Orryx Enchanted

Layton pov

Layton’s POV

Jace and I stepped away.

Not from the sisters—not entirely. But from the conversation unfolding around the fire, from the warmth of their grandmother’s presence, from the flicker of old magic returning to this house after years of dormancy.

I moved because I had to be sure whomever Jace was he wasn’t here with bad intentions. The sisters must be around people that they can trust and if we couldn’t trust him I’d sense it miles away.

Jace was standing near the edge of the parlor, posture loose but alert, arms folded across his chest like a wall meant to look casual. He wasn’t part of the room, not really. He was watching it. Not in fear. Not even in awe.

I approached slowly.

“You feel different,” I said. “Like magic that doesn’t know its name yet.”

He turned to face me, but didn’t flinch. “You’re not exactly subtle yourself, angel-boy.”

“Whitelighter,” I corrected, lips quirking.

“Still looks like a halo to me.”

For a second, there was quiet. Tension, yes—but not hostile. More… wary. Like two wolves circling for scent.

“I’ve seen a lot of people touched by power,” I continued. “Some are born into it. Some take it. Others…” I let my eyes trace his aura. “Others are marked by something older. Something raw. That’s you.”

He didn’t deny it.

Instead, he asked, “So am I a threat, or are you just curious?”

“Both,” I answered honestly. “You helped Selene. Risked yourself. Why?”

He hesitated. Then—

“Because she looked like she was drowning,” he said. “And I know what it’s like to suffocate. No one helped me when it started. I figured maybe… maybe I could do better than that.”

The words struck something in me. Familiar pain. I’d seen that look before—long ago, in someone else’s eyes.

“You’re not from this realm, are you?”

He shook his head once. “The Ruined Territories. South of the Veiled Cliffs. Magic there is hunted. I was raised to fear what I was.”

“And yet here you are. In a house full of witches. With a demon on the hunt.”

“I didn’t come looking for this,” he said. “But something pulled me. Her.”

“Selene?”

He nodded. “It wasn’t just attraction. It was like… a thread. Something ancient. Like I was being called to her.”

I stared at him. Something about that answer unnerved me. Not because it was wrong—but because it was right.

“You’re tied to this now,” I said slowly. “To them. You stay, you train. You prove you’re not a danger. To them—or to yourself.”

“I’m not running,” he said, steel in his voice.

“Good,” I said, and we both turned toward the room again.

⸻

The girls sat cross-legged in front of the hearth. An old spellbook lay open between them, its glyphs pulsing faintly. Nana sat behind them, fingers pressed to a charm at her throat, her gaze distant—remembering things she’d buried long ago.

Jace and I reentered the room, and the sisters looked up. Selene’s eyes lingered on Jace, half-questioning, half-knowing.

“We talked,” I said, cutting into the silence. “He’s not a threat. Not now. But he is something. Something we don’t fully understand yet.”

Thalia, ever the protector, didn’t look satisfied. “So what do we need to understand?”

I looked at Nana, who nodded for me to begin.

“The truth,” I said, stepping forward, “starts with your parents.”

Their eyes sharpened.

“As you can probably guess now since you’ve already seen me orb I’m not just a family friend. I’m your family’s Whitelighter—assigned to Aurora and Shawn Blackthorn before any of you were born. I’ve walked with them through more battles than I can count. Healed them. Hidden them. Carried them.”

“Why didn’t they ever tell us? And that would explain why you look like your our age. And know things from centuries ago. ” Amara said in a small voice

“They didn’t want you growing up in fear,” Nana said gently. “They wanted you to have birthdays, not battle scars.”

“They sacrificed time with you to protect the world,” I added. “Because what they were guarding… it wasn’t just magical secrets.”

I looked at them all—three reflections of two souls I’d once sworn to protect.

“On their most recent mission, Aurora and Shawn were tracking an anomaly near the Borealis Convergence—a rift between realms. Something had forced it open. Something powerful.”

“A demon?” Selene asked, already knowing the answer.

“One so old his name was erased from magical history,” I said. “But I remember it. Zariel.”

The room dimmed at the sound.

“He didn’t kill them,” I said softly. “He took them. Infiltrated them. Their magical signatures flickered. Then vanished. Their bond to me—severed. Not by choice.”

“You think he’s still using them?” Thalia asked.

“I think they’re trapped. Bound. Somewhere in the void between dimensions.”

The room went still.

“But your awakening—your powers coming alive at the same time—that sent a shockwave. He felt it. That’s why he’s coming now. To finish what he started.”

Selene’s fingers clenched. “Then we fight.”

“You train first,” I said. “Because your powers, as they are now? They’re unstable. Thalia, your time distortion could stop a city—or collapse it. Selene, your psychic sight could invade minds without permission, or shatter them. Amara—your telekinesis is the first layer. You’ll eventually manipulate space itself. Tear holes in reality. If you’re not careful, you’ll hurt each other.”

They stared at me—fear and fire in their eyes.

“I’m not saying this to scare you. I’m saying it because your parents believed in you. Because the magic in your blood is ancient. And not just theirs…”

I looked at Nana.

“They never told you what Shawn became, did they?”

She shook her head slowly. “It wasn’t time.”

I turned back to the girls.

“Your father… was more than a mage. He was the first to survive possession by an ancient force—one that burned through every host before him. Instead of being consumed, he bound it to himself.”

“He became known as the Orryx…”

“He was feared and revered,” Nana added. “Even the Magical Council didn’t know if they could trust him. But Aurora did. And so did I.”

“And now,” I finished, “you three carry traces of that power.”

“We won’t let it control us”

“No,” I agreed. “You’ll learn to wield it.”

We all sat in silence for a moment.

Then Nana closed the spellbook. “The manor isn’t just your home,” she said. “It’s an anchor between realms. Beneath this house lies a path. One your parents used. One we’ll use to find them.”

Selene stood first. “We’re going to bring them back.”

Thalia followed. “And we’ll stop Zariel.”

Amara rose last, voice soft but steady. “Together.”

I looked around the room, at the power gathering here.

This wasn’t the end.

This was the beginning.