The battlefield was still steaming from the clash.
Ivy knelt beside Kael, pressing her hands to the wound at his side. His skin was burning hot beneath her palms, and the silver-edged blade he’d used on the Shadowforged had left a backlash—his own body was paying the price.
“You shouldn’t have—” she began, voice tight.
“I’d do it again,” Kael rasped, his grip tightening around her wrist. “You were about to lose yourself in that thing. I saw it.”
She didn’t answer. Because he was right.
The Shadowforged hadn’t just attacked her. It had spoken to her. Called her by names no one else could have known. Recognized her not as an enemy—but as kin.
Ivy’s hands glowed faintly as her healing flames sparked to life. The magic that once eluded her now obeyed—responding to her pain, her will. But
