The stars above blinked in the chilled night sky, casting a soft glow over the temporary camp tucked into the ruins of the abandoned outpost. A quiet had settled over the group, the kind of silence that comes only before something monumental. Their bodies rested, but their minds turned restlessly, playing out the siege of Northreach in countless imagined outcomes.
Kael sat cross-legged beside the fire, hands open, palms hovering just above the earth. Ariwin sat nearby, her arms wrapped around her knees as she watched him. Flames danced in his right hand, a ripple of water shimmered in his left, and a gentle tremble ran through the soil beneath them.
"This," he said softly, "is balance. You don't need to fight with the elements… you invite them."
Ariwin tilted her head. "And if they don't answer?"
"Then you weren't asking right." He smirked.
She cracked a small smile. "Teach me."
Kael nodded. "Start with earth. Feel it, not with your hands, but your heartbeat."
A few feet away, Selena watched them with quiet pride. She leaned back against a stone wall, letting her eyes drift to the night sky. Her fingers wandered to her stomach, to the child growing there.
Markas… what would you think if you saw this? If you saw me now? Would you be proud… or scared?
Arya walked up behind her, hesitation in every step. "Hey."
Selena turned, giving her a soft smile. "Couldn't sleep either?"
"I was going to talk to Luther," Arya said, eyes darting across the camp where Luther sat sharpening his blade, the firelight dancing off the polished metal. "I… I think I'm ready to tell him."
"But you didn't," Selena said knowingly.
Arya looked down. "I don't know if it's the right time."
Selena chuckled lightly. "Arya, we're about to storm a fortress filled with men who skin shadowkins alive. If this isn't the time, I don't know what is."
Arya snorted, then smiled. "He probably already knows, doesn't he?"
"Oh, he knows," Selena teased. "But he's a man. He'll wait until the mountain crumbles before he says it first."
They both laughed quietly, sharing the warmth of friendship beneath the starlight.
⸻
The Next Morning
The air was crisp and charged with purpose. Selena stood tall at the center of the camp, her presence glowing with an aura of divine energy. One by one, she stepped to each of her companions, touching them gently and boosting their powers with the strange gift Icehart had given her.
Kael's eyes lit with wild, chaotic magic. "I feel like I could bend the skies," he whispered.
Selena nodded. "Don't waste that feeling. Use it well."
She moved to Arya, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're stronger than you know."
Then to Luther. Their eyes met. So many things left unsaid.
"For Markas," Selena whispered.
Luther nodded silently. "And for what's right."
The plan was simple, but execution would decide everything.
"Stormclaw creates the distraction," Selena said, outlining the mission. The beast, already radiating a quiet fury, pawed at the earth in anticipation.
"Kael, Ariwin—you're with him. Clear a path. Get any prisoners out. Keep the way open."
Ariwin nodded firmly, fire in her eyes. "For Farakin."
Kael placed a comforting hand on her back. "We'll get it done."
"Luther, Arya, and I are taking the stronghold. Our target is Billmar. We cut off the head—"
"—the body falls," Luther finished.
Arya cracked her knuckles. "Let's make sure it falls hard."
They stood in a circle, eyes on one another, a bond beyond friendship tying them together. They weren't just allies now.
They were a family. Chosen. Tempered in fire.
And tomorrow, they would bring that fire to the gates of Northreach.