POV: Akira.
FLASHBACK – 2 years ago.
The air was thick with sage and salt.
Akira knelt before the altar carved into the stone wall, its surface lined with old runes and melted wax. Her breath came slow and shallow. Her fingers were stained with ash.
She had fasted for two days. Not for ritual—but because her spirit had started to itch. The way it always did when the veil thinned.
Now, as the silver bowl of moonwater before her began to ripple without touch, Akira let her eyes drift shut.
Her voice, rough from silence, barely stirred the air.
**AKIRA**
Mother of shadow and firelight... show me what comes next. Show me *her*.
The room darkened.
And then—
Moonlight poured through the stone slit above, impossibly bright. It struck the bowl like a blade.
Akira’s body arched, eyes wi
