the Echo’s realm now, it will tear your soul apart.”
“I DON’T CARE!”
Her scream fractured into light.
The forest bowed to her rage—branches snapping, roots tearing upward, the sky splitting with silver cracks of awakening energy.
Kael shielded his face. “Ella—you must stop—”
But it was too late.
The Unmade felt it.
A deep, bone-chilling hum rolled across the ground—
a cold pulse of shadow sweeping through the clearing.
Ella staggered.
Kael paled.
The air grew sharp enough to cut.
The Unmade’s whisper slid through her mind, furious:
He is not for the Echo.
He is mine.
Ella clutched her head, gasping. “NO—NO—stay away from him—”
Kael grabbed her arms, forcing her to look at him. “Ella—listen—the Unmade can sense the fracture. It knows Raine is gone. If you lose control now, it will breach you while you’re weakened.”
Ella’s breath trembled violently. “Kael… I can’t feel him. The merging—there’s nothing there—how do I find him if I can’t feel him?”
Kael’s expression crumpled with grief.
“You don’t find him,” he whispered. “He finds you.”
Ella staggered backward as if struck. “He—he what?”
Kael nodded. “The only way to navigate the Echo’s realm is through memory. Through longing. Through the bond you share. He must reach you.”
Ella’s hands shook violently. “Kael… what if he can’t?”
Kael lowered his gaze. “Then he will fade into the Echo’s shadow. And once he does… he will not remember you. He will not remember himself.”
Ella felt the world tilt.
Her throat closed.
Cold flooded her veins.
“No…” she whispered. “No—no—no—”
Kael stepped forward. “Ella—listen—there might be time, but you must stay grounded, you must—”
His voice faded.
A sound rippled through the air.
Soft.
Distant.
Impossible.
Ella froze.
Kael looked up sharply.
“Ella… what is it?”
Ella’s heart slammed into her ribs.
She heard it.
Faint.
Fractured.
Echoing from nowhere and everywhere—
Ella…
Her breath broke. “Raine…”
She stumbled forward, chasing the sound, tears burning her vision.
“RAINE! Can you hear me? RAINE!”
But the voice faded—
like something being pulled away—
tearing from her grasp.
Kael grabbed her wrist. “Ella—STOP—you can’t follow that voice—it’s not stable, it’s not whole—”
“I DON’T CARE!” she sobbed. “LET ME GO!”
She ripped her arm from his grip—
magic bursting outward—
the ground trembling under her feet.
And then—
Something impossible happened.
The air in front of her rippled.
A crease in the world — like a curtain pulling apart.
For a single heartbeat—
She saw Raine.
Not standing.
Not whole.
A silhouette of silver and shadow, reaching for her through the rift.
His voice broke.
Ella… don’t… forget… me…
Ella reached for him, sobbing. “I WON’T—I WON’T—RAINE—STAY WITH ME—”
But the rift snapped shut.
The forest fell silent.
Kael stared at her in horror. “Ella… if he said that—if he said not to forget—”
Ella collapsed to her knees, shaking violently.
“What does it mean?” she whispered.
Kael swallowed, voice breaking.
“It means the Echo is already taking his memories.”
Ella screamed into the empty air.
“NO—RAINE—DON’T YOU DARE LEAVE ME—”
But the world did not answer.
Only the cold wind whispered back.
And far beyond the edge of reality—
something ancient stirred.
Ella stayed on her knees long after the rift snapped shut, her palms dug into the earth as if she could tear reality open with her bare hands. Her breath shook violently; every inhale felt like breaking glass in her lungs.
Raine’s last words echoed through her skull.
Don’t… forget… me…
Kael knelt beside her, but he did not touch her. He looked as if he feared even a gentle hand might shatter what little steadiness she had left.