I rose, holding back the storm that threatened to spill over. “Did you see this? Did you see what we would do to her?”
She glanced away, her silence a betrayal I hadn’t expected. A cold knot twisted in my chest as I searched her face for any sign of regret, any hint that she wished things were different. But Arna’s face remained impassive.
“She’s mymate, Arna!” My voice cracked with anguish, the words tumbling out like a plea. “Tell me I didn’t kill my mate!”
Arna held her silence, her eyes returning to Cleo, as though an answer lay in the fragile human who laid before us.
“You should have told me,” I growled. “If you knew… I could have done something?—”
“Dex,” Arna whispered, her voice unsteady, though she quickly recovered her composure. “I warned you of trying to wield the earth’s power like a blade. Some things aren’t ours to alter.There are sacrifices that must be made to maintain balance.She chose her path willingly, just as we chose to fight with her. The rest is up to the earth to decide.”
Her words were a slap in the face, and I couldn’t breathe past the knot in my throat. I forced my hands to unclench, but the anger didn’t leave. It settled like a burning coal, low and bitter in my stomach as I turned back to Cleo and took her limp hand in mine. I squeezed her fingers gently, as if my touch alone could call her back to me.
“She has walked through fire but she was never truly alone. That is what saved her.”
“Let me see her,” Seer Arna said. Her eyes were distant and unfocused, as if she were looking through us, beyond our realm. The healers exchanged uneasy glances as they backed away, aware of the signs of an approaching vision. Arna’s hands shook as she reached out, her fingertips brushing Cleo’s scarred arm.
Her breath caught, body going rigid as a vision took her. I surged forward, ready to catch her, but she straightened, and her voice spilled out in a low, broken rhythm. Each word was laced with a dark and ancient power.
"She’s standing alone in a valley. Blood drips from her hands. The clans gather around her, but shadows press closer, hiding on the edges of the clan fires. Scouts sent to the old tribes. Some return and others swallowed by the darkness—I see the banner of the Silver Hand?—”
She fell silent, her chest heaving with each breath. Arna’s eyes clouded with the remnants of the vision, shadows swirling in their depths.
“Is that our fate?”
Arna’s lips tugged into a grim smile. “Nothing is certain, Chieftain. But the path is there, if she is to wake. Watch for the shadows or they will take her from us.”
“When she wakes…” I said, my voice raw with determination. “Even if we survive this night, Ostelan will not forget. They’ve already seen her power. This victory is borrowed time. They will come for us again, and without unity we will fall.”
Arna nodded, her tired eyes regarding Cleo. Whatever lay ahead—whatever darkness still clung to our heels—I would not waver. With Cleo at my side, we would forge a new future, one that no empire, no prophecy, could steal from us.
I squeezed her hand, feeling the faint pulse of warmth beneath her delicate skin. My grip tightened as I willed her to return to me, to see the world we had fought to save. Until then, I would be waiting for her.
My fingers traced over her bond bracelet, my chest swelling with pride. She was fierce, forged by forces few could withstand. And she was mine.
“Tend to the wounded, and send riders to the remaining clans. It’s time we took back what’s ours.”
