Chapter 64

The moment I slipped into the dreamscape, the familiar scent of lilies and rain-soaked earth enveloped me, pulling me into a realm that pulsed with echoes of memories long past. Moonlight draped the scene in a silvery glow, casting shifting shadows across the garden that stretched out before me. This place—lush and timeless—was a fragment of Mara’s soul, one I’d seen before across countless lifetimes. But now, it carried the weight of something different, something more potent.

Mara lay beneath a towering willow, her white hair cascading like liquid moonlight over the grass. Her face, so often marred by the burdens of this life, was serene, though shadows of weariness clung to the edges of her expression. My chest tightened with a mixture of pride and yearning. This was the Mara who had faced unimaginable darkness and stood unyielding. This was the woman I had chosen, life after life.

I moved closer, my form shifting between corporeal and shadow, a reflection of what I was—neither entirely one nor the other. The soft rustle of the leaves whispered secrets, and for a heartbeat, I hesitated. Then, breaking the silence, I whispered, “You are magnificent.”

Her eyes fluttered open, their clear depths locking onto mine with shock that quickly shifted to recognition. She sat up slowly, the moonlight tracing the curve of her cheek as she took me in, disbelief painted across her features. “Draven?” she said, her voice a fragile thread that wavered between fear and hope.

“Yes, my Seeress,” I said, the words woven with reverence. “I’m here.”

Mara sat up, the moonlight tracing the curve of her cheek as she studied me. I could see the questions flickering behind her eyes, the confusion and familiarity warring for dominance. The silence stretched between us, heavy and fragile.

“I watched you during the first trial,” I said, breaking the silence. My voice was softer than I intended, laced with an emotion I couldn’t quite mask. “You were… extraordinary.”

A faint smile touched her lips, tentative and disbelieving. “Extraordinary,” she echoed, as if the word felt foreign on her tongue.

“Yes.” I took a step closer, the garden shifting subtly, shadows rippling at my feet like sentient beings eager for more. “The shadows have waited for someone worthy for decades. They have waited for you.”

Her brows knitted, the familiar defiance sparking in her eyes. “Why me? Why now?” The questions were sharp, edged with a fear I knew too well.

I let out a breath, my form flickering as memories surged within me. “I have known you, Mara, across lifetimes. But this life… this one is different. You will become more than just my vessel, my Liege of Shadows, if you let me.” The words trembled on the cusp of truth, more raw than I intended.

The impact of my confession rippled through her, eyes shining with the weight of it. The garden around us shuddered, responding to the surge of emotions—hers and mine.

“And what does that mean?” Her voice wavered, a thread of vulnerability weaving through her usual resilience.

“It means that, unlike the others who came before you, I will not absorb your soul at the end of your mortal life. I will not let you slip into the shadows of eternity. I refuse to lose you again,” I whispered, the truth seeping out like a wound torn open. “This time, you will live. This time, I will fight to keep you by my side.”

Her fingers flexed against the grass, a small motion that betrayed the storm inside her. “But at what cost, Draven? I’m so tired of fighting. Tired of feeling like every step is another toward something that will break me.”

A pang shot through me, a sensation I hadn’t felt since I witnessed the end of Mara’s last life—pain, deep and raw. I reached out, daring to touch the side of her face, my hand hovering a breath away. The shadows between us buzzed with anticipation, like they, too, were waiting for this connection. When she didn’t pull away, I closed the space, my thumb brushing over her cheek, a touch so light it felt like a promise.

“The trials are meant to untether you, not to break you,” I said, my voice deepening as the truth settled between us. “You are more than what binds you, more than the echoes of your blood. You are my Seeress, the one who has faced me across lifetimes and never flinched.”

Her eyes softened, the walls she wore like armor slipping for just a moment. “But why, Draven? Why me? Why this life?”

A bittersweet smile ghosted across my lips. “Because this is the life where you are not alone. This is the life where I could choose you, guide you, love you as I have for centuries but with the power to protect you from falling into that darkness. The life where Silas can stand by you, hold you when I cannot, and remind you that even in shadows, there is light.”

Her eyes shone with unshed tears, and I felt the ache of her heart in my own, shared through the invisible thread that tied us. “You’ve loved me… through lives I don’t even remember?” she whispered, voice breaking like a fragile thing.

“Every breath, every heartbeat,” I answered, my voice low and heavy with truth. “Every time you fell, I was there, even if you couldn’t see me. But this time, Mara… this time, I can reach you.”

A shudder passed through her as she took in the depth of my confession, the realization settling into her like the warm embrace of dawn. The shadows around us flickered, their excitement dimming to a steady glow, as if acknowledging the quiet power of this moment. She reached up, her fingers grazing the back of my hand still against her cheek, holding it there as if afraid it might slip away.

“No more secrets,” she said, echoing the promise she’d made to herself in the first trial, but this time, it was for me. For us.

“No more secrets,” I agreed, leaning forward until our foreheads touched, the space between us a heartbeat, a whisper.

The shadows murmured around us, a chorus of approval and anticipation. The trials were only beginning, but this… this was a victory, a moment where fear lost its hold, and for the first time in centuries, hope stood in its place.