POV: Raevan
The battlefield rumbles like the earth itself is groaning under the weight of war. The dunes tremble with every clash, every roar, every blade slicing through skin or sand. But all of it fades to static behind the pounding of my heart—because Soraya is still limp in my arms.
Her blood paints my hands. Her breath is a ghost, fragile and fading.
“Stay with me…” I whisper, voice cracking. “Soraya, don’t you dare—don’t you dare leave me.”
A harsh shout cuts through the chaos.
“ASHRA—FORM UP!”
Kaide.
My head snaps up. Across the Moonsand ridge, Kaide and Tazir are pushing through a swarm of Saren wolves, their movements relentless, desperate. Kaide’s sword glints with blood; Tazir’s twin blades whirl like silver storms. They fight back to back, holding the collapsing Ashra line together through sheer rage and will.
Arrows rain. Wolves snarl. The ground shakes.
But they do not break.
Kaide blocks a blow meant for a young soldier, grabbing the boy by the collar and shoving him behind the shield wall. “HOLD THE LINE!” he bellows. “For Soraya! Hold—”
Soraya.
Her name sends a strange rip through the air. Wolves rally, screaming her name like a prayer.
But she…
She doesn’t stir.
I pull her closer.
Her body leans against me, boneless, too warm and too cold at the same time. Her blood soaks into my skin, my clothes, the sand beneath us—a spreading crimson halo.
“Wake up,” I whisper, brushing hair from her face with shaking fingers. “Please. You’re the strongest person I know. Don’t choose now to give up.”
She doesn’t move.
Her eyelids don’t even flutter.
I press my ear to her chest.
There—
a faint heartbeat. Weak. Stumbling.
But there.
The world blurs. For a moment, I can’t see—because tears burn behind my eyes, threatening to fall.
“Raevan!” Tazir shouts across the battlefield, blocking a blow with a cry of effort. “We’re losing ground! We need you—”
“I’m not leaving her,” I say through gritted teeth, pressing harder against the wound. “She’s still breathing—she’s still here—”
Magic pulses beneath her skin like a flickering candle.
I press harder.
My hands glow faintly, reacting to her power.
“Come on,” I whisper. “Start healing. You’ve done it before. You can do it now.”
But nothing happens.
No light. No shimmer. No spark of her Zehrael magic.
Only blood.
More blood.
Gods, why is there so much—
“SORAYA!” My voice cracks. “Don’t go. Don’t leave me—don’t leave Kaide. Don’t leave Vienne. Don’t…” My breath shudders. “…don’t leave us.”
Something in me fractures, memories flooding in all at once.
Her first arrival in Ashra—broken, trembling, glaring at me like she hated me. The way she shifted the first time—terrifying, magnificent, uniquely her. The nights we collided in forbidden hunger. Her laugh. Her fury. Her softness when she thought no one was watching. Baltimus dying in her arms—
And now she’s dying in mine.
My chest tightens. A roar tears from the front line. Kaide stumbles—an arrow grazes his shoulder. Tazir leaps in front of him, slicing down the attacker.
Still, they fight. Still, they shout her name.
“For Soraya!” Kaide screams, swinging his sword with ferocity. “For Zehrael! HOLD!”
But everything feels so far away—because she is slipping.
Her head tilts back. Her lips part in a shallow breath. Her skin pales into moonlight.
“No.” My voice breaks. “No, no, Soraya—stay here. Come back to me.”
I press again on the wound—harder than before.
Her body jerks slightly.
A tiny, involuntary gasp.
My heart stops.
“Good,” I whisper hoarsely. “Again. Breathe again.”
Another faint gasp. Weaker. Her mouth trembles. Her pulse flutters like a bird’s wing caught in a storm.
“Don’t stop,” I whisper, leaning down so my forehead presses against hers. “Follow my voice. Follow my heartbeat.”
The sand shakes behind me—Kaide slams another wolf into the ground.
“RAEVAN!” he screams. “We can’t hold forever!”
“Then die trying!” I shout back, not looking away from Soraya. “Because she’s the only thing that matters!”
He goes quiet then. Even from afar, I feel Kaide’s heartbreak.
He fights harder.
Tazir roars his name. Ashra wolves push forward, forming a shield wall around us, their bodies creating a protective circle. They bleed for us. They kill for us. They die for us.
Because of her. Because of Soraya. Because she changed everything for everyone. My hands glow faintly again. Her magic reacts.
“Soraya,” I whisper, voice trembling. “Listen to me. Remember everything we fought for. Remember the dunes. The oasis. The nights we—” My throat closes. “Remember you’re not alone. You never were.”
Her eyelashes twitch.
“Good,” I breathe. “Come back. Come back to me.”
The glow intensifies slowly, flickering like a star trying to ignite.
I press my palm over the wound, ignoring the burn of her magic reacting violently with mine.
“You’re Zehrael,” I whisper. “You’re power itself. You don’t die. You don’t bend. You don’t break.”
Kaide’s distant roar reaches me again.
“Tighten formation! Protect the Alpha!”
The sand trembles with the rhythm of battle. Wolves snarl. Blades clash. The world is chaos.
But I stay right here.
Holding her. Bleeding with her. Begging for her life.
“I never stopped wanting you.” The truth rips out of me like a confession dragged from the soul. “Not even for a moment. Not even when I hated you. Not even when you were gone.”
My voice drops to a whisper.
“Stay. Stay, Soraya. Please.”
Her fingers twitch.
Hope slams into me violently.
“Soraya?”
Her lips part—barely.
A breath escapes.
“…Rae…van…”
My entire body goes rigid.
“I’m here,” I choke. “I’m here.”
Her hand flutters against my chest. Not strong enough to grip, but enough to feel.
The glow beneath my hand spreads—silver flecks blooming across her skin like stars reawakening.
She’s healing. Slowly. Weakly. But healing.
I close my eyes, press my forehead to hers, and exhale a shuddering breath.
“Good,” I whisper. “Stay with me. I’ve got you.”
Behind us, Kaide screams for reinforcements. Tazir blocks another strike. The line holds—barely.
But Soraya breathes. She breathes.
And as long as she lives, I will burn the desert to ash to keep her safe.