Kael dropped to his knees.
"Bella?"
Her body lay motionless on the fractured black stone, her silver-lit skin now pale as frost. Her long hair fanned out around her like burnt silk, and her eyes—once burning with unearthly fire—had dimmed into a dull gray. Not violet. Not gold.
Just empty.
He pressed a hand to her cheek. It was cold.
Colder than death.
"No... No no no—" Kael's voice broke.
He lowered his ear to her chest.
No heartbeat.
Not even a whisper of breath.
But her body—something inside it still shimmered faintly, like the last flicker of a dying star refusing to go dark.
Behind him, Azarel stirred from the crater where her power had thrown him.
He dragged himself upright, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Well done," he croaked, laughing bitterly. "She spoke it. And now? She's gone. That's the price of truth."
Kael turned, teeth clenched.
"You did this to her."
Azarel's smirk twisted. "She did it to herself. I gave her power. She chose defiance."
Kael stood, shaking with fury, his hands curling into fists.
But before he could strike, a soft sound silenced them both.
Drip.
Kael froze.
It came from Bella's chest.
Drip.
Blood.
One drop at a time, falling from the center of her chest—not from a wound, but from a glowing mark.
A single symbol now burned into her skin, just over her heart:
𓂀
An ancient glyph. The Eye of Binding.
Azarel's face drained of color.
"No," he whispered. "She didn't just reclaim her name. She invoked the Eye."
Kael looked between them, confused. "What does it mean?"
Azarel backed away slowly.
"It means… she didn't come back as herself."
Bella's body jerked.
Her eyes snapped open.
Not gray anymore.
But white.
Completely, terrifyingly white.
She sat upright.
And spoke in a voice layered with thousands of others.
"Who has summoned the Eye?"
Kael stumbled backward. "Bella…?"
Azarel fell to one knee, trembling.
"I did not mean to call it. I—I swear it."
The voice from Bella laughed.
"Then you should not have broken the Circle. You should not have touched the Named."
Kael moved closer.
"Bella, if you're still in there—please, come back."
The white glow faded slightly. Just slightly.
Her lips trembled.
"…Kael?"
He rushed forward, cradling her against his chest.
"I've got you. I'm right here."
But then—
Her back arched violently.
Her hands dug into the ground, fingers splintering the stone.
The Eye on her chest glowed brighter.
And her voice, fractured and layered again, hissed:
"The Circle must be closed."
With a scream, Bella vanished in a beam of white flame—dragged into the sky like a soul torn from the world.
Kael reached up, screaming her name—
But it was already too late.
She was gone.
Bella's body is no longer hers. The ancient Eye of Binding has taken control—and demanded justice. Where has it taken her? And what will be left of Bella when she returns?