Eclipsed heart

rs in

e that Elias convinced himself it was no

g into the distance as if listening to something only he could hear. His moods became unpredictable-some days he would be himself,

first noticed

up from his bed, gasping for air. His body trembled viole

! What'

digging into his scalp as he let out

r wh

m, as if searching for something unseen. "Th

ened. "Wha

is breaths shallow. "They know me

ightly. "It's just a nightmare," he said firmly.

-something ancient, something not his own. But just as quickly as it

ttered. "Just

sn't co

ther wa

k of th

as saw the mark, h

ould have easily been dismissed as a shadow or a trick of the light. But as the days passed, it grew darker, ta

exactly w

he mark

ad b

His skin burned hot to the touch, yet his breaths came in ragged gasps, as if ice filled his lungs. He was

ho voiced what no on

s waking up

em, wanted to believe that this was just a sickne

p down,

ment Jalil had

vowed to make when

couldn'

t

ere was sti

otus

re was a legend-one that spoke of a being w

tus Go

Veilwood, a realm untouched by time. Those who sought her did so at grea

she knew the solu

r his fevered son, watching the mark of the devil deepen

ce that she held the key to stoppin

s son become the de

l be the one forced

ey to the

plan. Not Jalil. Not Sele

him. They would tell him it was foolish, that i

darkness, Elias took both Kael and

st-it was a place where reality itself was fragile, where time unravele

between sleep and wakefulness, his body convulsing wit

night, he spoke in a vo

top what has

th something primordial. It was not Dari

He pressed a hand against Darian's forehead, whispering an

muttered. "I will

s is real, isn't

t she is not like the gods. She does not

would sh

down at his u

deals in po

elf seemed to bend-where the sky cracked with light that was not sunli

uddenly, sh

tus Go

the trees. She did not

re them, as if she had always been

een moments in time. Her robes shimmered like liquid

ng that which cannot

elt imme

son," he said. "To stop

unreadable. "The soul of the devil has chos

me how to

g time. Then she reached out, he

y one path,"

eld his

e devil may be ex

iffened

is bound, but it is not yet fully fused. If the ves

pounded. "Sh

flickered

ed back. "Yo

ss said, "there is a chance that th

st and shallow. "You w

he goddess corr

ell over

till unconscious. His br

Kael's hands cu

l whispered,

losed h

s the o