The forest greeted us as if it had been expecting us, waiting for this moment.
The Gabunan were faster than I expected. Our team barely reached the edge of the woods before they swarmed from their camp.
There were no shadows to hide in this time they attacked in their daylight forms. They looked human, but they were taller and thinner, with long black hair and hollow cheeks. Their fingers ended in claws that were way too long, and when they smiled, their mouths stretched too wide, showing rows of sharp teeth.
Screams echoed through the glade. Spells lit up the air. Eris was a blur because she is too fast, her blade cutting through gabunan limbs. Lucien fought from behind her, magic symbols flaring at his fingertips.
Zuriel had already set the tree line on fire. The flames curled as if they were alive. "Don't let them retreat to the west!" he shouted. "That's where the seal is weakest. If they go there, we'll be overpowered!"
Sir Nathaniel threw a magic ward that split a Gabunan in two pieces.
But even as the fight turned in our favor, I couldn't breathe. The Nephilim Book on my hip began to vibrate. It wasn't from danger, but from a strong pull. Something deeper was waiting for me.
I broke away from the group without even realizing it. My feet moved toward the edge of the battle, back toward the river. And there, just past the smoke and ash, I saw them again.
The family. The man, the woman, and the three children with the flickering red eyes. They were crouched behind a rock, shielding the little ones. They weren't attacking; they were just hiding. It looked like they had been dragged along by the other Gabunan. They were being hunted.
Gehan!
It was Zuriel's voice behind me. He had followed me. He froze when he saw them, his hand going to his wand. They're Gabunan.
They didn't attack, I said, my voice shaking.
Zuriel stepped forward, his face grim. That doesn't matter.
They have children, I said.
Zuriel didn't reply. Behind us, Kaelron's voice roared across the field. Clean the rest out! Leave no survivors of Gabunan!
I did something no one expected. I stepped between the family and Zuriel.
Zuriel's eyes widened. Gehan, what are you doing?
They're not like the others, I told him. I saw them before, remember? They didn't hurt me. They could've, but they didn't.
They will, he argued. Sooner or later, they always do
.
Then let me be the one who's wrong, I said softly.
And the Nephilim Book answered me.
The ground shook. My skin burned, but it didn't hurt. It felt like a memory coming back.
A feather fell from above. It was light and slow, a pure white color with a gold shimmer that turned black at the edges. It spun as it dropped, like a coin flipping to decide what happens next.
A man's voice spoke in my head. It wasn't mean and it wasn't nice. It just sounded like he was telling the truth.
The power you need has always been inside of you. Light and dark are not good and bad. They are purpose.
I I felt a symbol form under my feet. Lines of light started weaving together into a pattern that looked like a net of stars.
The points of the stars glowed like purple fire, joined together by bright golden lines. It looked like a constellation from the sky had been stamped into the ground. It wasn't a simple circle. It was made of sharp, jagged shapes a sigil where every star beat like a heart. It made a low humming sound, and I felt like something very old was watching us.
The Nephilim Book unlatched without me touching it. The eye on the cover opened, turning from red to a deep indigo. The pages turned as if caught in a silent wind. The Gabunan behind me hissed not in fear, but in awe.
The battlefield paused. Even Kaelron looked toward the light. Then the Book released a pulse of energy not fire or death, but a revelation. The illusions dropped. The family's disguises fell away.
They still looked human, but taller and thinner with those long claws, yet they didn't lunge or growl. They were just covering each other, trapped by the seal the sorcerers had used to cage every monster in the forest.
They simply watched me, their arms wrapped around their children. One of them whispered, We were only hunting a boar.
The air smelled like salt and tears.
Not all of them chose this, I said aloud. Some were born to it. Some… were made.
There was silence. Then Kaelron's voice boomed, enraged. GET OUT OF THE WAY, KID!
But I didn't move. I couldn't. Something else moved within me.
(You always hesitated. Just like me.)
The voice wasn't from the Book. It was from inside. Soft. Familiar. Was it me? My breath caught.
(You know this isn't just compassion.
It's remembering. You know who I am.)
A flicker appeared in my mind. A face like mine but different. There was a mole on the tip of the nose instead of under the right eye. Her eyes didn't flinch. Her mouth didn't smile.
Who are you? I whispered.
You already know. I was you… before you forgot.
The symbol below me pulsed.
Each golden line and violet star burned brighter, destroying the seal the sorcerer had made. The Gabunan power seemed to neutralize every bit of magic around us.
(You're not afraid of Malekai. You're afraid of me. Of what it felt like to break.)
My knees buckled. The Book slammed shut. Zuriel caught me.
Behind us, Kaelron approached, but Sir Nathaniel stepped in his path. The light faded and the symbol vanished. But the truth remained. I could see the terror in Kaelron's eyes.
I was still conscious, barely. My voice was hoarse. Don't kill them, I said.
Kaelron didn't move. Nathaniel turned to him. That was… purification.
Kaelron spat. It was hesitation.
Zuriel's grip on me tightened.
Nathaniel added quietly, Or mercy. And mercy is harder to live with than fire.
I didn't hear the rest because a voice echoed in the back of my mind.
(One day, you'll remember everything. And when you do, you'll understand why I broke first.)
The battle had ended, but the war was just beginning. Smoke drifted through the trees like fog. Blood stained the moss.
I stood in the center of it all, trembling and holding the Book of Nephilim. It was closed but faintly glowing, as if it had only just started. I didn't understand its power yet.
Suddenly, the world shifted. The soldiers Vermilion and Nimhar alike stepped back as if from a wildfire. Their eyes were all on me.
She summoned it, someone muttered.
That book shouldn't be here.
Archangel Raziel's sigil… I saw it.
Prince Vaeris stepped forward from the Vermilion line. He was dressed in formal clothes, his gold accessories jingling as he walked.
He looked at me like he didn't know whether to kneel or kill me. That Book is supposed to be a myth, he said. If it's real… if you are real… it means we are all in danger.
Then Kaelron came forward, his eyes burning. What did you awaken, girl?
I said nothing. I couldn't. Everyone looked at me like I was a curse or a half-drawn sword.
My hands were shaking. I didn't want any of this, I whispered. I didn't ask for this power. I'm just trying to understand
But no one softened. No one moved.
That was when Zuriel stepped in. He was fast and protective.
He didn't care if the world turned on him, as long as I stood behind him.
Back. Off.
He planted himself between me and the clans. His eyes blazed. She didn't ask for this. She saved lives.
Lucien followed. We all saw what she did. She showed the truth. She spared children. That wasn't corruption.
Damon crossed his arms beside them. She could've razed this forest. She didn't.
Eris didn't move. Her eyes burned, and I saw a silence that hurt more than any stare. Her hand twitched toward her blade, but her father was watching her.
Then the air shifted. It felt heavy and wild. Nikolai stepped forward, his shadow stretching too far.
His golden eyes locked on the crowd.
Touch her, he said softly. Try to take her. And I'll show you what real monsters look like.
It wasn't a threat
it was a promise.
His aura rolled off him like a beast unchained. Even the Vermilion soldiers stepped back. Even Vaeris flinched.
But Nathaniel moved forward, cutting through the fear. She's not yours to punish.
Kaelron's mouth twisted. And whose is she, then!? Archangel Raziel's?, The Nephilim??
Nathaniel's voice stayed low. Mine.
There was silence. He looked at all of them. She is my student. She will stay under my care. I will train her and watch her. You're afraid of what she might become? Fine. Then let me make sure she doesn't.
Maeven spoke next, her voice cold. She summoned the sigil. But the Book she carries… it remembers deeper blood.
Nathaniel nodded. One of the Nephilim told me something once. The one who crafted The three Artifacts the plan to defeat Malekai was not a saint. She was born of Malekai's bloodline.
Gasps broke out. Kaelron and Vaeris went still. Even Eris's eyes widened.
My chest tightened. That's me. I didn't say it, but the Nephilim Book pulsed at my side as if it were listening.
Nathaniel turned to me.
You didn't ask for this.
But it asked for you. And now the world will choose how it sees you.
He looked at the others. But I choose to stand beside her.
And so did they. Zuriel, Lucien, Damon, and Nikolai
they all stood with me.
Eris stayed where she was, but her eyes were burning.