The Descent Begins

Chapter 30: The Descent Begins

Anne stood at the edge of the cliff, the wind biting against her skin as she stared out over the vast expanse of the valley below. Her breath was shallow, but steady. The fire inside her had been building, a quiet whisper at first, and then a roaring flame. Now, it consumed her.

She could feel it in her veins, pulsing beneath her skin like a heartbeat of its own. It wasn't just the dragon blood that coursed through her anymore. It was something deeper. Stronger. Darker. Something that wanted to take control. But for the first time in her life, she didn't fight it.

Let it in.

The thought was a foreign voice, calm and cold. It wasn't her own. But for once, she listened. The heat that had been growing in her chest spread outwards, crackling in the air like a storm on the horizon. She clenched her fists, feeling the power rush through her. It was intoxicating.

A snap of twigs broke her trance, and she turned to find her mother, Bela, standing just behind her, her face drawn with concern.

"Anne…" Bela's voice was soft, laced with worry. "What are you doing?"

Anne swallowed, feeling a strange thrill at the thought of no longer hiding from what she was. She met her mother's gaze, and for the first time, she didn't see the fear that had always been there. Bela knew. Anne could see it in her eyes. The truth was finally out, and the weight of it hung heavy in the air between them.

"You're letting it in, aren't you?" Bela whispered, her voice strained. "I thought… I thought I could protect you."

Anne stepped forward, her eyes never leaving her mother's. "I'm not running anymore, Mom. I'm not afraid of it." She could feel the darkness pushing at the edges of her soul, calling her name like a distant song. But it didn't feel like a threat. It felt like power.

Bela's expression faltered, a moment of doubt clouding her features. The fierce protector, the mother who had hidden her for so long, was fading in the face of what Anne was becoming. Could she still protect her, or had she already lost her?

Lucian sat alone in his room, his fists clenched on the edge of the table. He hadn't meant for things to spiral like this. He hadn't meant to hurt her. He had chosen himself—his own safety, his own future. But the guilt gnawed at him relentlessly.

I betrayed her.

The words echoed in his mind, and each time, they stung sharper. He had made a choice to walk away from Anne, to protect himself from the dangers that her power represented. But now, in the silence of his thoughts, he could feel the weight of what he had done.

He had been wrong. But how could he fix it?

A sharp knock on the door broke his self-loathing reverie. His heart skipped a beat, an unbidden hope rising in his chest, but when he opened it, he found only emptiness.

There was no escape from his actions.

Far beyond their reach, the threads of fate were tightening in the hands of Valtheris. He had been patient, waiting for the perfect moment. The Celestial Dragons had been distracted with their own internal struggles, and Bela—she was vulnerable now. Anne, too, was slipping. Alone, lost, and starting to embrace the darkness. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

His plan was nearly complete.

Anne's descent into the abyss was no longer something to fear—it was something to guide. With her power, he would have the leverage he needed. And with the Celestial Dragons distracted, there was nothing left standing in his way.

Anne's breath came quicker now, the power surging beneath her skin like wildfire. The darkness was no longer something foreign—it was a part of her. She had embraced it, and in doing so, she felt herself slipping. There was a freedom in it, a release from the constant pressure to be something she wasn't.

But deep down, a small voice whispered—a voice that sounded an awful lot like Lucian's.

Don't do it, Anne. Don't let it take you.

But it was too late. The darkness was already inside her, and for the first time, it felt like a part of her, a part she had always longed for.

Could she fight it? Or would she surrender?

The choice was hers. But, for now, she stood at the edge of that abyss, no longer afraid to fall.