XXXI

Kara’s breath hitched, a tremor running through her. Her mind reeled, a vortex of unanswerable questions. How did Kyreth know about the Second Prophecy? About her destiny as the next Princess? But beneath the storm of confusion, one stark, terrifying question surfaced: Was Haken here to kill her?

She breathed his name, a fragile whisper. “Haken.” Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, blurring his image. The chaos erupting around them—the distant shouts, the screech of alarms—strangled any hope of a real conversation.

He lifted his head, and the anguish etched onto his features struck her with the force of a physical blow. His eyes met hers, a maelstrom of unspoken torment. Then, without a word, the Half-Elf retreated through the window and was swallowed by the night.

A strangled cry escaped her lips, but some invisible force held her rooted to the spot. Betrayal, sharp and cold, pierced her heart. If Haken had been Kyreth's agent all this time, then every word he had ever spoken to her was a lie, a carefully crafted deception. Fury at him—and at her own naivete—surged through her. She spun on her heel, shoving the personal agony aside. Ravenhold was under siege. Her duty as a Sentinel was clear: protect the Princess, protect the base.

Anya sprinted down the corridor, clutching her cat, Viola, so tightly the small creature squirmed. Sentinels blurred past in the gloom, their movements frantic against the wail of sirens. Her gaze darted wildly, searching for a familiar face—her brother, Aden; Reya; even that detestable Kiro. But there was no one. Panic, cold and sharp, seized her throat, and hot tears welled in her ice-blue eyes. “Viola, I’m so scared,” she whispered into the cat’s soft fur.

Viola yowled, a sound of pure protest, and wriggled free. With a desperate cry of “Viola! No! VIOLA!” Anya plunged after her, weaving through the chaos with a surprising agility born of desperation. Fear was a cold knot in her stomach, but the need to protect her pet propelled her forward.

She reached the end of the hall, gasping for breath. A dead end to her left, a dark staircase to her right. She chose the stairs, forcing her protesting limbs upward and pushing a stray lock of orange hair from her face. “Viola! Come on, Viola! Where are you?” Her voice was a thin, reedy echo in the stairwell. A faint meow from above gave her a sliver of hope.

On the first landing, she paused, a wave of profound fatigue washing over her. The ever-present sickness that clung to her bones was making its presence known. Before she could move, a violent impact shuddered through the entire structure, throwing her against the railing. Anya screamed, clinging to the cold metal for dear life as another blast rocked Ravenhold. Through the window, the night sky was alight with fire. This was no mere skirmish. This was a full-scale assault.

Anya looked up the dark expanse of the stairs. Fear was still there, a cold whisper in her mind, but a burgeoning curiosity overshadowed it. What was happening? She had to know. As she took the first step, a strange, inexplicable energy surged within her, the same current she had felt when Kael revealed his Dragon form. With each stair she climbed, the power grew, chasing away her fatigue and replacing it with a vibrant, thrumming vitality. She wasn't just moving; she was being propelled. She sprinted up the final flight and burst through the door to the rooftop battle ring.

Anya ran toward the center of the ring just as a colossal shadow eclipsed the moon. The fear returned, a brief, sharp spike, but the warmth spreading through her veins soothed it instantly. She felt an unshakeable conviction that whatever lurked in the sky above meant her no harm. And then she heard it—a voice, not in her ears, but in the core of her mind. Wake up. It was a voice she had never heard, yet had known forever.

Closing her eyes, Anya focused inward, letting the voice guide her. An image formed in her mind's eye: Kael, standing alone in an endless dark, but he looked younger, his usual confidence replaced by a stark vulnerability. She opened her mouth to call to him, but the Dragon's shadow coiled around him, and in an instant, he was transformed into the powerful, self-assured Kael she knew. His golden eyes, now flecked with embers, met hers across the void.

In response, the warmth inside her blazed into an inferno, a power unlike anything she had ever known. It was a silent language, a whisper of energy, urging her to unleash the fire within, to cast aside her fear. A smile touched Anya's lips. She nodded, not to the vision, but to herself. She imagined a great, fiery bird erupting from her own being, soaring into the night to meet the mech that housed the Dragon.

Near the main entrance, Reya, Aden, Elisia, and Haelia struggled to impose order on the chaos. It was a losing battle. The Sentinels were scattered, their formations broken. Whatever was attacking, it wasn't the Dragon, but it was immense and overwhelmingly powerful.

“You three!” Ravenhold Commander Aden bellowed at a trio of young researchers cowering near an archway. “Unless you want to be barbecued, get back to your posts and do your duty!” They snapped a salute and scrambled away.

Reya placed a hand on his shoulder, her smile a small point of light in the gloom. He tried to return it, but the worry for his sister was a physical weight in his chest. “We have to find Anya,” he rasped.

His fiancée nodded, her own expression grim. Haelia bounced nervously from one foot to the other, her anxiety a palpable energy. Elisia looked just as worried. “We haven’t seen Kara or Lyra either,” Reya said, her voice tight. “Maybe we should look for them.”

“All us Mages should stick together!” Elisia declared, pumping a fist.

Just as Haelia shouted her agreement, the main doors imploded. A blast of superheated air and debris tore through the hall. From the dust and ruin, a figure emerged—Kael, his expression resolute. He strode into the hall as if taking a casual stroll, stopping before the stunned Sentinels. For a moment, no one moved. It was obvious he was the source of the attack, yet he stood there, unguarded.

His gaze swept the group, his eyes narrowed. “Where's Lyra?” he growled.

Reya’s eyes narrowed in return, a defensive fire kindling within them. “You don't know? We can't find her,” Elisia answered, her tone blunt.

“We can't find Kara or Anya or Kiro either,” Haelia added eagerly.

Kael shook his head, a sigh escaping his lips. He seemed preternaturally calm amidst the bedlam. “Reya,” he said smoothly, “could you please stop imagining all the ways you'd like to kill me? It's quite distracting.” He turned to leave.

“Wait!” Reya’s voice was laced with the fury of betrayal. “Why are you attacking us? And what are you using, if you're standing right here in your human form?” He had been their ally, once.

Kael pivoted, the hot wind whipping through his hair. The voice was his, but the glint in his eyes was pure Dragon. “Go to the rooftop and see for yourself, little Aqua Mage. Oh, and Aden,” he added, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, “if you want to see your precious Anya one last time, you'd best hurry.”

Without another word, Kael was gone. A secondary explosion caused the main doors to collapse inward, sealing the exit. Scrambling away from the fracturing aerystal, the Sentinels regrouped and raced for the stairs.

“What did he mean about Anya?” Reya cried as Aden ran past her.

“What about the others?” Elisia yelled over the roar of flames.

“And Kiro!” Haelia added, ducking under a falling beam.

Though Aden remained silent, the others could feel the rage radiating from him. His younger sister was his entire world. Now that he knew she was in danger, nothing would stop him. They had no choice but to follow and pray they weren't too late.

Aden kicked open the rooftop door with a roar of fury that died in his throat. On the far side of the ring stood Anya, dwarfed by the shadow of a colossal mech. It was a terrifying war machine, armed with a gleaming sword and possessing great, menacing wings. The mech radiated Kael's power, and Anya herself was enveloped in a shimmering aura of force.

“ANYA! GET AWAY FROM IT!” Aden bellowed, charging forward.

A wall of fire erupted from the ground, blocking his path and trapping the Sentinels.

“Damnation!” Elisia swore, stumbling back. Haelia shrieked as a stray lick of flame singed the tip of her tail.

Aden roared in frustration, unleashing a torrent of water at the barrier. The spell evaporated with a hiss, having no effect. Reya's own magic proved just as useless. “It's too powerful!” she gasped, sweat beading on her forehead.

“What's going on?” Elisia cried out. “If he wanted to take her, why hasn't he?”

“I thought Kael was our friend,” Haelia whimpered.

Aden spun on them, his face a mask of rage. “NO! Kael was never our friend!” He flinched away from Reya's touch, his eyes still fixed on the scene beyond the flames. “I can't believe we ever trusted him again after what he did.”

As they watched, helpless, the little girl raised her arms. The energy cocooning her exploded outward in a silent shockwave, stealing the breath from the Mages' lungs. “What is that power?” Reya whispered in awe.

“It feels… it feels like Kael's Dragon energy,” Elisia murmured.

Haelia was sniffing the air frantically, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Her scent… it's changing!” the Kitsune cried. “She's transforming!”

At that moment, two immense wings of pure flame unfurled from Anya's back, stretching to brush the clouds before contracting to fit her small frame. The light they cast grew to an unbearable intensity, forcing the onlookers to shield their eyes. Through the blinding glare, they heard Aden's final, desperate shout, a name choked with disbelief: “AINE!”

His cry was answered by the piercing shriek of a raptor.

The light receded. The wall of fire vanished. Anya was gone.

Where she had stood, a magnificent bird of living fire now hovered in the air. It regarded the mech before it with an intelligent, inquisitive tilt of its head, its wings beating with a slow, deliberate grace. A tail of long, incandescent feathers trailed behind it, and its eyes glowed like burning coals. Haelia yipped something in her native tongue, her face a mask of terror and reverence. Aden simply stared, his expression shattered.

Before any of them could react, the great mech turned to leave. The firebird shrieked again, a sound that resonated deep in their bones, and launched itself into the sky in pursuit.

Aden collapsed, a raw cry of anguish tearing from his throat as he buried his face in his hands. Reya moved to comfort him but stopped, letting him grieve. She turned to the other Mages, her voice trembling but firm. “What we just witnessed… Anya has become the Sacred Beast of Renewal. The Phoenix.”

Elisia and Haelia stared, their mouths agape. “You're saying that little girl… she's one of the Sacred Beasts?” Elisia finally managed. “Did you know?”

The brunette Aqua Mage shook her head, her expression haunted. “No. I had no idea. If I did, we would have taken her into hiding long ago. It doesn't make sense. She was always so frail, so sickly…” Her gaze fell upon Aden. “Did you know?”

The orange-haired Master of the Elements scrambled to his feet, raking his hands through his hair. His eyes, when they met his fiancée's, were wild with a new, terrible clarity. “No! I didn't know! But it doesn't matter now! We have to follow them! We have to get her back!”