e rested on a stone beside her, open to a page marked with a petal from a crimson rose-her mother's symbol, now her guide. The night's lessons still burned in her veins. She had felt her m

im. There was something changing in . The girl he once teased in the palace gardens was gone. In her place stood a woman forged by fire and sorrow. Back at the cottage, Solen drew

the edge I need,"

phina closed the grimoire and stood. "Then we go at dusk." *** By nightfall, they rode through thick woodland trails, their horses tense beneath them. Every sou

ed Eldwyn b

der the weight of time. But beneath the decay, Seraphina sensed power-old, undisturbed. Inside the courtyard, th

per ec

ter of

unes glowed in fiery red, encasing her in light. Her heart thundere

oned promises. Seraphina turned. In the dream, her mother looked down at her and said, "One day, the fire will fall to you. Not just the magic, but the pain. Will you run from it, or rule it?" Seraphina blinked back to the present with tears in her e

side as the runes di

nd now Eldwyn will protect us. But th

ed a weapon... but you've also become one." Seraphina stared at the ruined

other's voice? Or something deeper? Cassian reached for her. " - "No," she whispered, her eyes locked on the symbols dancing beneath her. "I think this is mine to face." Solen stepped back, eyes wide with awe and fear. "It's a blood rite. Eldwyn still remembers the li

o you carry the will or th

her spine. And I choose to rise anyway. The rose flared. Light erupted aroun