The Seal did not want us there. That was my first thought when the cold slammed into my bones the moment we stepped inside. The chamber hadn’t changed since the last time I came in, but everything felt different.

There were more of us this time. More magic. More risk.

Thick mist slithered along the stone floor as I crossed the threshold. It curled around my boots and licked up my legs like it meant to pull me down. I shivered. The cold didn’t usually bother me, but this mist was sticky, too, clogged with the taste of power. The kind that settled in your lungs and made you feel like you were breathing through cotton. My fingers twitched.

Ardorion moved toward the frozen wall without hesitation. Elio was already heading toward the far side of the chamber. The others followed their assigned positions like they had all rehearsed this in their heads a hundred times.

The wall of ice waited for us. It glowed faintly in the low light, pulsing with the same tangled web of magic that had haunted my dreams since the last time. Halven hadn’t changed, still trapped in a block of ice, one hand on the frozen lake.

I had known he was alive for over a month, but it didn’t stop the hollow sting in my chest when I saw him like this again. It never would.

The rest of the chamber remained just as cluttered. The desk still sat off to the side, covered in scattered papers and books. Someone had lit the candles again. Two torches flickered in the wall brackets. The light barely reached the corners of the room.

My gaze wanted to track Orivian’s movements, the urge coming from deep within my soul... a soul that was no longer free to love, trapped in this awful fated bond.

I resisted the urge, instead glancing at Neir, standing across from us, shirtless, barefoot, unmoving. Like he had been carved from the same stone that made up the chamber walls. He didn’t acknowledge anyone, not even Rielle, who I knew could feel his presence the same way I could feel the absence of Metal magic in the room.

Again, nothing. So much power radiated in the room, but not a drop of it Metal. Not even a trace of my element, not in the wall, not in the chamber. I tried not to let that sting. But today Metal magic would linger in the residual power. Part of that would be Orivian’s, but I rolled my eyes at that thought.

All eight elements would linger after we saved Halven.

Ardorion his Fire. Rielle and Neir with Moon. Elio with both Sun and Earth magic as a Stone Dragon. Isa as an Ice Dragon had both Water and Air, sharing both elements with Aster and Lo. That left Shara and Veyn with Wood magic.

Thinking of Veyn... He stood near the desk, his head bowed to Isa while she spoke too softly for me to hear. She was all sharp lines and tension. I didn’t trust her, but I couldn’t ignore the fact that we needed her.

I took my place beside Aster at the ice wall, our assigned position already marked in my mind. I knew what I was supposed to do. We had practiced this. Over and over. And I still wasn’t sure I could pull it off.

Isa had said the spell was easier in pairs, that it gave those of us still learning a better chance at holding the Binding steady. I hated that it made sense. Two minds meant a tighter focus, fewer variables, less chance of the spell unraveling in our hands. It was not about trust. It was about control. And control, I understood.

Except I didn’t know Aster as well as Elio, and I’d only practiced with him.

The moment Aster glanced at me, her gaze holding me accountable, the instinct returned. That old, sharp urge in my spine. The one that screamed at me to get out before everything went wrong. It had always been my survival instinct. But Halven was here. Trapped. And I would not leave him behind.

Not this time.

The ice wall gleamed like it knew what we were about to try. Cold breathed over my skin, sharper than before. None of the Docilis spoke. Perhaps all of us were trapped in our minds by our unease and doubts.

Then Isa’s voice broke the silence, threading across the space like a blade through mist. It caught on the edges of my nerves, slicing clean through the hum of dread beneath my skin.

“You already know your parts. You’ve practiced the theory. You’ve honed the spells. This is not new ground. But what lies ahead is harder than anything we’ve done before, not because you are unprepared, but because what we are attempting is not a simple a spell.”

No one needed to tell me how difficult this would be. One mistake and we lose Halven. One misstep and we lose our chance to be free of all this. I clenched my jaw and kept still.

Isa’s gaze swept across the room, landing on each of us. I stared back. Let her see it. Let her see I wasn’t afraid. Just ready.

“You will feel the strain,” she said. “You will doubt yourselves. And when the Binding begins to resist you, you may even think you’re failing. But you are not. The entities will push back. But together we are stronger than them.”

“Yes!” Ardorion said.

Of course he would be the one to finally say something. Always the loud one. I rolled my eyes slightly but didn’t bother to smirk. I didn’t have the energy to fake anything right now. I just needed to make it through this spell so I could walk away and never look back. I could leave him behind.

Orivian. The pressure. The pull. All of it.

Isa’s voice dipped lower, threading between us. “This isn’t about perfection. It is about intent. Shared, steady, and real. Hold to it. Breathe into it. Let it anchor you. Let each other anchor you. Once you’ve achieved a true Binding with each other, then the designated stronger magic user will guide your Binding to me so that I can use it to bind the entities to the ice once more. Then Neir will be able to put them to sleep again.”

I almost laughed. Anchor myself to someone else? The last thing I needed was more weight. But if that was what it took to finish this, then fine. I’d fake it. I’d hold the line. Just long enough to get out.

Her eyes moved over us again. When they landed on me, I refused to flinch.

“You are all here because of Halven,” she said. “An extraordinary young man, who has extraordinary friends. Hold on to that. Trust each other. And most of all, trust yourselves. You are not alone in this.”

That was the only part that made me pause. Halven. Maybe I didn’t trust myself. Or anyone else. But I trusted him. And he deserved better than being a body in ice.

Isa gave her final nod.

“Get into place.”

I turned to Aster. Her expression was calm, unreadable, but not unkind. She had always struck me as capable, strong enough to deal with Ardorion’s chaos and still stay balanced. I respected that.

But I hadn’t worked with her before. Not like this. Not with something that needed me to open up, to trust. I shifted my stance. Doubt fluttered in my chest.

This had to work. It wasn’t just about Halven. It was about surviving this, succeeding, and walking out of here with a future. One that didn’t involve anyone choosing for me ever again.

I needed to get away from him.

Away from his stare which made the place between my shoulder blades itch.

I looked across the line of students at the wall.

Orivian.

His gaze locked on mine, steady. Too steady. I turned away before I could start thinking about what he saw or didn’t. He didn’t matter. Not anymore. Once Halven was safe, I would be gone. That was the plan.

We just had to pull off this spell.

I almost snorted. Not even our ancestors had pulled this off, which meant it was up to us to have learned this new spell, and that wasn’t easy. No pressure. Learning a new spell was like learning to fly without wings. No structure to actually get you off the ground—you have to invent that first.

Aster placed her palm against the ice as the stronger magic user in our pairing. I laid my hand gently over hers and nodded to signal my readiness.

Isa’s voice ringed out over us. “Begin.”

Together, we chanted the words: “We bind this power to nature, our anchor. Let it hold what cannot be held. Let it steady what would shatter. Together.”

The words tasted strange coming out of me. I wasn’t used to saying anything that included someone else. But the magic heard us.

Now it was time to see if it would listen.

Aster’s magic bloomed. Her eyes shifted like I remembered, no longer violet, but deep blue streaked with gold. Whirlpool eyes. Dangerous if I stared too long. Light shimmered across her arms in soft lavender, and her hair clung wetly to her shoulders, like the moisture in the air bowed to her presence.

The threads of her magic were elegant, like silk dancing on a current. She always made it look effortless. I doubted it was.

My silver aura sparked at my fingertips, thin lines running down my skin like veins forged in light. It shimmered over the surface of the ice, drawn to the calm strength of her Water magic. My breath caught as our energies twisted into each other, a silver and lavender ribbon threading into the lake.

We spoke the words together, quiet and steady.

We bind this power to nature, our anchor. Let it hold what cannot be held. Let it steady what would shatter. Together.

Aster held my gaze as our magic began to pulse with shared intent. Her expression was now tight, focused. I hoped mine did not give away the knot of uncertainty forming in my gut.

I was trying. Harder than I ever had, pushing myself to find that thread of harmony.

My palm pressed flat against Aster’s. Her magic was graceful, flowing like silk through mine, but I struggled to match her rhythm. Aster’s aura shimmered lavender, elegant and steady. Mine pulsed silver and crackling. Our intent was aligned in words, but I could feel the mismatch. It was like trying to tune two instruments in a storm.

Still, the spell flared to life with Aster grounding our bound magics into the ice. For a moment I thought it would hold. We were close.

Isa stood nearby, a quiet storm cloaked in control. I could not read her power, but it pulsed within the ice. Veyn’s aural magic combined with hers. The two of them wielded their own Binding spell, with Isa grounding it in the lake.

Once Aster anchored our Binding, she let go of our casting, handing it over to Isa, who folded our magic into hers. With precision, the Grand Magister bound every elemental thread, from all of us, into one structure, a single Binding spell bound. When the spell pushed outward, reaching toward the strongest pocket of power within the lake, a quiet expectancy settled over the chamber.

It worked. At first. The lake did not reject us.

Our energy began to work over it, using the mass of the lake as the stabilizing anchor. The currents there were strong, vast, ancient. Not chaotic, but unmapped. And every time they touched my magic, I felt it like a vibration along metal. Unfamiliar, resonant, slightly hostile.

It was the largest concentration of raw power I had ever touched. More than anything we had worked with in our practicals, more than any alloy or spellbound circuit I had ever shaped.

Such power could make one heady with the rush. Did Chaos feel this way when they created the gods?

And I could not help but wonder what it would be like to shape this. To bind it, use it, wield it.

We were doing it. For one brief moment, it felt possible. Not because I believed in hope, but because this spell had to work. It was my only way out.

Then the air shifted.

A low rumble vibrated through the floor, and I blinked too late to register what was happening. The ice convulsed and it brightened with an intense rush of magic.

Rielle screamed, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the magic. Aster struggled to fight the surge of water slamming against the ice. Cracks spider-webbed across the surface.

A high snap rang out. Water exploded from the wall, a whip of liquid force tearing loose. Aster gasped. Her hand ripped away.

The water lashed out at me.

It hit with the power of a stone battering ram, steeling the breath from my yell. It battered against my chest like a hundred fists hitting all at once. The force threw me back. My spine cracked against the chamber wall. My head struck next.

Pain bloomed white. Sound rushed out of the world.

Somewhere far away, I heard Veyn shout to drop the spell. Mist cooled the edges of the chamber as I slid down the rock. Everything spun. Everything tilted. My fingers twitched, trying to hold onto my magic.

Then everything darkened.

Ringing.

That was the first thing. A shrill, endless hum scraping the inside of my skull. My eyes barely opened. Everything spun. I had no idea where I was. The chamber? The Seal. The spell.

I blinked again.

A shadow leaned over me, and I swore I heard Orivian’s voice. Muffled. A distant murmur through water and stone.

Then a cool rush spread across the back of my head and along my spine. The pain dulled, then dissolved completely. My eyesight cleared enough to recognize Isa. Her fingers hovered just above me, a trace of water trailing from her palm. She didn’t meet my eyes. Just finished the healing and stood.

I sat back against the wall, slow and unsteady. The chill of the stone seeped through my robes.

Then Orivian crouched beside me again. “Garnexis, how do you feel?”

I stared at him. “Piss off.”

His mouth opened, and a wounded expression crossed his face. An interesting look for his usual noble air. “I just... Even if you don’t want me, I’ll always care about you.”

“That’s your problem, not mine.” My voice was low, even. I didn’t have the energy to yell. But I meant it.

He lingered, like he might say more, but I turned away and pushed myself upright. My legs trembled but held. I was not going to lie on the floor while the rest of them stood and talked like any of this was normal.

Then I remembered Rielle’s scream and looked her.

Neir held her, but one sleeve of her robes and dress beneath was burned away.

I exhaled my relief to find her well.

The wall of ice still stood, riddled now with cracks. Halven was still in there. Still trapped. Still waiting.

Shara hovered near him, arms wrapped around her body. “He’s still trapped.”

Someone growled. Elio. “Why did fire come from the lake? They attacked with both Fire and Water.”

I looked to Isa for the answer. She didn’t open her mouth.

Ardorion looked up, his hands still faintly smoking. “I felt their Fire magic. Before. When we first came here.”

Would Isa finally tell us everything or would she continue with this evasiveness?

Now her lips parted but closed again.

Silence it would be.

Then Shara said, “What kind of magic do these entities even have?”

Isa sighed, quiet and full of frustration. “We failed. That’s all you need to know.”

Ardorion’s haired flared. “Why not tell us the truth?”

Isa crossed the space to the ice wall, trailing fingers across it. She sighed, quite audibly before turning back to us. “There are truths that are not my own to tell. I have no right to interfere in edicts of the gods.”

The gods?

I stared at the ice wall like it might blink back. Was that what we were dealing with? Gods? Or something close enough to make no difference?

I thought of the Firebird, trapped in a ruined building, burning with grief. He was a god. And he had warned us.

Take them. You need to keep them sleeping.

It hadn’t made sense before. Now it barely did. But maybe that was the point. We weren’t meant to understand, just act. Gods did not explain themselves to mortals. They expected obedience. And we had nothing left except to keep trying.

I didn’t like the idea of being anyone’s tool, especially not for gods. But I liked losing even less.

Ardorion spoke before I could. “What if Binding isn’t enough? What if we try Fusion too? To trap the entities’ magic before it can react? We create a containment with Fusion to control their magic, then try the Binding spell.”

Veyn and Isa shared a look. Isa straightened, some of her weariness replaced with resolve.

Veyn’s brow furrowed, his voice low and sharp when he spoke. “Isa, this is too dangerous. We nearly lost two of them already.”

Isa’s jaw tensed, but her tone stayed level. “Fusion may offer the stabilization we lacked. We will control it.”

“Control?” Neir stepped forward now, his voice sharper than steel. “You speak of control, but one student was nearly burned alive and the other crushed. This spell should not involve them at all. They should never have been here.”

I rubbed my chest at the memory of the water slapping me against the wall.

Isa turned to him fully. “They are my students, Neir. And I will not deny them this. Not when they came to save the one we failed to protect.”

“You’re risking them.”

“They know the risk,” Isa said, her voice gaining strength. “And if they choose to go on, I will allow it.”

Neir’s gaze flicked to Rielle, then darkened. His silence said more than any words.

Veyn blew out a breath, rubbing his forehead, then looked at Ardorion. “You believe this will work?”

Ardorion nodded.

Veyn sighed. “Fine. We try again. Three pairs for the Binding Spell. As before, Isa and I will add our magic to anchor the Binding on the entities. While Ardorion and...”

Aster,” Ardorion said. “We’ve practiced Fusion already, and the entities used both Water and Fire magic to attack us. Aster and I are perfect for combatting the attack with a containment made of our Fusion.”

Veyn nodded again, slower this time. “Ardorion and Aster will contain the entities’ magic through Fusion. We need to be careful. We cannot afford another collapse, for anyone to get hurt again. If the entities begin to fight back and make it through the Fusion containment, we drop the spell immediately.”

Isa lifted her voice above the soft murmurs that had started up again. “Choose the partner whose magic aligns best with yours. Trust is essential. Find the pair you can hold your intent with.”

I didn’t hesitate, cutting my hand through the air toward the Stone Dragon.

“I claim Elio,” I said, loud enough that it cut across whatever lingering thoughts anyone else had.

There was no reason to explain it, but my mind filled in the logic anyway. We had worked together before. Our Binding thread had held. The one I had with Aster collapsed. I wasn’t going to risk my life on uncertainty this time. Elio made sense. That was it.

I didn’t even think about Orivian.

He moved before I could brace for it, slamming his fist against the desk so hard it scattered papers to the floor. Then he turned on his heel and walked away from our incredulous looks, boots hitting stone like hammer falls.

The flare of heat in my chest was immediate.

He didn’t get to be angry. Not anymore. Who I chose to partner with was none of his business. That ended the moment I told him I was done.

I crossed my arms and called after him, voice dry as steel. “Really? Throwing tantrums now? Someone get the baby a blanket.”

A few of the others looked our way, but no one said anything. Not even Isa or Veyn. Elio, though. He tried not to smile, but he failed. Then he just waited for me to move beside him.

Which I did.

He leaned toward me, a little too close. “Why did you choose me, Garnexis?”

With two fingers, I pushed him back. “Yeah, not for that, so get rid of any romantic notions. You’re the only pairing that made sense to me because we worked well together before.”

Thoughtful, he slid back a step. “Let me know if your mind changes.”

My brow furrowed. He was serious. Objectively, he was a nice-looking man, but not my type.

Thinking of my type led to my gaze wandering, until I found Orivian.

He was back among us, Lo with him as his partner.

Good for them.

I swallowed any hint of jealousy.

Orivian was more than nice looking. I always thought he was too pretty to be a man, but it worked for him.

Realizing the direction of my thoughts, especially when Orivian caught me looking at him, I scowled and turned away.

Elio looked at me and gave a small nod, then angled his golden gaze forward, ready. As the stronger magic user, he placed his hand on the ice. I placed my hand over his, our fingers not interlaced but close enough to feel the strength behind his stillness. He did not flinch or make any untoward remark.

He never did, and I’d rather keep it that way. I liked his steady presence.

A flare of tension came from Elio’s other side. Orivian slapped his hand hit the ice with a loud snap, louder than necessary, his gaze on my hand over Elio’s.

I ignored him.

I did not need to waste any more time on him.

“Ready,” Elio asked.

I nodded.

Shared intent formed on our lips: “We bind this power to nature, our anchor. Let it hold what cannot be held. Let it steady what would shatter. Together.”

Magic moved instantly.

Silver light shimmered from my skin, arching toward the earth-brown glow radiating from Elio’s hand. Together, they coiled into the fractured ice, sliding along the cracks like molten metal poured into veins of stone. The thread pulsed with a warm green hue where Metal met Earth, rooting itself into the lakebed beneath the surface.

Elio’s aura was golden, glowing soft as sun-warmed rock. My silver glinted brighter in its reflection. On the other side of Elio, I felt Orivian’s fury like a second heat, but I focused forward. I was exactly where I belonged.

And at first, it felt like it might actually work.

The magic between Elio and me wasn’t just compatible. It was complementary. His Earth magic dug deep, steady and unmoving, while mine threaded through it like liquid steel, flexible but sharp, anchoring without resistance. Together, we carved through the ice, not with force, but with intent. The cracks softened beneath our spell, the glow of our thread pulsing in clean, even rhythm.

Further down the curve of the chamber, Ardorion and Aster moved in tandem, fire and water spiraling in careful circles. Their Fusion curled toward the base of the wall, rising and falling like a wave timed to breath.

Light flared and spread, magic weaving across the ice wall like veins under skin. Every strand arched toward Halven’s block, drawing into a single point like the entire spell had found its purpose. For the first time, the Binding held more solid than ever, glowing, clean.

Veyn lifted his hands, and I caught the shift in him immediately. Less tension. More control. The threads obeyed him, pulsing as they twisted toward the lake’s center. He didn’t flinch as he directed them deeper, right into the cold place where the power coiled thickest. The entities. A green-gold shimmer pulsed around him, steady, syncing with the magic as he pressed forward.

Isa moved at the same time. She stepped in closer to Halven, planting both hands on the ice just beside him. Her magic, both Air and Water, tight and cold, spiraled around her wrists. I couldn’t read her spell, but it looked like she was taking something apart. Peeling away the old spell that had kept Halven frozen in place. The ice shifted beneath her palms. A thin crack split the frost like brittle glass.

Behind them, Neir joined the wall.

He crossed the space without a word, steady and focused, and pressed both hands flat against the ice. Moonlight pulsed across his skin, flaring in a sharp blast of silvery-white light. Another spell took shape, subtle but powerful. None of us could read it, not really. Only Rielle might have been able to understand what it was. But we knew what it was meant to do. Neir was putting the entities back to sleep, coaxing them into silence like a predator pressing a knife to the throat of something wild.

I had seen powerful casters before. Veyn. Isa. Even Orivian when he was not too busy being insufferable. But Neir’s casting was something else entirely. Like the lake answered to him.

The chamber dimmed slightly. The glow around Halven’s ice faded from bright to muted. Not gone. Just shifting. The ice didn’t fully release him, not yet, but the aura that had imprisoned him dulled to a soft sheen. His fingers twitched.

Altogether, our magic was holding this time. It was working.

For a moment, I thought maybe this time we would win.

And then...

The ice shifted.

Not from magic.

From pressure.

I felt it through Elio’s hand, the tension rising like a breath held too long. The fissures along the wall stopped sealing. Then they pulsed. Once. Then again.

Deep tremors in the wall of ice beneath my palm, felt before we saw them. The glowing threads we had worked so hard to form erratically shivering, bending unnaturally.

Then the screaming started.

It wasn’t human.

The sounds rose from deep inside the lake, threading through the cracks like smoke. High and discordant. It filled the chamber, scraping over my bones like iron dragged across stone. My breath caught. The magic in the room surged.

Fractures multiplied. First hairline. Then wider, filled with jagged lines of fire, boiling the lake. Water welled in tiny streams, crawling out from the deepest parts of the wall and sliding down in slow, wet trails. I tightened my hand on Elio’s, grounding myself. But even his calm, sun-drenched energy could not steady the storm boiling in the lake.

The Fusion magic Ardorion and Aster had built cracked under the pressure, a delicate weave bending at too many points. They trembled. Their balance failing.

Then one scream tore through the others. Higher. Harsher. Like someone had ripped the sky open. The sound hit my spine like a blade, echoing off the walls with the weight of gods dying all at once. I flinched as the air split open, a pressure surge punching out from the ice. Fire. Water. Moon. Tangled and violent. None of it balanced.

I braced, but it didn’t matter. My magic cracked under the force.

Aster cried out.

The Binding threads flickered. Then the ice wall exploded in a lattice of new cracks.

Isa’s urgent voice broke through the chaos. “Break the spell! Break it now!”

Elio pulled his hand from the ice instantly. I tried to pull mine from his, but the magic clung to my skin. The anchor resisted. I gasped, finally managing to sever my line.

Then Neir stepped forward, hands raised.

A dome of Gravity magic erupted outward, shimmering over the ice wall like a second skin. The backlash surge from the lake slammed into it. The sound was deafening. The shield buckled and Neir dropped to one knee, shaking with the strain. He grimaced, and I knew he was holding the entities’ attack and the entire lake back on his own.

Rielle shifted between us. Still visibly shaken from the pain of the first attempt. And yet she moved anyway. Quietly, she dropped to her knees beside Neir and placed her hands on his back as she leaned into him.

I couldn’t hear what she said. Maybe no one could.

Her magic shimmered around her in that soft, silvery way it always did. Moonlight made flesh. Her eyes caught the glow, turning opal and strange, like they belonged to something far older. That magic flowed from her into him, smooth and controlled. No hesitation.

I recognized the spell immediately. Transference. One of the first things we were taught at the Academy. A way to hand over your magic to the more experienced faculty as a means of control. Like when a spell demanded more than you had and you needed protection.

Rielle gave up her magic, giving Neir control.

I could never do that. No one would ever control me or my magic.

But Neir’s barrier flared brighter with Rielle’s power. It held.

But behind them, Isa stumbled.

She didn’t fall, but she might have. Her skin had gone pale, her hair sticking to her forward. Her hands were still casting, but her movements had slowed, her arms trembling. She was trying to seal the lake while Neir held it back.

Aster didn’t wait. She crossed the chamber and placed her palm on Isa’s shoulder. The moment her Water magic slipped into Isa’s control, the room responded. Frost exploded up from the base of the wall. Not delicate, but brutal and effective.

The cracks stopped growing.

Blue light filled every edge and froze them in place.

Lo moved next, stepping forward and offering her Air magic to Isa without a word.

Then Shara. She went straight to Veyn. No ceremony, just a hand to his arm and a subtle shift in the air. Her Wood magic, so different from mine, curved toward his aura and disappeared into it.

One after another, my classmates gave everything they had left.

I stood still.

Metal had no match in the elders. Orivian could do nothing, and neither could I. Not with that kind of spellwork. We weren’t needed, not for this part.

So I just stood there and watched them all carry the final weight of the spell.

If it worked, we would survive. The entire Academy would survive.

Even if we lost Halven.

The light inside Halven’s ice block had gone dull. The shape had warped too, melted unevenly from all the pressure. His face was contorted in pain, sharp enough that I had to look away for a beat.

Then Lo gasped, her magic sparking like a struck nerve. “They’re killing him. Trying to strip him of his magic.”

Isa didn’t snap at her. Didn’t even hesitate. Her voice came rough, worn thin by everything we had already been through. “Not for long.”

With both of Aster and Lo’s continued support, their magic flowing into Isa, the Grand Magister straightened. She closed her eyes and started a new Binding spell.

Veyn was already in motion too, stepping forward to take Shara’s hand. Their magic met in a sudden pulse, Wood threading straight into the woven layers Isa was building to support the Binding magic. They murmured their intent in low voices, quiet but deliberate.

The Binding spell took shape again, threads glimmering faintly as they rebuilt the ice. The cracks sealed. Halven’s body eased back into stillness. The tension in his face softened just enough to make my lungs loosen.

Barely.

Light twisted back into the shell encasing Halven, slow but steady.

Then most of it faded, leaving a soft light emanating from Wintermere and the flickering torches.

Only the low hum of residual magic remained in the air, like embers after a fire. The cold returned, sharper than before. Mist pooled at the edges of the chamber.

I took a breath and finally leaned back.

My skin buzzed. My arms ached. I looked over at Elio, who gave me the smallest nod. His forehead gleamed with sweat. Even he looked drained. Rielle roused from a faint after Neir had released her magic, but Neir held on to her. Ardorion stood beside Aster, his fire completely gone, replaced by a stunned stillness. And Veyn held Shara’s hand.

The wall was intact again. Halven was still trapped. But nothing had changed.

A silence stretched through the space.

The cold had sunk in deep. Not just the chill from the ice, but the kind that came from losing too much, too fast. From paying for something you didn’t even get.

Someone whispered near the wall. I didn’t catch it all. Just pieces. Questions. Uncertainty. One voice asked if Halven would be okay. Another wondered if we should find more magic users. Then softer still—“Can we even save him?”

I didn’t have the answer. None of us did.

Shara pulled away from Veyn and paced toward Halven, sharp and restless, the color high in her cheeks. “We accomplished nothing!”

No one argued. Because she was right.

We didn’t speak. We didn’t move.

We just looked at the boy trapped in the ice.

Halven. Our friend. The one we were supposed to save.

Isa turned toward us, her face pale, her eyes heavy. “We’ve done what we could—”

“What did we do exactly?” Lo asked, voice tight and shaking. Her hands balled at her sides. Tears streak her cheeks.

Isa looked at her but didn’t flinch. “Some things are just more powerful than what we have the ability to control. This is one of those things.”

Her words slammed into my chest.

That answer didn’t sit right with any of us.

“I can’t accept that,” Rielle whispered. Her voice trembled but the words didn’t.

“You don’t have to,” someone said.

But it wasn’t Isa. Or Veyn. Or any of us.

The mist near the door shifted, curling inward like it had been summoned. It moved differently, like it wasn’t just making space but yielding.

A figure stepped through it.

A woman. If you could call her that.

She wasn’t solid. Not fully. She had form, yes, but it was like looking at a reflection in ice during a blizzard. Bare feet. Skin like ice touched by starlight. Nearly transparent. She was a blue wraith, a ghost that both moved the mist and allowed the mist to move through her.

And the cold that came with her wasn’t natural. It made my teeth ache. Made the air press against my lungs like a stone wall.

The Kōri-onna.

Every instinct in me lit up at once. Danger. Death magic.

Her voice slid into the room like a blade sheathed in silk. “I can help you. But someone will die.”