I don't wake up. The ley lines wake me.
They're not just "wrong." They're screaming.
It's a high, frantic pulse that I feel in my teeth. A frantic thump-thump-thump that's not a heartbeat. It's a warning.
I'm already dressed when Miren comes in. My stomach is a cold, hard knot.
"You're up."
"The lines are... they're flickering." I point. It's visible, even in the gray dawn light. The silver threads are spasming. "That's not festival energy. That's... pressure."
She looks. Her healer's senses kick in, and her face goes pale. "I'll find Seraphine."
I try to eat. The bread tastes like dust.
Outside, the village is trying to be happy. Banners. Music. Laughter. It all sounds... thin. Brittle. Like a layer of ice over a deep, dark river.
Toren is in his armor. He just stands in the doorway. "Ready?"
"No."
"Good." He crouches, his eyes level with mine. "That means you're paying attention. Stay smart today, Ren. No heroics. That's an order."
"Yes, sir."
He knows I'm lying.
By mid-morning, I'm standing next to Elira's ridiculous, beautiful, dangerous device. Kaela's beside me.
"You're doing the face," she mutters. "The 'world-is-ending' face."
"It feels like it."
"Ren, it's fine. Elira checked it. The council checked it. Seraphine checked it. Stop... thinking so loud."
"It's not the device, Kaela. It's... the convergence. Something is pulling on it."
The air is thrumming. A low-level vibration that's making my skin crawl. No one else seems to feel it. They're all laughing, eating, celebrating.
Seraphine appears next to me. She always just... appears. "You feel it."
"It's... far away, isn't it? Like a fishhook. Pulling."
"The cult." Her voice is grim. "They're trying to destabilize it. From a distance. We can't stop the festival. It's too late. We just... watch."
The bells ring. Noon.
The peak.
Elira steps onto the platform, her voice, magically amplified, rings out. "Prepare for the future!"
She hits the switch.
For one second... it's beautiful. Rainbow light. A soft, magical hum. The crowd gasps.
Then... wrong.
A lurch.
A suck.
The air is gone. The convergence point above the square... it's not flaring. It's collapsing.
The three great lines, already stressed by the cult, are being sucked into Elira's device. The device wasn't the problem. It was just the... the drain.
"SHUT IT DOWN!"
I'm running. Screaming. "ELIRA! THE SHUTDOWN! NOW!"
She's clawing at the control panel. It's not working. The runes are flaring white-hot, overloaded. The crystals are screaming.
The crowd's delight turns to terror.
Above us, the sky is falling. The ley lines are tearing free, being pulled into a single, blinding point of light. It's a magical black hole. It will tear the village apart.
"EVACUATE!" Toren's roar.
No time.
Seraphine's hand is on my shoulder. She's pale. "Ren. The lines. They must be separated. Manually."
She doesn't say the rest. It will take more power than any of us have.
She doesn't have to say my name.
Kaela's there. Her face is white, but her eyes are fire. "Don't you dare."
"Have to." I try to smile. It feels like my face is cracking. "Warrior's oath."
"Warrior's oath." Her voice breaks.
I turn. Elira's device explodes.
Shrapnel. Crystal and hot metal. Something hits my arm, slicing it open. Hot. Wet.
Don't care.
I look up. The sky... it's just... white. The three lines, twisted into one impossible, agonizing knot.
They're dying.
I reach out. Not with my hands. With... my mind. With my soul.
I grab all three.
PAIN.
It's... it's not like before. This isn't a nosebleed. This is a supernova. It's three rivers of pure fire, and they're all pouring into me. Into a six-year-old body.
I'm screaming. I can't stop.
My vision is red. Blood. Blood in my mouth, from my nose. Hot tears... no... blood from my eyes.
But I pull.
Finesse, Seraphine said. Not force. Guide them.
I'm not guiding. I'm tearing them apart.
I yank at the first line. It rips free with a sound that splits the sky. The pain doubles. My body is convulsing.
I grab the second. Pull. PULL.
I'm... failing.
My heart is... wrong. It's stuttering. I'm not strong enough. I'm dying.
No...
And the curse rises.
That cold, dark, hungry thing I keep chained in my gut. It's not scared. It's... joyful. It loves this. It wants this.
It doesn't ask. It surges.
I have one second. One heartbeat.
Die.
Or let it.
...Let it.
The cold slams into the hot. The darkness floods the light. It's a violation. It's agony. And it's... power.
The pain vanishes.
It's replaced by a cold, sharp, limitless hunger.
I don't pull the third line.
I command it.
It shatters free.
Done. It's done. The lines are separate. They're... stable. The sky is silver again.
I try to let go.
It won't let go.
The curse... it's... it's still holding on. It wants to drink. It wants to stay. It's consuming the ley lines.
No. NO. MINE!
I fight it. I fight myself. It's like tearing my own soul in half.
With a final, desperate scream, I shove it back down.
The connection breaks.
The world... vanishes.
I'm falling.
The last thing I see... Kaela's face. Terrified. Fierce.
...Nothing.
I'm floating.
Voices. Miren. Toren. Seraphine. They're... far away. Echoes.
The curse is here. With me. It's... purring.
We are one now, it whispers. You let me in.
I had no choice.
There is always a choice. And you chose. So delicious.
Rest, it hums. We are stronger now. Rest.
I'm too tired to fight. I sink.
Pain.
That's the first thing. Just... pain. Every muscle. My head is a drum. My mouth tastes like old blood.
I open my eyes. It takes... everything I have.
Miren's face. A wreck. Exhausted. Relieved. Terrified.
"You're awake... oh, Ancients... Ren..."
"Did...?" My voice is a rasp. "Did it work?"
"It worked." Tears are streaming down her face. "You... you saved us, Ren. The village... everyone..."
"How long?"
"Three days." Her hand is shaking as she touches my head. "Three days. You should be dead. No one can... no one can hold that much power, Ren."
"But I did."
"You used it." It's not a question. "We all felt it. The dark. At the end."
I can't lie. "I wasn't... strong enough."
She closes her eyes. "It's stronger. The curse. I... we can feel it on you now. It's not hidden anymore."
The door opens. Toren. His armor is off. He looks... broken. "The village is safe." He looks at me. "Everyone saw it, Ren. The magic. The... the darkness. They're... they're calling you a hero. And they're scared to death of you."
"The council?"
"Grateful. For now." He sits. "Your friends... they've been... can you...?"
I nod.
Kaela first. She doesn't run. She stomps to the bed, her face a mask of fury and relief. She grabs my hand. Hard.
"Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again."
"Can't... promise."
"I know." Her voice cracks. "Just... say it."
"I'll... try not to."
"Good enough." She doesn't let go.
Elira is next. Her eyes are red. "Ren, I... it was my fault. I'm so sorry, I—"
"No." My voice is stronger. "Cult. They were... already pulling. Your device just... set it off. It wasn't... you."
"Seraphine said... but..."
"Stop. It's true."
Lysara. The elf. She just... looks at me. Her silver eyes are clinical. "Your biological and magical systems should have failed. The Spires would... dissect you for this." She tilts her head. "I am glad they will not. You are my friend, Ren Amaki. I will stand with you."
That... means more than she knows.
Nyssa is last. The seer. Her violet eyes see... everything. "You opened the door. It won't ever fully close now."
"I know."
"You did it to save them. Not for power. Remember that. When it... whispers." She puts a small, black, smooth stone on the table. "Shadow stone. It helps... balance."
"Thanks."
They stay. They just sit. Until Miren kicks them out.
I saved them.
But... what am I now?
The council meeting is... weird. Short. Formal.
"Heroism," Elder Stoneheart says. "Gratitude."
"Concerns," Elder Ironwood says. "Increased monitoring."
They vote. I'm a hero. I'm also... a risk. I'm not being sent away. Not yet.
I'm... something they're stuck with.
Toren meets me outside. "We'll figure it out, son."
I just nod. I'm not a son. Not just. I'm not a kid.
I'm a... a weapon. A monster. A hero.
I don't know what I am.
The roof. My spot. The ley lines are... calm. Peaceful.
Kaela pulls herself up beside me.
"You're famous," she says.
"I'm a freak."
"Both." She bumps my shoulder. "Still just... Ren. My weird, stupid-smart, 'gonna-get- himself-killed' friend."
We just sit.
The curse is... quiet. But it's... there. It's not in a box anymore. It's... part of me. Waiting. Hungrier.
"When it gets... bad," Kaela whispers, not looking at me. "When you... feel it... you tell me. Right?"
"Kaela..."
"Promise me. Warrior's oath."
I look at her. My best friend. My only friend who... who isn't scared.
"Warrior's oath."
"Good. 'Cause I'm not letting that thing win."
The silver lines pulse in the sky. The village is safe. The curse is inside me.
But I'm not alone. And that'll have to be enough.