(Amaia)

Collectively everyone nods at the Queen. The air tastes of magic, and the wind picks up.

Saiph’s body lay motionless at the centre of the star-marked ground—the constellation of Orion etched in silver and obsidian. His scythe rests across his sternum, the steel clear, almost shining.

I have begun to hate the damn thing.

I kneel beside him. My wings shoot out, waving slowly behind me.

I press my palm to Saiph’s cold cheek and whisper his name once, low and certain.

"You are not finished. You will return to me."

Around me, the circle of my mates, brother and the king and the queen remains firm.

Queen Adrnia stands tall, raising both her hands. She begins to hum, "By the root and the crown, by the blood I bore and the son I lost. Return to us. Open the celestial realms, the moon goddess, the stars...."

King Orion raises his hands and ice erupts not in shards but in a perfect dome, crystalline and seamless, sealing us all inside a frozen cathedral, a perfect shield.

Mintaka and Alnilam have inherited their powers from him.

His breath fogs, but his hands do not shake. "This circle is ours."

The Sundered Soul Orb hovers above Saiph’s chest, like a fractured pearl leaking shadow and starlight in equal measures.

Inside it, Saiph’s soul coils like a wounded serpent. Wrapped around it, is Rigel’s shadow magic: tendrils of living night that have kept the soul from scattering entirely.

Rigel stands opposite his mother, jaw tight, his shadows restless.

Alnilam, Alnitak, and Mintaka are on either side. Alnilam’s silver hair began to stir without wind. Alnitak’s eyes bled to molten gold, his Incubus form rippling beneath his skin. Mintaka cracks his neck, horns already budding from his head as he also lets his dark side take control.

"We’re with you, Amaia," Mintaka says. "Whatever it costs."

I nod and close my eyes and think of the Spring Vernal Equinox. I have to equate a balance. Like the equal night, equal day. The moment when the living world and the realm of what waits breathe the same air.

It’s a selfish desire to want him back but that’s all I desire for now.

"Help me whichever celestial beings there are." I have never been very religious but I am desperate. Whatever god or goddess is there. May they listen to me.

My hands are steady, and the light inside me slowly seeps out.

The ground trembles. The ice dome fogs from the inside. And from the edge of the constellation where light and dark kiss, between one heartbeat and the next, the ground tears slowly. Something emerges from the ground.

All the heads sharply turn, intrigued.

Hearts drumming in one rapid beat.

Lion’s head, serpent’s body, eagle’s wings. Agfamarian.

Did we really summon our mascot? His words echo in my mind again. He lived to his promise, he is here when all seems lost to me.

Everyone stills, turns to statues, frozen in time, except me. It prances forward, towards me.

So majestic, mane glistening under the dying sun. Wings spread, glowing golden-yellow. It seems to be smiling at me.

Its voice is heavy and yet warm: "You called for me. I told you I would answer. But balance demands its due."

Slowly, I rise to my feet. My wings flutter behind me. "Take what you need. Just give him back. Return him to me."

The Agfamarian nods in wisdom.

"It will hurt, physically, emotionally. Darkness will take you. Do you think you are capable of fighting it?"

I nod. "I can."

"I knew you were brave. You are the salvation for this world. I grant your wish."

He waves his right wing at me and reflex action hits me. My eyes close shut, although I stand my ground with my heart going berserk inside my chest.

My knees are shaking, yet I remain steadfast.

Then pain hits me in a wave and my eyes snap open, my mouth forms an ’O’ in a silent scream.

My wings tear from my shoulders in ribbons of gold light, dissolving into pollen and ash before they hit the ground.

My hair loses its gold in an instant, going black. Darkness floods my veins, my eyes, my lips, changing me forever, becoming something dark-bitten and sharp.

I fall to my knees, trying not to cry from the pain that seems to have lit every nerve in my body on fire.

"Watch!" Agfamarian instructs and I do.

Saiph’s chest rises once and I forget all the burning pain.

A single, ragged breath. Then another. The Soul Orb cracks clean in two—one half white light returning to Saiph’s body, the other half (Rigel’s shadow) snapping back to its owner. Rigel gasps, his own shadow solidifying beneath him into a pool of living night.

"His wolf?" I ask. "Will his wolf return?"

The Agfamarian is already fading, its work done. It turns toward me: "The wolf returns when the mate does not break. You did not break."

He throws one last look at my frozen mates, their eyes blinking showing they can see and sense him.

"A piece of you should be hers. Her darkness is yours too," he finally says.

Then it is gone.

I kneel near my mate, my black hair spilling over my face. Frantically, I feel Saiph’s chest, ensuring he is alive.

I can’t feel my shoulders where the wings had been—only a cold, hollow socket of loss is there now.

"Saiph?" I shake his body. Desperation clings to every cell in my body.

Alnilam moves first. He steps behind me, kneeling, and presses his hands to my shoulder blades. His silver hair lit up like a filament. "You gave yours. Take some of mine."

Rigel doesn’t hesitate. His shadows flow from him like water and mingle with Alnilam’s hair. The darkness wraps around my spine, forming, birthing.

Alnitak and Mintaka flank me. Their Incubus forms flared, not in seduction this time but sacrifice.

From Alnitak’s wings comes the curve of talon and membrane; from Mintaka, the tensile strength of dusk-woven leather. Together, the four brothers pour pieces of themselves into the void that has been left in me.

Dark wings unfold behind me. I turn my head to watch in silent horror.

Not beautiful in the way mine had been. These are fierce—shadow and silver, horn-edged and storm-lit. They pulse once, twice, and settle against me as if they have always belonged. Most importantly, they carry the essence of my mates.

A multitude of emotions hit me as I stared at all four of them. Behind, the king, the queen and my brother are wide-eyed at what they have just witnessed. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Nothing can explain what has just transpired.

I turn to Saiph. His eyes are still closed.

"Did it work?" Alnitak softly whispers.

Then a great, spectral shape of frost and starlight pours from his mouth like a second breath, circles the ice dome once, and dives back into his chest with a snarl that shakes the ground—making Saiph’s eyes snap open and stare directly at me.

The constellation of Orion beneath us shines once—every star-point alight—and then goes quiet, its work finished.

The hero has returned.

The wolf is home too.