The sky split open.
Clouds spiraled violently above the kingdom as Ivy rose higher, her body suspended between lightning and shadow. Wind tore through her hair, whipping it across her face but she did not blink.
Below, the ruins of the shattered cavern burned.
Above, the Shadow King hovered, wings stretched wide against the storm.
“You feel it, don’t you?” he called over the thunder. “The edge of yourself.”
Ivy’s breathing slowed.
She did feel it.
Something vast inside her had awakened when Rowan gave his blood. It was no longer just ancient power.
It was hunger.
Not for destruction.
For completion.
The markings along her skin began to shift, glowing brighter, then darker, as if deciding between light and void.
“You stand between two paths,” the Shadow King continued, circling
