Recovery is... slow.
It's been a week since I woke up, and my body feels like it's been ripped apart and glued back together wrong. Every time I move, something screams in protest. Miren says my magical pathways are "scorched." Seraphine uses scarier words, like "permanent alterations" and "fundamentally changed."
They're dancing around the truth. I can feel it. When I... when I let it in... the curse didn't just help. It... it set. It's not a monster in a cage anymore. It's... it's in the bricks. It's part of me.
The hunger is constant now. A low, dull ache in my gums, a whisper at the back of my mind. Feed. Hunt. Take. It's always there. Nyssa's shadow stone is a cold, smooth weight in my pocket. It helps. It dulls the ache. But it's a bandage, not a cure.
"You're brooding," a voice says.
I jump. Kaela is in my window. My second-floor window. She's gotten way too good at that.
"You're staring at the wall and looking tragic." She swings inside.
"I'm recovering."
"You're boring. Come on. Master Dren says you're cleared for light training. We're going."
"Miren said—"
"Miren said light exercise. Training is exercise. My logic is flawless." She grins. "Now get your practice sword, or I'm dragging you there by your hair."
She's not kidding, either. I almost smile.
The training ground is... awful.
The moment we walk in, it's like a switch flips. Everyone stares. They don't even try to hide it. Conversations just... stop. Kids point. Adults either pull their children closer, like I'm a disease, or they lean in, like I'm some... some relic.
I'm not Ren Amaki anymore. I'm him. The Boy Who Saved the Village. The Cursed Prodigy.
I hate it. I hate it.
"Ignore them," Kaela mutters, shoving me toward the ring. "They're idiots. They'll get over it."
I'm not so sure.
"Amaki!" Master Dren barks. His mechanical hand clicks. "Heard you're not dead."
"Very light," I confirm.
"Good. I'm not easy on legends." His scarred face cracks in a half-smile. It's the most normal thing that's happened all week. "Let's see if you remember how to stand, or if all that magic fried your brain."
He has me run the Dawn Salute. My body hates me. My muscles are weak, my balance is off. But the... the moves are there. My brain knows. My muscles... they remember.
"Sloppy," he grunts. "Again."
I do it. Again. And again. The sweat is... good. It's real. It washes away the... the weirdness.
"Better. Now, with Kaela. Defend. No magic. Just steel."
She grins. This is her favorite part.
It's brutal. Every block rattles my bones. But it's... simple. No ley lines. No curse. Just... work.
I'm halfway through a drill, gasping for air, when I see them.
Lysara. And she's not alone.
A group of elves. Five of them. All in fancy, intimidating robes. All watching me. Their silver eyes aren't just looking. They're... assessing. Like I'm a new horse they're thinking of buying.
Great. Spectators.
"Focus!" Dren roars, smacking his staff on the ground. "You think a real enemy cares if you're being watched? You think the Void gives a damn about your feelings? Train!"
He's right. I block it all out. It's just me and Kaela. Just the thwack of wood on wood.
When we're done, I'm shaking, but my head is clearer than it's been in days.
Lysara approaches. "Your fundamentals are... intact. Impressive."
"Thanks."
"The delegation wishes to speak with you. The council agreed." Her face is a perfect, smooth mask, but her eyes are worried.
My stomach sinks. "What do they want?"
"To... assess. The Spires... they take an interest in... unprecedented magical events." She lowers her voice. "Ren. Be careful. They respect power. But they fear what they can't control. You are... both."
They "interview" me in a quiet room in the temple. Neutral ground. Five elves who radiate so much power it makes my teeth itch. Seraphine is with me. Toren is at the door, his hand resting on his sword. He's not being subtle.
The leader, Arch-Mage Elenara, has eyes that don't just look at you. They look through you.
"Ren Amaki," she says. No small talk. "You stabilized a convergence collapse. A feat that should have vaporized you. How?"
I look at Seraphine. She gives a tiny nod. Tell them.
"I have... a gift. I learn fast. And..." I take a breath. No point hiding it. "At the end. When I wasn't... enough... I used the curse."
The air in the room just... dies.
"The... shadow magic," one of the old ones gasps, like I'd just confessed to... well, to exactly what I did. "The vampiric magic."
"Yes."
"Child," he leans forward, "do you understand what you've done? You've invited in corruption. You may have saved your village, but you have doomed yourself."
"I know," I say. My voice is steady. Thank God. "But it was... that... or watch thousands of people die. It seemed like a... a good trade."
Elenara just stares at me. "You are six years old. You speak of damnation as if it's the... the weather."
"I'm not most children."
"Clearly." She looks at the other elves. "The Celestial Spires extends a formal invitation. Come with us. Study. We have resources... knowledge... to help you master this. To control the... the darkness."
It sounds like a life raft.
It sounds like a cage. A very clean, very polite, very silver cage.
"What... what would that mean?" Toren asks from the door, his voice a low growl.
"He would be safe," Elenara says. "He would be with peers. He would be understood. Far better than... this. A frontier village that fears him."
"He would be alone," Seraphine counters, her voice sharp. "Torn from his family. His friends. The things that ground him."
"He would be alive," Elenara shoots back. She turns to me. "The choice is yours, Ren. Stay here, where you are a... a hero and a monster. Or come with us. Where you can just be... a student."
My head is spinning.
"Can... can I think about it?" I whisper.
"Three days," she says. "We leave in three days. A rare offer, Ren. Do not take it lightly."
They sweep out, leaving me, Seraphine, and Toren in the silence.
"A project," Seraphine says, her voice tired. "They wouldn't see a child. They'd see a project."
"And they'd see him alone," Toren adds, his hand still on his sword.
The roof. My real council. Kaela, Lysara, Elira, and Nyssa. The stars and the ley lines are bright overhead.
"The elves want me," I say, pulling my knees to my chest.
"They want to study you," Nyssa corrects, her voice soft. "It's not the same thing."
"They're probably right," Lysara says, and I look at her, shocked. "Their resources... they are... vast. You would learn in one year what it would take Seraphine five to teach you."
"But?" Kaela asks, her eyes narrowed. She knows Lysara.
"But... you are not a student there," Lysara says. "You are an asset. A... a thing to be developed. I was there for two years. They... they don't teach you. They aim you."
"You're not going," Kaela says. It's not a question. It's an order. "We're a team. You don't just... leave."
"But, Kae... what if I need what they have? What if this... this curse... what if I can't...?"
"Then we figure it out!" Elira breaks in, her voice fierce. "It's just a problem, Ren! A... a magical-biological-engineering problem! I... we can solve it. We don't need elves."
Nyssa just watches me with those sad, violet eyes. "The Spires will teach you to chain the curse, Ren. They will not teach you how to live with it. Only you can do that. And... I do not think you can do it there."
I look at them. Kaela, ready to fight the world. Elira, ready to redesign the world. Lysara, who understands. Nyssa, who sees.
"I have to talk to my parents," I say, my voice thick. "But... I think... I'm staying."
Kaela's grin is so bright it rivals the ley lines. "Good. 'Cause I would've just had to drag you back anyway."
I believe her.
Two days later. I stand in front of Arch-Mage Elenara. Miren and Toren are on either side of me, a solid, unshakeable wall.
"Thank you," I say, my voice clear. "It's... a kind offer. But... no. I'm staying here."
Her face doesn't move, but her eyes... narrow. Just a fraction. "May I ask why?"
"You can teach me about power," I say, meeting her gaze. "But... you can't teach me how to be me. You can't teach me how to be human with this. My... my family can. My friends. I... I think I need that more."
She just holds my gaze for a long, long time. Then, she nods. Once. "A... mature choice. The invitation... it remains open. When you are ready."
They leave. An army of all-powerful elves, just... walking out of our village.
Toren puts his hand on my shoulder. It's heavy. Grounding. "That was a hard choice, son."
"Was it the right one?"
"It was yours," he says. "That's what matters."
Miren just hugs me, pulling me into her side. "We'll figure it out, Ren. Together."
I lean against them. I chose... this. Messy. Complicated. Home.
I really, really hope it's enough.