Chapter Twelve: Part 3
206 Words
His hands shook as he held her face. “You are still Karlene.”
Her tears glowed, burning trails down her cheeks. “For tonight.”
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Dawn bled through the broken sky, strange and red.
Kaelen woke alone. The place beside him was still warm, but Karlene was gone.
He staggered to his feet, heart hollow, body aching with both love and loss. At the temple’s threshold, he saw her — hovering above the city, wings outstretched, light blazing from her chest.
Her voice thundered across the horizon: “Rise with me, and no dominion shall hold you again.”
And the people below fell to their knees, one by one, until all of Dalmere bowed in worship.
Kaelen felt the crack inside him widen. Their union had not saved her. It had strengthened her. She had drawn power even from their love.
Aelira and Liora found him hours later, his clothes torn, his face haunted. They asked no questions. His silence was answer enough.
Behind them, the sky trembled with wings. Heaven was moving, gathering for war.
And Kaelen knew, with despair sharp as steel, that when next he faced Karlene, it would not be as a lover. It would be as her enemy.
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