POV: The Shadow Heir
I wake to fire.
Not the burning kind—
the remembering kind.
It coils beneath my ribs like a sleeping beast finally stretching its claws. My first breath tastes like ash and starlight, like smoke trapped inside crystal. The chamber around me is stone and shadow, carved deep beneath roots older than kingdoms. I have always been here.
Waiting.
I sit up slowly. Chains of light—not metal—wrap loosely around my wrists. They do not burn. They watch.
Interesting.
Beyond the bars of magic, shadows bow as I move. They are not servants. They are echoes. Fear without bodies. Power without masters.
I press my palm to my chest.
Something is missing.
No—
someone is missing.
A warmth I didn’t know existed has vanished, leaving behind a hollow ache I don’t understand. It h
