She Is My Strength

She Is My Strength
Cage

All at once, the darkness shimmers. Light rushes back in like a held breath released, and my stomach drops before my mind can catch up. The tunnel is gone, the stone, the silence, all of it replaced by warmth and space and a smell that hits so hard it almost buckles my knees. Rich carpet, old polish and firewood smoke. My childhood home. The walls rise around us in familiar lines, dark wood panelling carved too neatly, the ceiling high and arched the way he liked it. Firelight flickers along the edges of my vision, casting shadows that move the way they used to at night, stretching and shrinking like they’re alive. I know this room. I know every inch of it. The cage, the iron bars blackened with age, set into the stone floor at the centre of the room, like a feature rather than a punishment. The lock gleams, polished, cared for, just like it always was and once again... I’m inside it. One moment I’m standing with Allison’s hand in mine, and the next the floor drops away, and the bars rise around me, solid and cold. My shoulders hit iron. My fingers scrape metal. The sound rings sharp and familiar. My breath stutters out of me. Allison is still there. She stands just outside the cage, close enough that I could reach her if the bars weren’t between us. Her eyes are on me, wide and furious and bright with a power she’s holding back by force. She doesn’t look at the room. She looks at me. That’s the only thing that keeps me from crumbling to the floor in acceptance of my fate right now.
Varyn steps into the firelight, tall and composed, dark hair pulled back neatly, hands clasped behind his back. He wears the same expression he always did when he was pleased with himself. He looks so calm it's almost gentle.
“Cage,” he says, smiling. “Home again.”
My jaw tightens, and my hands curl around the bars until my palms burn.
“Let her go,” I say.
He glances at Allison like she’s a misplaced piece of furniture. “You always were quick to give orders,” he says mildly. “Even when you were small.”
He moves closer to the cage, boots silent on the carpet, and crouches until we’re eye level. I can smell him now. Clean soap. Smoke. Power.
“You remember this room?” he says. “I made all of this for you.”
Allison takes a step forward. “You don’t get to touch him.”
Varyn doesn’t look at her. “I’m not touching him,” he says. “You are.”
His gaze flicks to our hands, to where her fingers are now curled through the bars over mine. He dismisses any rebuttal as he stands and waves his hand around the room.
“Do you remember this day?” he asks me.
The room shifts, the fire dims, the air cools and the weight of the past presses down until my ribs ache as the door opens. My mother steps inside quietly, moving the way she always did, careful and light, like the house itself might punish her for making noise. She carries a bowl in both hands, steam curling up into her face. Her blonde hair pulled back loosely with strands slipping free around her tired eyes. She kneels by the cage and sets the bowl down, sliding it toward me through the bars with shaking hands.
“My darling boy,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry.”
My chest tightens, and my throat burns.
“Don’t,” I say. My voice comes out hoarse. “Don’t do this. He’ll see. He always sees.”
She smiles at me, small and tired. “You need to eat.”
Then the illusion of her pushes the bowl closer, just like she did on that day.
“No,” I say, louder now. “Please. Don’t. He’ll find out.”
She looks at me like she already knows how this ends. Like she made peace with it before she ever walked into the room.
“I love you,” she says. “Just eat.”
The sound of clapping cuts through the air, and the illusion freezes.
Varyn stands, straightening slowly, satisfaction written into every line of him. He looks at the scene like it’s a painting he’s particularly proud of.
“Do you remember how weak she was for you?” he asks. “How she tried to soften you?”
His hand lifts, and the image shatters. My mother vanishes in a burst of light and smoke, the bowl crashing to the floor and breaking into nothing. The sound echoes once, then dies. Varyn laughs softly.
“She succeeded,” he says. “You became exactly what she wanted. Gentle. Loyal. Breakable.” He sneers, clicking his tongue.
Allison moves, and I slam my hand against the bars.
“Don’t you touch her.”
Varyn turns his attention to her, eyes bright with interest. “This,” he says, gesturing toward her, “is the same mistake all over again.”
He steps closer to her, and the room tightens—the fire flares. The cage hums beneath my hands.
“You found another weakness,” he continues. “Another thing to kneel for.”
Allison doesn’t back up. She lifts her chin, power coiling tight under her skin. “You don’t scare me.”
Varyn smiles. “I should.”
He turns back to me.
“I wonder,” he says thoughtfully, “if hurting her would finally make you strong. Or if you’d still choose to be small.”
I straighten inside the cage, hands loosening on the bars. The room hums louder, like it’s reacting to the change.
“She isn’t my weakness,” I say.
Varyn’s brow lifts.
“She’s my choice.”
Varyn’s hand snaps out swiftly, and metal clicks around Allison’s throat, sharp and final. The collar locks into place with a sound that slices straight through me. Runes flare bright and hungry as they ignite, and Allison screams, the sound ripping out of her as the magic burns into her skin.
“No—”
I slam into the bars, iron screaming back at me as I throw everything I have against it. Allison stumbles, hands flying to her neck. The light around her gutters and dies, her magic collapsing inward as the collar feeds. She drops to one knee, gasping, the sound thin and broken. Varyn steps in and grips the collar, lifting. Her feet leave the floor, and her hands claw at his wrist, fingers slipping uselessly. Her body kicks once, twice, heels striking stone as she fights for air.
“See?” Varyn says calmly. “Weakness.”
I roar and hit the bars again, vision blurring. She isn’t my weakness. She never was. She’s my strength. The truth settles hard and solid in my chest, heavier than fear, sharper than rage. I don’t pull back. I don’t hesitate. I open myself, and I send my power straight into her. It floods out of me in a violent rush, tearing free and finding her, surging through the collar and into her veins like it knows exactly where it belongs. The runes scream as they overload and light cracks along the metal. Allison gasps, a sharp, shuddering breath tearing into her lungs as power slams back into her body. Varyn stiffens.
“What—”
The illusion shudders, the cage rattles, and my valkyrie unleashes.