AUTHOR POV
Mia's eyes stayed on him.
Standing near a frost-covered tree, half-shadowed by branches and drifting snow.
Damon.
Alone.
Unmoving.
Just… waiting.
This normally would have made alarms flare inside her head. But in her chaotic state of mind, it all just went right over her head.
Looking at him, her anger flared.
She descended from the air and landed in front of "Damon," firelight flickering around her form.
A cold smile curved her lips.
"So," she said quietly, voice edged with venom,
"you've finally decided to resign yourself to the painful end you so richly deserve."
"Not quite," Damon replied calmly, turning to face her.
Mia sighed.
"We'll just have to agree to disagree," she said.
A wave of fire tore from her hands — not wild, not chaotic — focused, controlled.
The air warped. Snow vaporized. But Damon managed to dodge the attack.
Mia attacked again.
The same thing happened.
Damon laughed at her.
A low, mocking sound.
"That's it?" he taunted.
"You're weaker than I expected."
His eyes burned as he looked at her.
"Just like Rhys."
At his words, something in Mia snapped.
Her expression went empty. Deadly.
"You monster," she growled.
"You're going to pay for what you did to him. For everything."
Fire surged around her body, brighter, hotter, more violent than before.
She unleashed it.
This time Damon didn't counter.
He turned — and ran.
Straight into the forest.
Into the thick brush.
Into the direction they had just come from.
Mia stared after him for half a second, confused — but she dismissed this feeling and any other thought that didn't involve making Damon suffer.
"There's no use running!" she shouted, launching after him, fire lighting the trees as she flew.
Branches shattered. Ice exploded. The forest tore open around her pursuit.
Hidden behind the illusion, Caelynn sprinted, heart hammering, lungs burning.
Good, she thought.
Chase me.
She darted between trees, shifted directions, broke lines of sight — every movement calculated.
Mia closed the distance fast.
Too fast.
A blast of fire scorched past Caelynn's back. She went down with a yell.
Her illusion faded, revealing her true self.
In the air, Mia gasped and stopped, shocked as Damon suddenly turned into Caelynn.
"You?" she snarled.
On the ground, Caelynn looked at her, hair in her face, and cursed under her breath, realizing that she had been exposed.
Damn, she thought. This wasn't supposed to happen.
She let out a resigned sigh.
Looks like she would have to improvise.
She spared a glance at where the rest of Mia's friends were — near the jet, not too far from them.
She could still do this, she decided.
"Where's Damon?" Mia demanded.
"Long gone," Caelynn said with a smile.
Mia's lips parted in shock. "No," she whispered.
She couldn't have let him escape.
Not again.
"Oh, yes, Mia. I was just a distraction."
Mia processed her words and screamed, clutching her hair.
"No! No! Damn it!"
Caelynn just continued smiling.
"Poor thing," she said in a mocking voice.
"I ruined your little revenge plan, didn't I?"
Caelynn's tone only infuriated Mia further,making her want to lash out.
"Shut up," Mia said, releasing another attack in Caelynn's direction. "Just shut up."
Caelynn easily dispelled her fire blast with a protective shield this time.
Then she rose into the air.
"Why don't you make me?" she said.
Feeling enraged, Mia didn't hesitate in giving Caelynn what she was asking for — releasing an erratic storm of power tearing in Caelynn's direction, not knowing that Caelynn was more than ready for it.
---
REONE
They were all still trying to lift the jet.
The Sylphs held their spell, eyes glowing with magic, bodies rigid with strain.
The Legions and Diviners pushed with raw strength, muscles burning, boots digging into the snow.
And it was working.
The jet was lifting.
Slowly.
"Keep going, guys — we're definitely making progress," Reone encouraged, voice desperate but full of hope.
"Primi, get ready to pull her out," Reone said. "You're the closest to her."
Primi nodded and let go of the jet, moving into position.
As he did, he paused, noticing the battle raging in the sky — Mia fighting one of their foes.
"You ready, Primi?" Reone asked him.
"I am," Primi said, choosing not to distract the others with what was happening.
"All right. On three," Reone said.
"One… two… three!"
They worked together, giving the task everything they had.
The effort was enormous — but it created space.
Just enough.
A narrow gap opened between the jet and Lyrian's body.
"Now, Primi!" Reone shouted, voice tight with strain.
Primi was already moving.
Using all his strength, he grabbed Lyrian and pulled her free from beneath the jet, dragging her clear of the aircraft.
"We did it!" he shouted.
"She's free!"
With relieved sighs, the group immediately dropped the jet, stumbling back, hands sore, chests burning.
Reone didn't pause.
His gaze locked onto Lyrian.
"Lyrian," he thought, rushing toward her.
She was still unconscious — and the sight of her sent fear straight through his chest.
Anika stepped in front of him.
"Reone, let me," she said firmly.
"She might have internal injuries."
Not waiting for his answer, Anika dropped to the ground beside Lyrian.
Reone stood frozen for a second, helpless to do anything but watch, trying to rein in his fear.
"How is she?" he asked, voice tight.
"It's just as I feared. She is bleeding internally," Anika said softly, placing her hand over Lyrian's chest.
"But I think I can fix it."
Her eyes glowed as healing energy flowed into Lyrian's body.
Primi placed a steadying hand on Reone's shoulder as they waited.
A moment later, Anika leaned back, breathing heavily.
"You okay?" Primi asked her.
She nodded.
"I am. And so is Lyrian," she announced softly.
Right on cue, Lyrian gasped and opened her eyes.
She looked around, dazed.
"Guys?" she whispered.
Relief exploded through the group.
Sighs broke out.
A few cheers.
Laughter mixed with exhaustion.
Reone just pulled Lyrian into a silent hug, and she hugged him back tightly.
"You guys have got to stop doing this," Nova muttered, trying not to sound too upset.
Mickey smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.
"No arguments."
As they were smiling at each other —
An explosive sound tore through the air.
Everyone looked up, alarmed.
Mia and Caelynn were fighting above them, the shimmer of resonance from their attacks coloring the air in red and black.
"Mia?" Lyrian said weakly, watching her.
At that moment, Mia fired another blast at Caelynn — or rather, at Caelynn's illusion.
The attack passed straight through her.
And kept going.
Straight toward Anika.
Primi saw it instantly.
And saw that Anika, still weak from healing Lyrian, wouldn't react in time.
He moved without thinking.
He rushed forward and stepped in front of the attack.
The blast hit him square in the chest, and he went down with a thud.
"Primi!" Anika gasped, dropping to her knees beside him.
Above them, Mia froze.
She gasped at the sight below her.
Without thinking, she flew down, landing hard on the snow, one hand flying to her mouth as she took in the horrific result of her actions.
In the air, Caelynn laughed cruelly.
"So who's the monster now, Mia?" she mocked, smiling in delight as another one of her plans succeeded.
Caelynn then turned and flew away before any of them could respond or attack.
Her plan may have succeeded, but she wasn't dumb enough to think she was a match against all of them.
She started heading to the rendezvous point Damon and her sisters had settled on earlier with her, from which they would all depart for the Temple of Echoes next.
---
Anika knelt beside Primi, gauging the extent of the damage Mia's attack had caused.
"What did you do, Mia?" Reone demanded, anger sharp in his voice as he turned on her.
"I—I didn't mean to," Mia said quickly, panic in her eyes.
"I was aiming for Caelynn. I didn't mean for it to happen. I swear."
"What the heck do you mean?"
Mia opened her mouth to argue, but Lyrian cut her off.
"Enough, you two," Lyrian said urgently, forcing herself into the moment. "We have much more important things to worry about."
She looked at Primi and Anika, making the two do the same.
Primi was breathing heavily now, pain written clearly across his face.
"Guys, relax," he said weakly, forcing a strained smile.
"It's not that bad."
"Yes, it is," Anika said, tears threading her voice.
"Don't worry, Princess," Primi said softly.
"I'll just quickly heal myself."
He lifted a hand toward his chest.
Without thinking, Anika placed her hand over Primi's.
Their hands overlapped, healing him in tandem.
Primi's eyes flicked to her face, but Anika was focused only on him — on healing, on not losing him.
"Is it working?" she asked quietly.
He nodded.
Diamond let out a dramatic breath.
"Thank the stars."
A tear flowed from Nova's eye and Mickey took her into his arms.
Reone turned back to Mia, anger still burning in his expression.
"If you were aiming for Caelynn," he asked carefully, "how did your attack end up heading toward Anika?"
"It was an accident," Mia snapped.
"And—Caelynn started talking about Rhys and—I don't know, she tricked me."
She pauses her lips, realizing too late that she shouldn't have said that last part.
Reone laughed — short, humorless, disbelieving.
"You let her manipulate you through your obsession with Damon," he said.
"Obsession?" Mia echoed, outrage flaring in her voice.
"Yes. Obsession," Reone snapped.
"Stars, Lyrian was right about you. You're out of control."
Lyrian stiffened, nervous.
Mia gasped at them, her face tightening.
"That's not true. I just made a mistake."
Reone gave her a serious look.
"What about when you refused to help Lyrian because you wanted to go after Damon?" he shot back.
"Was that a mistake too?"
Lyrian gasped, shock and hurt crossing her face. She had known that Mia was mad at her, but not like this.
"What are you talking about?" Mia asked, staring at Reone.
Reone shook his head in disbelief.
"Seriously? Are you really going to pretend it didn't happen?" he said bitterly.
"I told you we needed to help Lyrian — after pulling you out of the snow, by the way — and you walked away from me."
Mia looked genuinely confused.
"No. I didn't," she said. "That didn't happen."
Reone stared at her.
"Wow," he said quietly.
"Despite being near me, you didn't even register what I was saying. That's how locked into revenge you were."
"He's right, Mia," Seren said sadly.
"I called out to you later. I told you Reone and the others needed help saving Lyrian. You didn't even look at me. You just went after Damon and the Sisterhood."
Mia shook her head slowly.
"No… I—I didn't. That's impossible. I—"
She stopped.
Looked around.
At her friends.
Some faces held anger.
Some fear.
Some hurt.
Some disappointment.
And something inside her broke.
"You don't understand what I'm going through, okay?" she said, voice breaking.
"You're all in your little couples, in your love and safety. But me? I'm going through hell."
Her voice shook.
"I could lose Rhys. I could actually lose him."
Diamond stepped forward gently.
"Mia—"
"No," Mia said sharply, backing away. "Just—don't."
Tears slipped down her face.
Then she turned.
And flew into the forest.
"What about the mission, Mia?" Sire asked.
"You don't have to be Mickey to see that the jet isn't going anywhere," Mia said without looking back.
They all spared a glance at said jet that looked damaged in several places.
"Shoot," Sire said.
"What are we gonna do?" Anika asked.
Seren sighed.
"I'm going after Mia," she said immediately.
"No," Lyrian said, beating Reone to this answer. "Give her space."
"But we have to get to the temple," Anika said, helping Primi to his feet. "We don't have time."
"And we don't have a jet," Sire said, rubbing the back of his neck. "We can't leave."
"Ah, it's refreshing not to be the bearer of bad news for once," Mickey said.
Reone stared at him, making Mickey freeze under the stare.
Reone turned then, angrily:
"How in the world does this keep happening? Why is nothing ever simple?
---
AUTHOR POV
Mia soared through the sky, tears streaking her cheeks, her body trembling with hurt and frustration. It felt like the world itself had turned against her.
On one hand, there were her friends who thought she was being a reckless monster. On the other, Rhys lay in a coma, her promise to him and his mother still unfulfilled, and the man responsible for his condition had also slipped through her grasp yet again. Everything was a giant disaster.
She dropped into a small clearing, knees buckling as she let out a long, shuddering cry.
"Damn it!"
Then, "Why is this happening to me?" she said, her voice breaking.
Her whole body sagged with despair, as if the weight of the world had settled on her shoulders. She would've given anything for it all to stop — to rewind time so Rhys could be fine, so she and her friends would be on one side again, so all the destruction could simply… end.
With trembling effort, she pushed herself up. But her step faltered, and she stumbled over a hidden rock.
A steady hand caught her before she hit the ground.
"Careful there," a calm voice said.
Mia looked up, heart pounding, half-hoping it was Rhys. It wasn't — but it was still… startling.
An older man stood before her — dressed in an old blue uniform, grey hair streaked with silver, dark eyes sharp and knowing, radiating a quiet authority.
Behind him was a portal from which other men were coming through.
Mia was startled, and was even more so when she looked into the first man's face, which was eerily familiar.
Her eyes widened.
"You? You're supposed to be dead…" Mia said, her voice catching with disbelief and confusion.
The man also looked at her with a perplexed and surprised expression.
"Excuse me?" he said.
Mia could only regard him with the same expression, somehow resisting the urge to back away from the man in front of her.
"I just don't understand how you died three days ago... but are alive today."
A look of realization crossed the man's face.
"Oh, I think I know what's going on here, young lady. You're confusing me with my twin brother."
"Twin brother?" Mia asked.
The man nodded.
Mia paused, absorbing this — thinking how it made more sense than her first theory. But she was still confused.
"But I've never seen you before. Where have you been all this time?"
"He's been leading us — the Temple of Echoes Watch — in our duty to protect the Temple," another voice said behind him.
Mia shifted her gaze, and that's when she noticed another fifty or so men standing not too far from her, the portal now closed.
Still looking at them, the words of the one who had spoken made her mind reel.
"Temple of Echoes Watch, as in the Temple of Echoes?" Mia asked again.
The man in front of her nodded, and Mia was rendered speechless for a moment.
"Were you coming from there right now, through the portal?"
"That's right."
At this answer, Mia smiles, knowing she'd just found the answer to her problems.
Then—
"Can you please come with me?" Mia asked. "I'd like to introduce you to my friends."