Light detonated through the tower.

  Alya threw her arms up as the force slammed into her—

  wind shielding her just enough to keep her conscious.

  Stone screamed.

  The floor buckled.

  Fire bloomed in spirals of blue and gold.

  Ren flew backward into Cael.

  Eris shielded Lami with a spinning barrier.

  The masked man vanished into the smoke.

  Mila floated in the center of the corridor—

  hair spiraling around her,

  eyes burning white-gold,

  the Fifth Seal pulsing painfully inside her chest.

  Her voice twisted with two tones:

  "Mortal bodies weren't made to hold this...

  but I—

  I must—

  I HAVE TO STOP YOU—"

  Alya pushed herself upright.

  She tasted blood.

  She tasted grief.

  She tasted truth.

  "Mila... the Seal is killing you."

  Mila screamed—shards of light erupting from her fingers.

  "Then it will kill me doing what I was CHOSEN for!"

  Alya stepped forward.

  "I never wanted to hurt you—"

  Mila's eyes widened, her voice cracking:

  "I SAW YOU END THE WORLD!"

  Ren shouted from behind a cracked pillar:

  "STOP TRUSTING PROPHECIES! THEY'RE SUPER MISLEADING AND BADLY WRITTEN—"

  Eris hissed,

  "She can't hear you."

  Cael tightened his grip on his blade.

  "Alya. If she loses control—"

  Alya cut him off:

  "I'm not fighting her."

  Ren shrieked,

  "AYLA, WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT FIGHTING HER—"

  "I'm saving her."

  Mila raised her arms—

  and the Seal inside her chest flared with violent, unstable brilliance.

  The floor fissured under Ayla's feet.

  Fire.

  Wind.

  Earth.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Light.

  Shadow.

  All surging at once.

  Alya pushed through the pressure—

  each step feeling like walking into a storm that wanted her bones.

  "Mila... look at me."

  "I CAN'T! THE SEAL SAYS YOU'LL END EVERYTHING—"

  Alya's voice softened.

  "Then listen to me instead."

  Mila's breath hitched.

  "Why... why don't you deny it?"

  Alya stepped closer.

  "Because the future isn't written."

  Mila shook her head desperately.

  "It IS! I SAW IT—"

  "No," Ayla whispered.

  "You saw your fear."

  Mila faltered.

  Her glow flickered.

  A crack formed across the floor of the tower—

  straight under her feet.

  Cael muttered,

  "She's losing coherence."

  Ozone filled the air.

  Lami sobbed.

  "She's going to tear herself apart—"

  Alya raised both hands.

  "Mila... give me the Seal."

  Ren screeched,

  "AYLA—NO—THE SEAL JUST KILLED YOUR MOM—"

  Alya didn't look away.

  "Mila... let me take it. Let me carry the burden."

  Mila's eyes went wide.

  "No.

  No—

  I can't—

  if you have all five—

  you'll become the storm—

  you'll become the prophecy—

  you'll be everything I dreamed you'd be—"

  She clutched her head.

  "Everything I was afraid you'd be—"

  Alya whispered,

  "Then don't give it to me because of fear."

  She stepped forward again.

  "Give it to me because you trust me."

  Mila froze.

  Her power flickered.

  Her eyes filled with tears.

  And for one tiny moment—

  one fragile, impossible moment—

  Mila Whitlock actually hesitated.

  Ren whispered,

  "Come on...

  come on...

  please choose hope..."

  But the tower trembled.

  The light pulsed violently.

  And a voice cut through the smoke.

  "DON'T LISTEN TO HER."

  The masked man staggered back into view—

  bloodied, coughing, leaning heavily on the wall.

  But his eyes burned.

  "You think she'll save you?

  She'll destroy you.

  Her mother knew that.

  That's why she ran."

  Alya spun around, shaking.

  "That's why she PROTECTED me!"

  He laughed bitterly.

  "No.

  That's why she feared you."

  Ren threw a piece of rubble at him.

  "CAN YOU STOP TRAUMA-DUMPING ON THE MINOR FOR ONE SECOND—"

  Cael stepped between him and Ayla, blade raised.

  "Speak again and you'll lose your tongue."

  But the masked man didn't stop.

  "The Seal didn't reject Ayla."

  His voice was cold.

  "It couldn't handle her."

  Alya froze.

  "What...?"

  He pointed at Mila.

  "That's why it fled.

  It knew if she took it in her state—

  it wouldn't just unite."

  His eyes burned with something ancient.

  "It would awaken."

  Alya's stomach dropped.

  "Awaken what?"

  He smiled.

  "Everything the Order has feared for centuries."

  Eris hissed,

  "He's manipulating you—"

  Alya didn't hear her.

  Because deep in her bones—

  she felt the truth.

  The storm behind her ribs.

  The pressure in her limbs.

  The power she barely understood.

  Ren grabbed her shoulders, eyes wide and fierce.

  "Ayla. HE'S LYING. LOOK AT ME."

  Ayla looked at Ren.

  Ren's voice cracked:

  "You are not a prophecy.

  You are a person."

  Alya's chest tightened painfully.

  Mila saw that—

  and the fear in her eyes turned sharp.

  "She believes him," Mila whispered.

  Alya turned desperately to her.

  "No—I don't— I—"

  Mila lifted both glowing hands.

  "I HAVE TO FINISH THIS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE—"

  "MILA—STOP—"

  "NO!"

  Light erupted—

  aimed directly at Ayla.

  Ren screamed.

  Cael lunged.

  Eris summoned a shield.

  Lami cried out.

  But something else moved faster.

  Alya.

  She didn't summon wind.

  She didn't summon fire.

  She summoned five elements at once.

  A brief flicker.

  An instinctive spark.

  A moment of raw convergence.

  The blast bent around her—

  curving like re-shaped metal,

  splitting around her form,

  ripping into the walls instead of her chest.

  Mila's eyes widened in terror.

  "Ayla...

  Ayla, you—

  that shouldn't be possible—"

  Alya whispered,

  "I know."

  And Mila broke.

  She screamed,

  the Seal flaring violently—

  and the entire tower collapsed.

  Stone crumbled.

  Floors split.

  Light consumed everything.

  Alya reached for Mila's hand—

  but a wave of blinding energy tore them apart.

  And the world went white.

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