Chapter 16: The Shadow’s Choice

Faye could feel her heartbeat pounding against her ribs, sharp and erratic. The betrayal burned worse than the wounds she'd sustained in battle.

Kael—the one who had fought by her side, bled for her, defended her.

And yet, here he was. Kneeling before the Veiled Empress.

For the first time since she woke, true rage flared beneath her skin. Shadowflame churned deep in her core, responding to her emotions—dangerous, unstable. The bindings on her wrists tightened as she instinctively tensed. If she could summon even a flicker of power—

The Empress tilted her head, watching her. "You're angry."

Faye bared her teeth in something that wasn't quite a smile. "No. I'm furious."

The Empress only laughed, turning her attention back to Kael. "And you? Do you have anything to say to your dear friend?"

Kael's expression didn't change. He didn't even look at Faye.

"There was no other way," he said evenly.

No other way.

Faye swallowed back the sharp, bitter taste in her mouth. Lies. There was always another way. He had chosen this.

She forced herself to meet his gaze. "I trusted you."

A flicker—the briefest flash of something in his eyes. Guilt? Regret? Or was she just desperate to see something that wasn't there?

Kael turned away. "Then you were a fool."

Something inside her snapped.

Before she could speak—before she could react—the guards closed in.

Faye wrenched against her restraints, but one of them grabbed her by the shoulder and forced her down.

The Empress moved closer, her silken robes whispering against the stone floor. "You were always going to end up here, Faye. Did you really think you could outrun fate?"

Faye lifted her chin, defiant despite the blood drying on her skin. "Fate?" She let out a ragged, humorless laugh. "You think you know my fate?"

The Empress knelt before her again, lowering her voice to something almost intimate. "I know your kind was never meant to survive. And yet, here you are. An abomination. A mistake."

Faye's fingers twitched against her bindings. Shadowflame pulsed beneath her skin, desperate to be unleashed.

The Empress sighed as if disappointed. "If you were wise, you would kneel. Swear loyalty. Serve a purpose greater than your own selfish survival."

Faye smiled, slow and sharp. "I'd rather burn."

The Empress sighed. "I thought you might say that."

She stood, lifting a single hand.

Pain exploded through Faye's body.

It wasn't fire. It wasn't steel.

It was something worse.

Something cold and ancient, sinking into her bones like a poison.

Faye choked back a scream as her body convulsed. Every nerve burned, every muscle locked in place.

And then she felt it.

Something inside her—her magic, her power—being pulled away.

Stripped from her.

Her breath came in ragged gasps, her vision blurring at the edges.

She barely registered Kael shifting beside her. Barely heard the way his breath hitched.

But she did hear the Empress's final whisper.

"You will break, little Frostborn. And when you do… you will kneel."

The cold came first.

A sharp, unnatural plunge in temperature—so sudden that the torches in the cavern flickered and dimmed.

Then—the roar.

It shook the very foundations of the cave, a deep, primal sound of fury and destruction.

Faye's head lolled to the side, barely conscious, but she could still sense it.

Talis was here.

A second later, the entire entrance exploded.

Ice and stone rained down, and a blizzard tore through the cavern, howling with enough force to send the guards staggering back.

A massive, silver-scaled figure loomed in the storm—lightning-blue eyes glowing with pure, undiluted rage.

Talis let out another deafening roar, and this time, it wasn't just anger.

It was a warning.

A promise of death.

The cavern trembled beneath the force of Talis's fury.

Shards of ice formed instantly along the walls as the blizzard raged through the chamber, freezing torches in their sconces, extinguishing their flames in a single breath. The Veiled Empress stepped back, eyes narrowing as her silken robes swirled in the sudden storm.

Talis's massive form forced its way inside, his claws scraping against the frozen stone. His breath came in deep, furious huffs, each exhale laced with frost so cold it cracked the very air.

Faye barely had the strength to lift her head, but she felt him—the raw, primal rage coursing through their bond.

His voice thundered in her mind, as frigid as his storm.

Who did this to you?

The power draining through her veins made it difficult to form words, but she forced a single thought through the haze of pain.

The Empress. Kael—

A growl so deep it shook her bones rumbled through the bond.

Talis did not hesitate. He struck.

A single beat of his massive wings sent a shockwave of ice through the cavern, slamming into the guards, sending them sprawling.

Then he lunged.

His jaws snapped toward the Empress, but she was fast. She lifted a single hand, and dark tendrils of magic burst from her fingertips, latching onto Talis mid-air.

For a brief second, the Frost Dragon hung there, his body frozen by an unseen force.

But then—the air itself cracked.

Talis roared, his scales igniting with an ethereal blue glow. His sheer, unstoppable will shattered the Empress's hold like brittle glass, and the next moment, he was upon her.

The Empress barely twisted out of the way as his claws raked across the stone, ice bursting along the cavern floor.

Faye gasped for breath, her body weak, her magic—gone.

She tried to move, but her limbs refused to obey. The Empress's spell had drained her strength, left her defenseless.

No.

She gritted her teeth, forcing her muscles to respond. She would not be useless. Not now.

A shadow loomed over her.

Kael.

His sword was drawn, but for the first time, he hesitated.

Faye locked eyes with him. The weight of betrayal still burned deep, but there—just for a flicker of a second—was something else.

Regret.

Remorse.

But it didn't matter.

Not now.

Faye forced herself upright. The chains still bound her wrists, but she ignored them.

She reached for her magic—and found nothing.

It's gone.

The realization was like a blade to the chest. The Empress had stripped her of her power, severed her connection to Shadowflame.

And yet—deep beneath the void left in its place, something stirred.

Something older.

Something untamed.

Talis let out another roar, pure, unrelenting fury.

The Empress's lips curled into a smirk as she stepped back, dark energy gathering in her palm. "Foolish beast," she murmured. "Do you really think you can defy me?"

Talis lunged again—but this time, the Empress did not retreat.

Instead, she raised her hand.

A pulse of darkness exploded from her palm—and Talis froze mid-strike.

His roar turned into a sharp, choked snarl. His wings faltered. His body collapsed.

Faye's heart stopped.

No. No, no, no—

She struggled against her bindings, every instinct screaming at her to move, to fight, to do something.

Talis's great body hit the ground, his scales darkening beneath the Empress's magic. His glowing blue eyes flickered—dimmed.

A choked sound escaped Faye's throat.

The Empress turned back to her, smiling. "Your dragon may be strong, Frostborn. But he is still a creature of magic."

She lifted her palm again, fingers curling in the air. Talis shuddered.

Faye's breath came in ragged gasps. No. No, she couldn't lose him.

She couldn't—

And then—

Something snapped.

It was not Shadowflame.

It was something deeper.

Something ancient, coiled in her very bones.

Her eyes burned.

Her pulse thundered.

And then—

The frost came.

Not Talis's magic. Not his storm.

Hers.

The air around her turned glacial, so cold it burned. Ice erupted beneath her fingers, snapping through the metal bindings on her wrists.

The Empress's smirk faltered.

And for the first time—true fear flickered in her eyes.

Faye lifted her gaze, breath curling in the frigid air.

Her magic was gone.

But something else had awoken.

Something greater.

And this time—

She would not break.