Arden woke like something had been ripped out of her.
Not physically.
But close enough.
Her heart slammed against her ribs, violent and unsteady, like it was trying to escape before something else could claim it.
Her fingers were buried into her palms.
Too deep.
Skin torn.
Warm.
She didn't remember closing her eyes.
Didn't remember falling asleep.
But she remembered this—
The feeling of being watched.
From inside.
Two sensations overlapped.
Not voices.
Not quite.
Vaelor was calm.
Precise.
Measured.
But beneath it—
Something else moved.
Not speaking.
Not thinking.
Hungry.
It didn't wait its turn.
It didn't respect silence.
It pressed against the edges of her awareness like something trying to remember how to breathe.
Arden swallowed.
Slow.
Controlled.
"…Vaelor?"
A pause.
Then—
"You're awake."
Calm.
Predictable.
But the other presence—
It stirred.
Not answering.
Just… reacting.
A ripple.
A pulse.
A tightening inside her chest that didn't belong to her.
She clenched her jaw.
Focused.
"Again."
She lifted her hand.
Focused.
Lunaris responded.
Light gathered.
Faint.
Fragile.
It wasn't clean anymore.
It felt… split.
She pushed.
Controlled movement.
Intentional.
The energy flickered.
Then—
It snapped.
The object in front of her jerked violently.
Not forward.
Not in the direction she intended.
It twisted.
Lunaris fractured.
The light didn't flow—
It broke.
Sharp.
Erratic.
Unstable.
Arden's breath hitched.
"What—"
"Stop."
Vaelor's voice cut through instantly.
Sharp.
No hesitation.
No softness.
And for a moment—
Everything froze.
Even the chaos inside her.
The fractured energy stuttered.
Hesitated.
Then—
Collapsed.
Silence returned.
Heavy.
Unfinished.
Arden lowered her hand slowly.
Her fingers trembled.
That wasn't right.
Lunaris wasn't supposed to feel like that.
Something was interfering.
Something else.
A sound echoed inside her.
Not loud.
Not external.
A laugh.
Low.
Broken.
Unstable.
It didn't belong to Vaelor.
Arden's breathing quickened.
Her mind sharpened.
Too sharp.
She looked around.
The ruins.
Cracked stone.
Collapsed pillars.
Silent sky above.
Everything seemed still.
But it wasn't.
The ground beneath her foot shifted.
Then cracked.
"—"
She moved.
Without thinking.
Too fast.
Her body reacted before her mind caught up.
She leapt back—
The ground where she stood collapsed inward, stone folding and breaking apart like it had been waiting for that exact moment.
Dust erupted.
Sharp.
Blinding.
Arden landed hard.
Ungraceful.
Off-balance.
She caught herself.
Barely.
Her breath came fast now.
Unsteady.
That wasn't Lunaris.
Not fully.
Her control was slipping.
No—
Something was slipping into her control.
"You're destabilizing."
Vaelor again.
Controlled.
But… sharper now.
Not concerned.
Alert.
Arden clenched her fists.
"I didn't—"
The words faltered.
Because she felt it.
Beneath her thoughts.
Beneath Vaelor.
Something moved.
Not waiting.
Not observing.
Pressing.
Pushing.
And then—
It spoke.
Not in words she heard.
But in something deeper.
A sensation.
A voice formed from hunger itself.
"Let me out."
Arden froze....