Chapter 39: The Price of a Door

They didn't open the door.

Not yet.

Elira sat beside it for hours, listening to the wind whisper through the Hollow Hills. The black door stood still, quiet now, but she could still feel it pulsing—like it was alive. Like it was watching her.

Kael and Aeren paced behind her. Both were restless, but for different reasons.

Kael was angry. Not at Elira, but at himself—for not being able to do anything.

Aeren was quiet. Thinking. Watching. His hand never strayed far from his weapon.

"We can't stay here long," Kael finally said. "If Rael knows we're near the last seal, he'll come."

"He will," Aeren said. "But I don't think he'll attack us yet. Not until Elira makes a move."

She turned to them.

"He's waiting for me to choose. That's what he said in Ravemoor, and that's what the door said too."

Kael walked over and crouched beside her. "Then don't choose. We find another way."

"I've looked for one," she whispered. "There isn't."

Aeren knelt on her other side. "Then we'll make one."

She smiled faintly at both of them.

"I don't think this is a door that opens with keys or magic," she said. "I think it opens with a decision."

"What kind of decision?" Kael asked.

Elira looked away.

"One that costs something."

---

That evening, Aeren left camp alone. He didn't say why, only that he needed time to think. Kael didn't stop him.

Elira watched him walk into the trees, his back straight, his steps slow.

She sat near the fire as Kael sharpened his blade again, but this time with less purpose. It was more a habit than a need.

"He still loves you," Kael said without looking up.

Elira didn't answer.

"You knew that already," he added.

She nodded. "I did."

Kael looked at her then. "Do you?"

She met his eyes. "I don't know."

He set the blade down.

"I used to think love was about protecting someone. Keeping them safe, even if it meant lying. Or pushing them away."

"And now?" she asked softly.

"Now I think love means trusting someone enough to let them make their own choice. Even if it scares you."

Elira didn't say anything at first.

Then she reached over and took his hand.

"You're not the boy you used to be, Kael."

"And you're not the girl who followed him."

"No," she said. "I'm not."

---

Aeren didn't return until after dark.

He sat beside the fire, silent at first. Then he said, "I found something."

Kael looked up. "What?"

"Ruins. In the valley just behind the ridge. They weren't there when we passed through earlier. It's like… the land moved."

Elira stood. "The seals are changing the world."

"I think they're drawing pieces of the past back into the present," Aeren said. "These ruins looked ancient. And I found something inside."

He reached into his cloak and pulled out a small stone tablet, marked with deep cuts and runes.

"Another piece of the story," he said.

Elira held it. As her fingers brushed the stone, her mind filled with light—and then with voices.

---

She saw a field of fire.

Soldiers screaming. Magic tearing the sky apart.

And in the center—Rael.

But not the boy she'd met in Ravemoor.

This version of Rael was older. His eyes burned like twin suns. A crown of flame rested on his head. Around him, shadows moved like wolves.

And then—there was her.

Or someone who looked like her.

She stood across from him, wearing white, her hands glowing. Her voice was calm, but her face was filled with sorrow.

"If you do this, there will be no going back."

Rael's voice echoed.

"There never was."

The vision ended.

Elira stumbled back.

Kael caught her. "What did you see?"

"The past," she whispered. "Maybe the future too."

She held the stone tightly.

"The last time this door opened, it destroyed everything."

---

They didn't sleep much that night.

The sky turned darker than ever before, and thunder rolled far in the distance—though no clouds could be seen.

By morning, the door had changed.

Now, its surface showed not their reflections—but memories.

Kael saw himself as a boy, kneeling at his father's grave.

Aeren saw the battlefield where his brother died.

Elira saw the village that burned because she had hesitated.

She looked away.

"This door doesn't just ask you to choose," she said. "It makes you remember who you were."

Aeren touched the door again.

Another voice filled the air.

"One may open. One must fall."

The three of them froze.

Kael stepped forward. "What does that mean?"

But the door gave no more answers.

Only silence.

---

Later that day, they stood again before the seal.

Kael had drawn his sword. Aeren had his bow ready. Elira stepped in front of both of them.

"I'm going in."

Kael reached for her arm. "We don't even know what's on the other side—"

"I have to know," she said gently. "If I don't understand what's inside this door, we'll never stop Rael."

Aeren stepped beside her. "Then we're coming with you."

Elira shook her head.

"No. Only I can open it. That's what it wants. I'll go in… and I'll come back."

Kael clenched his jaw. "We're not leaving you."

"I know," she said with a sad smile. "That's why I can."

She turned to the door and pressed her hand against the surface.

It rippled.

Then glowed.

Then opened.