POV: Ravenna
"This is a terrible idea," Morgana says for the FIFTH time as we prepare to leave.
"Noted." I check my supplies. Healing tools. Water. Emergency medical equipment. "Your objection has been registered. We're still going."
"Ravenna—"
"There are wounded soldiers at the forward healing station who need ME." I look at her. "Critical injuries that local healers can't handle. I'm not staying safe in the palace while people die because I'm too afraid to help."
"It's not about fear. It's about STRATEGY. You're a target. The Eclipse wants you dead. Traveling near battle lines is—"
"Necessary." I strap my bag closed. "Lyris and Marcus are coming. We have military escort. We'll be fine."
"Then I'm coming too." Morgana's voice leaves no room for argument. "If you're risking yourself, I'm risking WITH you."
"You're not a healer—"
"I'm a WARRIOR who refuses to let you do something stupid without backup." She's already arming herself. Sword. Knives. That stubborn set to her jaw that means arguing is pointless. "Deal with it."
I deal with it.
***
We leave at midday with twenty-soldier escort. Military precision. Weapons ready. Dragons circling overhead. The forward healing station is maybe four hours away. Close to battle lines but not IN them. Should be safe.
Should be.
We travel through forest roads. Quiet. Too quiet. Birds aren't singing. Small animals have fled. The kind of unnatural silence that means danger.
"Something's wrong," Marcus says. The shield-bearer has his gift active. Shimmering barrier ready. "I can feel it. We're being watched."
"Ambush positions?" Our escort captain asks.
"Can't tell. Just—WRONG."
We slow. Weapons drawn. Everyone scanning tree lines for threats.
Then the shadows move.
Not natural movement. Not wind or animals. The shadows themselves shift like living things. Reaching. Grasping. Becoming—
"ECLIPSE!" Someone shouts.
Figures emerge from darkness. Maybe eight of them. Dressed in black. Faces covered. Moving with professional precision. Not water kingdom soldiers. Not random bandits. ASSASSINS specifically targeting us.
Targeting ME.
"Shields!" Marcus roars. His barrier EXPLODES outward. Translucent wall protecting our group. Arrows bounce off. Magic deflects. "Stay inside the barrier!"
The assassins attack. Not water kingdom magic. Not even fire kingdom tactics. Something ELSE. Something trained specifically to kill gift-bearers.
Our soldiers fight back. Swords clashing. Fire magic against—gods, is that EARTH magic? One assassin creates stone spikes that nearly impale a soldier. Another moves water without being water kingdom. They're using MULTIPLE elements like they—
Like they STOLE gifts from people they killed.
"They're Eclipse hunters," Lyris gasps beside me. "Real hunters. Not just soldiers. These are the ones who—"
The shadows behind us COALESCE.
A figure steps out of pure darkness. Tall. Lean. Dressed entirely in black. Face masked except for eyes—cold, empty eyes that find ME immediately.
The Shadow. Eclipse's master assassin. The one who shot the arrow at me during the competition. The one who's hunted gift-bearers for DECADES.
"GET DOWN!" Marcus shouts. He redirects his shield but The Shadow MELTS through it. Literally becomes shadow and slips through barrier like smoke through fence.
He moves toward me. Impossibly fast. Silent. deadLY.
Morgana interposes. "NO!"
She blasts him with fire. Massive explosion of flame that should incinerate anything living. The Shadow becomes darkness again. Reforms three feet away. Unharmed.
"How do you FIGHT that?" I demand.
"light!" Lyris screams. "Pure light! Fire isn't enough—need sustained light!"
But we don't HAVE sustained light. We have fire magic and swords and shields that he can slip through like—
The Shadow reaches Marcus. Moves so fast I almost miss it. Shadow-blade appears from nowhere. STABS Marcus through his shield barrier. Straight through his gut.
Marcus screams. Falls. His shield flickers. Dies.
We're exposed.
"FORMATION!" The escort captain roars. Soldiers surround us. Creating human barrier between me and The Shadow. "PROTECT THE PRINCESS!"
The Shadow doesn't care. He moves through them like wind through grass. Soldiers try to block him. He becomes shadow. Reforms PAST them. Getting closer to me with every second.
I reach for my gift. Not healing—WATER. The element I inherited from Mother alongside fire. I pull moisture from air. From ground. From everywhere. Create barrier of ICE between me and The Shadow.
He pauses. Studies the ice wall. Those empty eyes assessing.
Then he SPEAKS. First time I've heard his voice. Low. Cold. Dead.
"The Eclipse sends its regards."
His shadow-blade extends. Longer than should be possible. Reaches THROUGH the ice toward my chest—
Morgana throws herself in front of me.
Her latent shield abilities EXPLODE. Not trained. Not controlled. Just pure protective instinct manifesting as translucent golden barrier that appears BETWEEN me and the shadow-blade.
The blade HITS the barrier. STOPS.
The Shadow recoils. Surprised. First genuine reaction I've seen from him.
Morgana's bleeding from nose. Ears. Her gift draining her hard. But the shield holds.
"GET RAVENNA OUT OF HERE!" She shouts to soldiers. "NOW!"
But I can't leave. Can't abandon wounded. Can't—
The Shadow attacks again. Faster. Harder. Hammering Morgana's shield with shadow-weapons that shouldn't exist. She screams. Holding the barrier through sheer stubbornness and absolute refusal to let me die.
Our soldiers rally. The escort captain blasts The Shadow with concentrated fire. Not trying to burn him—trying to create light. Bright enough to disrupt shadow manipulation.
It WORKS. Partially. The Shadow flinches. Retreats. His form flickering between solid and shadow.
"AGAIN!" The captain orders. "ALL FIRE MAGES! MAXIMUM LIGHT!"
Five soldiers blast fire simultaneously. The forest LIT UP like midday sun. Bright. Blinding. PAINFUL.
The Shadow can't maintain form. He dissolves into shadows. Retreats into tree line. Gone.
But not defeated. Just—gone. Waiting. Planning next attack.
The other Eclipse assassins retreat with him. Melting back into forest like they were never there.
Silence. Except for wounded crying. Dying.
Two soldiers are dead. Killed in seconds by Eclipse agents. Four more wounded. And Marcus—
I drop beside Marcus. He's bleeding out. Gut wound that should be fatal. IS fatal without immediate intervention.
"Hold on," I gasp. Place my hands on his wound. Pour healing into him. "HOLD ON."
"Too late," he whispers. Blood on his lips. "Blade was poisoned. Can feel it—"
"SHUT UP." I reach deeper. Feeling poison in his blood. Eclipse specialty—toxins designed to kill gift-bearers. "I can fix this. I can—"
I remember Orin's gift. The crystallized scale. I pull it from my bag with shaking hands. Press it against Marcus's chest while maintaining healing.
The scale glows. Magic floods through me. AMPLIFIES my gift. Turns desperate healing into something more.
I don't just heal the wound. I PURGE the poison. Force it out through his pores. Through his lungs. EVERYWHERE. Aggressive. Brutal. But effective.
Marcus gasps. Coughs. Lives.
"Holy—" He stares at me. "How did you—"
"Later." I'm already moving to next wounded soldier. "Everyone who's injured—GET HERE. NOW."
I heal four more soldiers. Burns. Cuts. Broken bones. Save everyone I can while Lyris helps with minor wounds.
But the two dead soldiers? Nothing I can do. They died instantly. No healing can reverse that.
Morgana collapses beside me. Exhausted. Bleeding from nose and ears from overusing her untrained gift.
"You idiot," I say while healing her. "You could have DIED shielding me like that."
"You're welcome," she gasps. Then grins weakly. "Did you see? I have shields. Actual SHIELDS. Like—like a real gift-bearer."
"You always had it. Just needed life-threatening danger to activate it." I wipe blood from her face. "Don't EVER do that again."
"Can't promise that." Her eyes are serious despite exhaustion. "You're my sister, Rav. I'll shield you as many times as needed."
Something in my chest cracks. "I love you too."
"Good. Because I'm never letting you go anywhere without me again." She tries to sit up. Fails. "After I rest for like—a week."
***
We retreat back to the palace. Forget the forward healing station. Forget helping other wounded. We barely SURVIVED and that was with military escort and multiple gift-bearers.
The Shadow is still out there. Eclipse is still hunting. And they're using the war chaos to attack me when I'm most vulnerable.
Father is furious when we return. "You could have DIED."
"But I didn't." I'm too tired to argue. Too exhausted to defend stupid decisions. "And we learned something important. Eclipse is still active. Still hunting. Still trying to kill me specifically."
"Which is why you stay in the PALACE where you're protected."
"Fine." I don't have energy to fight him. "Fine. I'll stay. But Father?"
"What?"
"The war is making us weak. Making us vulnerable to Eclipse attacks. We need to END this. Soon. Before Eclipse kills us all while we're distracted fighting each other."
He knows I'm right. I see it in his face.
But knowing and DOING are different things.
And Thalassa isn't listening to reason. So the war continues. And Eclipse keeps hunting. And I keep surviving. For now.