Seraphina tightened her grip on her sword, steadying her breath. Raziel's words unsettled her, but she refused to back down.
"If the truth is unkind, then let me face it."
A flicker of something crossed his silver eyes—approval, or perhaps amusement.
Then the air shifted.
Darkness rose around them, curling like living shadows. The trees blurred, the ground beneath her feet dissolving into something vast and endless.
She wasn't in the forest anymore.
Seraphina spun, blade drawn. An illusion? A test?
Raziel stood before her, unchanged, his presence anchoring the space. "If you want the truth, prove you can withstand it."
Her pulse quickened. "What do you want me to do?"
His voice was quiet but firm. "Survive."
The world exploded around her.
—❖—
She was no longer standing in the clearing.
Instead, she was on a battlefield, flames consuming the sky, the air thick with the scent of blood and steel.
This isn't real.
But her body reacted before her mind could reason. A sword swung toward her. She ducked, rolling across the scorched ground before striking upward, her blade meeting steel.
A soldier in dark armor snarled, pushing her back. A demon.
Seraphina gritted her teeth and kicked off the ground, twisting in midair before slashing through his defenses. Too slow.
Her blade sank deep.
The soldier fell, but more took his place.
Her instincts screamed. She had fought in many battles, but this one—this was different.
The markings on her arm burned. The memories clawed at her.
She wasn't just fighting. She had fought this war before.
And then—
A voice, breaking through the chaos.
"Elara!"
The name sent a shock through her.
She turned—and saw him.
Not the Raziel she had met in this life.
But the one from the past.
His armor was different, his face streaked with blood and exhaustion, but the silver eyes were the same.
And in that moment, the truth struck her like a blade through the heart.
This war had killed them both.
A brutal pain lanced through her chest. She staggered, clutching at her armor, her vision blurring—
And just like that, the battlefield vanished.
She was back in the clearing.
The night was still. Her body trembled, but the pain was gone.
Raziel stood before her, watching.
Seraphina exhaled shakily. "That was real."
A pause. Then, his quiet confirmation: "Yes."
She looked at him, heart pounding. "I was there."
His silver eyes held hers, and for the first time, there was no distance between them.
"You were mine."
—❖—