Selene froze in the clearing, staring at Rafe's eyes as if she'd witnessed a disaster unfolding in real time.
Mara clung to Rafe's arm, shaking. Lyn was pressed against his side, still sobbing. And Rafe… Rafe could feel something burning beneath his skin — not fire, not mana, but something older.
"Selene," Rafe whispered, "what's happening to me?"
Selene didn't answer immediately.
Her face wasn't just worried.
It was terrified.
"Your Awakening has begun," she said softly. "And it's happening far too early."
Mara stepped forward, furious. "Fix it! Stop it! Do something!"
"I can't," Selene said. "None of us can."
Rafe felt his chest tighten. "Why?"
Selene raised her staff. Light flickered at its tip, casting a glow over Rafe's face.
His irises were no longer the warm brown they had been.
Now they burned with two swirling colors—
Light.And shadow.
Like galaxies spinning behind glass.
Selene swallowed.
"Dual-element Awakenings are rare. But yours isn't dual. It's mixed."She met his eyes."Light and shadow should be impossible to combine."
Rafe staggered.
Shadow — from the version of him that was erased.
Light — from the Primordial's claim.
Opposites.At war.Inside of him.
The pressure beneath his ribs intensified.
Mara grabbed his face between her hands.
"Rafe, breathe! Breathe for me!"
He tried.Air came in sharp.His pulse thundered.A strange heat spiraled inside his spine.
Lyn tugged at Mara's shirt. "He's glowing again!"
Selene acted instantly — slamming her staff into the ground.
A dome of mana erupted around them, sealing the clearing.
"Rafe," she said firmly, "look at me."
Rafe forced himself to focus.
Selene's voice dropped low.
"I need you to tell me every sensation you feel."
Rafe swallowed.
"Heat.Pressure.My heart is beating too fast.My spine feels… electric.And something keeps pulling at me."
"Pulling you where?"
Rafe raised a trembling hand and pointed to the forest—
"No direction. It's… everywhere. Like the world is tugging at me."
Selene closed her eyes.
"That's the Primordial's influence."
Mara snapped. "Why won't it leave him alone?!"
"Because he killed that Aberration," Selene said. "He acted on instinct that wasn't entirely his. And the Primordial responded."
Rafe stiffened. "So I used… its power."
"Not fully," Selene corrected. "But something of it stirred inside you — enough to start the Awakening cycle."
Rafe clenched his teeth as another wave of heat pulsed through his body.
"What do I do?"
Selene raised both hands.
"You anchor yourself."
"H-How?"
"Through your truth. Through the reason you live."
Rafe froze.
"You must think about what you said in the Circle," Selene urged. "Repeat it. Hold onto it."
The world blurred.
The heat intensified.
The forest trembled around him.
Mara squeezed his hand tightly, tears streaking her cheeks.
"Rafe, look at me. Please. Stay with me."
He looked.
And Mara's eyes — furious, scared, stubborn — hit him like a lifeline.
He remembered the words he spoke.
I am the one who lived.
Rafe closed his eyes and repeated them.
"I am the one who lived…"
The pressure pushed harder.
"…the one fate couldn't erase…"
His spine felt like it was burning.
"…the one who will grow stronger…"
The world pulsed white.
"…to protect them."
A shock burst outward from his chest.
The clearing shook violently.
Mara and Lyn fell backward. Selene shielded them with a wave of her staff as the blast rippled across the barrier dome.
Rafe screamed.
Not in pain — in release.
The light behind his eyes flared—
Then vanished.
And he collapsed to the ground.
Mara rushed to him, shaking.
"Rafe! Rafe—answer me!"
He didn't move.
Lyn sobbed louder. "He's not waking up—!"
Selene knelt slowly beside him, placing two fingers against his neck.
A pulse.
Fast.Unsteady.Alive.
"He's not dying," Selene said. "But he's somewhere else."
Mara's voice cracked. "W-What do you mean, somewhere else?!"
Selene exhaled shakily.
"The Awakening has pushed him inward. Into his core. Into his very soul."She closed her eyes."He is facing something alone — and if he fails, he will never wake up."
Mara froze.
Lyn covered her mouth, shaking violently.
Rafe lay still, his chest rising and falling gently, but his mind—
His mind was gone.
Dragged into a place he could not escape without winning.
Selene stood.
"We must guard his body."
Mara grabbed Rafe's limp hand.
"And what about him?" she whispered. "What about where he is?"
Selene looked out toward the forest.
"The Primordial is watching."
Mara trembled. "Is that a good thing?"
Selene did not turn.
"No," she said.
"But it's not the worst thing either."