(POV Aileen)
We appear in front of a ruined stronghold—an antechamber to the Inner Realm.
Stone walls. Broken. Collapsing in on themselves.
And yet…
even through the decay, you can tell what it once was.
Magnificent. Majestic.
Ancient.
(POV Dorcha)
I don't like this place.
There's something wrong with it.
I can't explain it—
but it feels like there's a weight pressing down on my chest.
Like I can't breathe right.
Damn those sprite powers.
It's like being wrapped in a constant buzzing—
low, relentless.
I hate it.
(POV Grogher)
Brrrick was rrright… the airrr really does smell rotten. Suffocating.
Good thing I can shrrrink whenever I want now, thanks to the sprites…
otherrrwise I'd never fit into this crrrumbling hole.
(POV Aileen)
Hercules steps in first.
We follow.
For all the clouds… it's freezing.
And so dark…
(POV Dorcha)
It's so dark I can barely see where to step.
"Light of Dran!"
A glowing sphere blooms in my palm, then lifts above us—
spreading warmth, pushing back the dark.
Finally.
The walls around us are damp, slick… water dripping endlessly down the stone.
"Airrr is coming from somewhere," Grogher mutters.
Yeah… I feel it too.
But I can't tell where from.
Sidae is already moving, sniffing along the walls.
"Groar!"
We all turn. He's pointing.
I step closer.
"Bluish stains… and… sticky," I say, touching one. "What is this?"
"Reveal yourself, ancient memory!" Aileen calls, invoking Crill's power.
(POV Aileen)
The air in front of us ripples—
and then…
images.
Faded. Distant.
A multitude of fairies appears before us. Men, women… all ages.
I look at Dorcha. At Grogher.
Terrified.
Dorcha moves closer—pulls me into his arms.
I force myself to look.
Just one eye.
The other hides against his chest.
I can't… I can't take it.
They're being tortured.
Beheaded. Burned alive.
Limbs severed.
Bodies torn apart.
Their screams—
their cries—
I clamp my hands over my ears.
It's unbearable.
The last thing I see—
a pregnant woman, pierced through by a spear.
A male fairy tries to defend her—
his throat is slit without hesitation.
Blood erupts from their bodies.
Blue. Thick.
The vision dissolves.
Gone.
I lower my gaze to the ground.
These stains…
they're not stains.
They're…
fairy blood.
My whole body starts shaking. I can't stop it.
Dorcha tightens his arms around me.
"In here…" I whisper.
I can't finish.
I can't breathe.
I try—desperately—to draw air into my lungs.
"Love…" Dorcha murmurs softly.
And I break.
I collapse into sobs, uncontrollable.
My body trembles, jerking, and I can't stop it.
I know Dorcha and Grogher are worried—
I can feel it—
but I just… can't.
I'm so grateful for his arms around me.
I feel lost.
(POV Dorcha)
Aileen is in shock.
I get it.
I've never seen that kind of violence in my life either.
I glance at Grogher—
he looks just as shaken as I feel.
I keep wondering…
what if all of this is connected to the destruction of the scroll?
But it doesn't add up.
The images we saw…
they didn't feel recent.
There has to be more.
Sidae roars again—sharp, alert.
He's found where the air is coming from.
Aileen pulls away from me.
"Are you okay?" I ask.
She wipes her eyes, nods faintly.
We turn toward the lion.
He's staring at a fixed point.
We move closer.
A tunnel.
It descends deep into the earth—its walls slick, coated in something wet and viscous.
"I'll go first," Aileen says.
Her voice is steady now.
Raertha and Hercules look at her—then recoil, uneasy, their hooves shifting back.
"If you don't feel up to it, stay here," she adds. "Fayrin is down there. She could be in danger. I have to go."
Go?
Alone?
We all stare at her in silence—just for a heartbeat—
then Raertha and Hercules rear up, while Sidae lets out a battle roar.
Alone?
Never.
We started this together.
We finish it together.
I tighten my grip on my sword.
Grogher does the same with his mace.
Aileen steps toward the mouth of the tunnel.
I reach for her hand—
but I'm too late.
A sudden force grabs her—
drags her down into the darkness.
"Aileen!"
Her screams echo back to us—
pure terror.
Fading.
But never stopping.
Panic hits me like a blow.
I don't think.
I just jump after her.
I hear the others following.
A violent current of air engulfs us—
pulling us downward.
We scream—shout—
fear tearing through all of us.
Me most of all—
because I can't hear Aileen anymore.
Then—
impact.
After what feels like an eternity, we crash into a pile of dry leaves.
Aileen is here.
Right beside us.
I rush to her.
"Aileen! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
She looks so pale.
She meets my eyes—worried… but smiling.
"I'm okay," she says.
Then she immediately starts checking me, Grogher, the animals—
"You? Everyone okay?"
We look at each other.
Shaken. Breathless.
But alive.
All of us.
(POV Aeltiàfisar)
Stella, Neptunes, Desideria, and Aisling rise from the water.
"Welcome," I say.
"Now that we're all here," Fheall cuts in, practical as ever, "we can organize the armies."
"What?"
Desideria and her sister Stella speak at the same time—
their expressions stunned as they turn to their husbands.
They look just as surprised.
Clearly… this wasn't what they were expecting.
Baelkers smiles gently.
"Fheall does have a tendency to rush ahead," he says. "You're right. You deserve an explanation first."
They seem to relax, just a little.
They move toward a cluster of rocks, sit down—
and listen.
(POV Aileen)
I… I can't believe this is the Inner Realm.
It can't be.
This place is even darker than what Sidae showed us.
When we came out of the tunnel, we found ourselves in what I think used to be a forest…
but the trees are bare. Sick.
Their trunks are dry, branches snapped and lifeless.
The meadows…
they're gone.
Burned to nothing.
Only patches of dead leaves scattered across the ground.
There's no sun here.
Only darkness—
like an endless night without stars.
In the distance, I hear crows…
and other sounds. Strange. Wrong.
And the smell—
rot, filth, something stale and suffocating.
A flash catches my eye.
I turn—
and far away, suspended over a mass of black, storming clouds,
there's a ruined castle.
Could that be… the Royal Castle of the Fairies?
"Maybe…" I whisper. "…maybe we're too late."
I'm not even sure I'm speaking to the others.
More to myself.
Grogher doesn't agree.
"We wouldn't have made it this farrr," he says. "What do you think, Dorrrcha?"
We turn to him—
but he doesn't answer.
His gaze is… off.
Distant.
Almost empty.
How is that possible?
"Dorcha? Hey—Dorcha!"
No reaction.
"…yeah…?" he finally murmurs.
But he doesn't come back.
Not really.
He's still trapped in whatever that is.
This isn't normal.
I step closer.
"Dorcha, are you okay?" I say, grabbing his shoulders. "Dorcha!"
Suddenly, he shakes his head hard—
like snapping out of something.
"I… I don't… know," he mutters.
Confused.
I gently lift his face—
and—
Oh my God…
his eyes…
They're black again.
"Get down," he whispers, pulling me and Grogher behind the dead trunk of a massive sequoia.
We trust him—
but why?
Nothing's happening.
Sidae and the others are calm.
I don't understand.
(POV Dorcha)
Something's wrong.
It feels like…
like I'm connected to everything.
All at once.
But I know what I heard.
A sound. Close.
Loud.
I stay still.
Focused. Waiting.
…there.
Heh.
Found you.
(POV Aileen)
Dorcha is staring in a precise direction.
I try to follow his gaze—
and then I see them.
A girl appears on the path.
A thick, spiked chain is wrapped around her neck.
She's barely walking—limping, broken—dragged forward by a tall, beautiful woman…
with a cold, merciless stare
and enormous black, bat-like wings rising from her back.
The girl is wounded.
Barely standing.
She screams. She cries.
The other doesn't care.
She keeps pulling her forward without mercy.
I narrow my eyes, trying to see better in the dark—
"Look…" I whisper. "Fairy blood…"
On the prisoner's back—
what's left of her wings.
Torn off.
Cleanly severed.
"Walk," the black fairy orders.
Her voice is calm.
Cold.
It freezes something deep inside me.
The girl does what she can to keep up—
but she's exhausted.
And without her wings…
I think she's lost her powers.
(POV Dorcha)
Bastard.
I feel the veins in my temples pulse. In my neck.
My hand moves on its own—gripping the sword.
One sharp motion—
I draw it.
And I launch myself at her.
(POV Grogher)
Dorrrcha is… faster.
Too fast.
It's almost impossible to follow his movements.
He strrrikes the chain binding the fairy—
metal snaps—
the sound echoes thrrrough the silence.
The black fairy turns toward him.
I tense, ready to jump in—
but…
what's happening?
Why…?
(POV Aileen)
…I can't move!
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Grogher—
he's frozen too.
What did you do, Dorcha?!
Why did you stop us?!
My chest tightens. I can't breathe.
How are we supposed to help him now?
Please—
just know what you're doing…
The black fairy's face twists—
furious.
Her eyes lock onto Dorcha.
Beneath her, a sea of fire begins to churn.
Dorcha doesn't move.
Not even a step.
She makes a barely noticeable gesture—
and a massive wave of fire rises—
crashing forward, devouring everything in its path.
I can feel the heat on my skin.
Ash fills my lungs.
Great… we're all going to end up roasted…
And yet—
Dorcha doesn't flinch.
Maybe… maybe it's Brick's power…
maybe he and the fire are the same now…
God, I hope so.
His gaze—
it's worse than hers.
I've never seen him like this.
If I didn't know him…
I'd be terrified.
Calm.
He moves his sword—precise, controlled.
The fire—
instead of consuming him—
bends.
Wraps around him.
Forms a sphere.
Then rises—
bigger. Wilder.
Stronger than hers ever was.
It happens in a heartbeat.
The black fairy is swept away—
reduced to nothing but ash.
(POV Grogher)
I don't even know what I'm feeling.
Dorrrcha…
Therrre's no doubt.
The Black Knight…
is back.