IRYNA
I stared at him cautiously. Why did he want to touch my chest? To feel my heartbeat? To confirm it was failing? The thought almost made me laugh. I glanced at Ciara. She nodded at me slowly, encouraging.
I exhaled.
"Fine," I said quietly.
He stepped closer. Closer than I expected. Then he placed his hand flat against the center of my chest. The moment his palm made contact— My heart reacted. It began to beat rapidly. Not painfully. Not irregularly. Not like it did when my illness flared. This was different. It felt… alive. Like it was responding to him. Like it recognized him. My breath hitched. I couldn't control it. I couldn't slow it down.
My heart was racing as though it had found something it had been searching for. Then— I saw it. A wide, slow unsettling grin, appeared on his lips. Why was he smiling? As suddenly as it started, he removed his hand. My heartbeat returned to normal immediately.
Silence filled the library.
"I will take you to my realm," he said calmly. "There, the dark energy entwined with your life force will be separated from you."
I blinked. Dark energy? Realm? Again with the realm. I turned to Ciara.
She moved closer, gripping my arm. "It's worth trying," she whispered.
My throat felt dry. I nodded. The stranger walked toward a tall shelf at the far end of the library. We followed cautiously. He raised his hand and pressed it against the wood. For a second, nothing happened. Then the shelf began to tremble. The wood rippled like disturbed water. And suddenly— It dissolved. The books vanished into blackness, and in their place formed a swirling vortex — dark, endless, moving like liquid shadow. A portal.
I screamed and stumbled back, crashing into another shelf behind me. Pain shot through the back of my head.
"Careful!" Ciara grabbed me quickly, her hands trembling.
I could feel it — this was new for her too. Even with all her obsession with witches and supernatural things, this was real. Too real.
"Don't strain yourself, Ryna." she whispered urgently. "Your heart."
I swallowed and straightened myself. The portal continued spinning quietly, almost patiently. I stepped forward again, forcing myself to breathe slowly.
"What is that?" I asked, my voice shaking. "Where does it lead?"
"To my realm," he replied. "Where the ritual will be performed."
Ritual. That word did not make me feel better. I grabbed Ciara's hand tightly.
"How do we get back?" I asked.
"I will bring you back."
"And if you don't?" I demanded. "What if you kidnap us? What if you kill us and no one ever finds us?"
My panic rose.
"This is insane," I muttered, tugging Ciara backward. "We're leaving. I don't trust him."
We turned.
"Did you dream of a dragon, Iryna?"
My body froze. Slowly, I turned around. My heartbeat pounded again — this time from shock.
I looked at Ciara. "Did you tell him?"
Her eyes were wide. "No."
I faced him fully now.
"Yes," I said carefully. "I did."
His voice lowered slightly.
"A massive black dragon," he continued. "Ancient. Powerful. Its presence calmed the turbulence in your heart."
My breathing stopped.
"You felt recognition," he added. "Did you not? Like you belonged to the dragon."
My hands trembled. I had never described the dragon like that. Not to Ciara. Not to anyone. And it was true. My body felt like it belonged to it, and it was strange.
"How do you know that?" I whispered.
The swirling portal behind him reflected faint shadows across his cloak. He stepped closer.
"Because you have been to my realm before," he said.
My stomach dropped.
"In your dreams."
The library felt smaller. The air heavier.
"The dragon you saw," he continued softly, "was not a dream."
Silence. My heart began beating faster again — but not painfully. Expectantly.
"Who are you?" I asked.
He paused. Then slowly, deliberately, he reached up. And lowered his hood.
"I am the one that will lead you to him. To the one that will stop all of your troubles. You're already dying. What would I gain from killing you before then? Come with me, Iryna."
"Him?" I echoed. "Who is him?"
Ciara tugged at my sleeve gently. "Ryna… we've come this far."
My heart felt like it was caught between terror and something else I couldn't name. Curiosity. Desperation. Hope.
I swallowed.
"Fine," I whispered.
The stranger extended his hand. For a moment, I hesitated. Then Ciara placed her hand in his. I followed. The instant our skin connected, the air shifted violently. The library vanished in a blur of shadow and cold wind. My stomach twisted as the world around us folded inward. And then— Silence.
When my feet touched solid ground again, I stumbled. We were no longer in the library. We stood in the middle of a forest. But it wasn't like any forest I had ever seen. The trees were tall and twisted, their bark blackened like charred bone. Dark mist curled around their trunks. The sky above was not truly sky — it was a shifting ceiling of shadow and faint crimson light. The air felt heavy.
Dangerous.
Beast-like sounds echoed from somewhere deep within the woods. Ciara gripped my arm tightly. I could feel her shaking. The stranger walked ahead as if he belonged here.
"Follow me," he said calmly.
We did. Each step felt wrong. Like the ground was alive beneath us. After several minutes of walking uphill, the trees began to thin. We reached the edge of a cliff. Below us stretched a vast body of water. But it was not water. It was dark — thick — swirling slowly as if smoke and liquid had merged into one. Mist hovered above it like restless spirits.
"Where are we going from here?" I asked quickly.
He turned to face us.
"We are in the Realm of Darkness," he said. "There are several types of demons here. You are human. It will not take long before your presence is sensed."
Ciara gasped. "Demons? This realm… belongs to demons?"
"Yes."
My stomach dropped.
"My life is already falling apart," I said bitterly. "And you bring me to the creatures that could feed on me?"
A humorless chuckle escaped him.
"You are not here to be fed on," he replied. "You are under my protection."
I narrowed my eyes. "Are you a demon too?"
He did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned slightly toward the dark horizon.
"In this realm," he continued, "there are two primary categories. Arch Demons and Lesser Demons."
The wind howled around us.
"The Arch Demons are high-ranking entities. They have already sensed your arrival."
A cold shiver slid down my spine.
"The Lesser Demons," he continued, "are parasitic. They cling to weakened life forces."
He stepped closer to me.
"They are the ones feeding within your heart."
The world seemed to tilt.
"What?" I whispered.
Ciara looked horrified.
"Yes," he said evenly. "Your illness is not entirely natural. Your life force has been leaking into them."
My chest tightened.
"So what rank are you?" Ciara demanded. "You said this was your realm."
He looked at her.
"That is irrelevant."
"No," I cut in. "It's not."
He studied me for a long moment. Then—
"I am a Sovereign."
The word felt heavier than the air.
"Neither Arch nor Lesser," he continued. "Above most of them. Bound by ancient laws."
The dark water below churned slightly.
"It is forbidden to feed on a human without consent from higher demons," he added calmly. "What has been done to you violates that law."
I stared at him.
"You expect me to believe that demons have rules?"
"Yes."
His tone did not waver.
"Then why help me?" I asked. "Your kind is benefiting from my death. Wouldn't helping me be betrayal?"
He stepped closer. So close I could see the faint curve of his lips beneath the shadow of his hood.
"I gain nothing from your death," he said quietly.
Something about that answer unsettled me more than if he had lied.
"You can doubt me," he continued. "I can return you to your world now. You may continue counting your remaining days."
His voice softened slightly.
"Or you may trust me and discover that your existence is larger than you were told."
My fists clenched. Demons are evil. That's what I had always believed. Manipulators. Liars. Monsters. And yet— He had not harmed us. He had not forced us. He had warned us. As if sensing my hesitation, he stepped closer again.
"I will send you to him now," he said.
"To who?" I demanded.
His hand pressed against my chest once more.
"To the one who resides at the core of your life."
Before I could react— He pushed me. My body til
ted backward. The cliff vanished beneath my feet.
"Ryna!" Ciara screamed.
The world turned into wind and darkness as I fell. The black water rushed up toward me. I screamed—
And then—
Everything went silent.