The first thing I registered was warmth. Not the fleeting heat of a spell, but a deep, permeating warmth that seeped into my very bones. The second was the whisper of cool silk against my skin. My eyelids were leaden weights, but the world that filtered through them wasn’t the cold, unforgiving stone of the forgotten temple. It was soft, bathed in the gentle glow of morning.

My body ached in a distant, muted way, cushioned by a mattress so plush it felt like sinking into a cloud. A presence beside me, solid and steady, was the anchor in my sea of disorientation. With a groan, I forced my eyes open, squinting against the light. Gilded furniture, carved with the elegant, sweeping lines of elven craft, filled a chamber I’d never seen before. It reminded me of Aelindoria.

A soft exhale of breath beside me drew my focus. I turned, and my own breath hitched in my throat.

It was Cassius.

He was sleeping, his face turned toward me. The tortured lines that had been etched around his eyes and mouth for as long as I’d known him had vanished, smoothed away by a profound peace. Color had returned to his cheeks, a healthy flush against skin no longer marred by the angry, orange veins of the curse. He was whole. The last thing I remembered was his gasp for air—a miracle—and then my world had dissolved into blackness. How did we get here?

A subtle thrumming in the air answered my unspoken question. It was a radiant mana, a brilliant white threaded with spun gold, seeping from him like light from a star. It was the same energy that had guided me, a lifeline in the darkness when my own strength had failed. The realization bloomed not as a thought, but as a feeling—a low hum that resonated from his core and settled deep within my own. His mana, freed from its prison, had reached for mine even in his unconsciousness. The two energies felt… attuned, like two notes destined to form a perfect chord.

I sat up slowly, the movement causing him to stir. He murmured something incoherent, a smile ghosting his lips before his eyes even opened.

“Thalia?” he whispered, his voice thick with sleep, and the sound of my name from his unburdened lips sent a shiver through me.

“I’m here,” I replied softly, my voice barely a whisper.

He pushed himself up, his eyes finally fluttering open. They were clear, lucid, and fixed on me with an intensity that made the air feel thin. “Aelindoria,” he said, his gaze sweeping the room before returning to my face. “I brought us here. You were… fading. I couldn’t leave you on that cold floor.”

“Thank you,” I breathed, my eyes drawn to his hands. He followed my gaze, flexing his fingers as if they were a new and marvelous invention. Smooth skin, free of any trace of the blight that had tormented him for centuries. “How does it feel? To have it back?”

A tremor went through him, an emotion too powerful to name. “It feels,” he started, his voice thick with unshed tears, “like I can finally breathe again. Like a part of my very soul, stolen from me for so long, has come home.” He looked at me then, his expression one of pure, unadulterated awe. “Thalia. You saved me. You carried hope for me when mine had long since turned to dust. I had accepted my fate… but you never did.”

He shook his head, a single tear tracing a path down his cheek. “I am whole. My people… they will have their king. Not the broken thing I was, but the king they deserve.” His gaze softened, a warmth in them I had never seen before. “What you did… the control you wield is astonishing. You are more powerful than you know.”

His praise sent a flush of heat creeping up my neck. He looked out the sunlit window, a quiet wonder on his face. “The world outside hasn’t changed. The darkness is still waiting.” He turned back to me, his expression transformed by a conviction that felt brighter than the morning sun. “But I have. And with you at my side… for the first time in centuries, I believe we have a chance. A real one.”

His words settled in my chest, a warmth that chased away the last of the chill from the ancient kingdom. Hope. It was a fragile, brilliant thing. And I knew, with a sudden, fierce clarity, that we had to protect it. My relief sharpened into resolve. I sat up straighter, my mind already piecing together the path ahead.

“We have to,” I said, my voice firm. “And to do that, we need your people. We need the coin holders.” My eyes locked with his. “The first priority is reuniting you with the elves. They need to see that you’re free. Amelia is our best chance of finding them.”

Cassius’s gaze was clear and focused. He gave a single, decisive nod. “I agree. Returning to Tirilla to regroup with Amelia is our surest path forward.”

“And I need to be seen in the castle,” I added, thinking aloud. “I’ve been gone too long. Questions will start to be asked, and we can’t afford any suspicions.” My thoughts turned to the fractured alliance. “Then there are the coin holders. We have to know if they’re making progress. If not, we’ll have to force the issue.” I had the seed of a plan, but it was fragile, needing Amelia’s knowledge to grow. “We can discuss that with her.”

“Alright,” Cassius agreed softly, his gaze once again drifting toward the window. He was quiet for a long moment.

“What is it?” I asked gently.

He turned from the window, and a genuine, unburdened smile lit up his entire face. “I was just thinking… this is real. The sun on my skin. The air in my lungs. It’s not tainted. And my mana…” A thrill entered his voice, his smile widening. “It’s growing stronger by the second. I can finally do more than just swing a sword. I could teach you. There’s a connection between our magic… a pull.”

My mind flashed back to the image of his still form on the cold stone. “It reached for me then, too,” I said quietly. “When you were… gone. It was pulling at me, helping me stand.”

A profound understanding dawned in his eyes. He looked from my face to our hands, still resting close on the silk sheets. “All those centuries, my magic was gone,” he said, his voice dropping to a near-whisper. “I never imagined it could feel like this. As if… as if it was simply waiting for yours.”

The words struck a chord deep inside me, blooming into a tidal wave of warmth that stole my breath and left me weightless. A soft smile touched my lips. Perhaps it was, I thought. The moment was perfect, a pocket of peace suspended in time, and I wished we could live in it forever.

But the world was waiting. With a reluctant sigh, I broke the spell. “We should get moving,” I said, the regret clear in my voice.

He nodded, his expression mirroring my own. Then, the solemnity vanished, replaced by a boyish, brilliant grin that was so infectious I couldn’t help but return it. “How about I handle the transportation this time?” he offered, his eyes bright with newfound excitement.

I laughed, a light, airy sound. “That sounds good to me.”

“Excellent.” He swung his legs off the bed, rising in one fluid motion. There was no deep concentration, no closing of his eyes. He simply raised his hand, and the air before us tore open. It wasn’t a violent rip, but a gentle hum that blossomed into a swirling vortex of liquid starlight, the same brilliant white and gold as his mana. It pulsed with a quiet, effortless power.

He turned and extended his hand to me, his smile confident and absolute. “Ready?”

I stood and took his hand, his warmth enveloping mine. I met his gaze and squeezed. “Ready.”