Chapter Fifty-Four – The Fracture Between Us

The fire crackled quietly in our temporary camp—an illusion Kael had cast to shield us from the raw edges of the unstable realm. Everything felt too still. Even the void winds had quieted.

But inside me, storms churned.

Riven was sharpening his blade—not because he needed to, but to keep his hands busy. His sharp glances at me hadn't stopped since we returned.

Kael sat opposite me, silent, watching. Always watching. As if afraid I'd vanish—or become something else entirely.

I hated that I couldn't promise I wouldn't.

"We should leave," Riven said finally, breaking the silence. "There's a fracture forming near the Ghostspine. If we don't reach the Citadel soon, the threads of this place could snap completely."

"We can't just run," Kael argued. "Whatever Sera saw—whatever that thing was—it's not done. If we move without understanding it, we'll only make things worse."

"And if we wait, we give it time to grow stronger," Riven snapped.

"It's not it that's growing stronger." His eyes turned to me. "It's her."

I looked up. "You think I'm becoming dangerous."

He didn't answer at first.

Then: "I think you already were."

Kael rose to his feet. "Riven—"

"No. Let him speak," I said, standing slowly.

Riven met my gaze. "You think you're still you, Sera? Look around. You're drawing on magic that doesn't belong to this world. You walk where none of us can follow. You speak to things that don't speak back—they echo. You carry a power none of us understand."

"I didn't ask for this."

"No. But you didn't turn it away either."

The truth stung. I hadn't turned it away. I hadn't wanted to.

Because some small, cruel part of me had enjoyed the silence when the stars shattered. The clarity. The control.

Kael stepped between us. "We don't get to judge her for surviving."

Riven scoffed, sheathing his blade. "This isn't survival. It's transformation."

And maybe he was right.

But I wasn't ready to admit it. Not yet.

Instead, I looked at the distance—at the ghostlight blooming faintly where the Citadel waited.

"If there's a choice left," I said softly, "I'll find it. I'll make it."

And I would.

Even if that meant choosing between the girl I used to be—and the thing I was becoming.

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