Page 10 of Favored By the Stars

Thorn scooped her up, and we sprinted through the twisting forest, the sounds of pursuit growing closer with each passing moment. Ahead, I could see a shimmer in the air and hope leapt in my chest.

"Almost there!" Kaelyn called out.

But as we neared the shimmering veil, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. My steps faltered, and I stumbled to my knees.

Thorn spun at the sound and the look of terror on his face mirrored what was coursing through my own veins. "Senara!" Thorn cried out, shifting Kaelyn to one arm and reaching for me with his free hand.

As his fingers touched my arm, an arc of energy crackled between us. We both cried out in pain, forced apart by some unseen power.

"What's happening?" I gasped, struggling to my feet, the pain in my chest intensifying. Thorn reached for me again, but an invisible barrier repelled his touch. Panic flashed in his eyes.

"The Grove," Kaelyn wheezed, her face ashen. "It's...rejecting you."

Thorn's eyes widened in disbelief. "That's impossible. Senara is the Moon Goddess's scion!"

But even as he spoke, I could feel an invisible force pushing against me, driving me back from the shimmering veil. The corruption behind us roared, the sound of snapping roots and splintering trees growing ever louder. The corruption was breaking free.

"Go!" I shouted at Thorn. "Get Kaelyn to safety. I'll find another way in."

"I'm not leaving you!" Thorn growled, his mark flaring brighter.

The shimmering air before us pulsed. "Don't condemn someone who was just trying to help us," I pleaded. Deep in my gut, I knew if Thorn and Kaelyn stayed with me it would be Kaelyn that suffered the consequences. Kaelyn wasn’t a fighter, and this was way over her head; I didn't want her to die trying to help.

Thorn hesitated, torn between duty and his bond to me. He opened his mouth to object again, but I cut in, pouring all my determination into my words as I met his gaze. "We'll find each other. We always do."

He hesitated for another split second, then, with a cry of frustration, he lunged forward and pressed a desperate kiss to my lips. "Find us," he whispered fiercely. "I don't care what the Grove says. You belong with us."

I gave him a tight nod before he turned and scooped Kaelyn up, carrying her through the shimmering air, his long legs putting distance between us faster than the two of them would have been able to separately. And just like that, they vanished from view. It wasn't a veil like the one that separated the human lands from the fae lands, but it was close and was probably what the fae mages had drawn their inspiration from.

The ground trembled. Trees splintered as the monstrous corruption burst into view, its many eyes fixed on me with predatory hunger. I scrambled backwards, desperately trying to summon my power, but the moonlight slipped through my grasp like water.

As the creature's tentacles lashed out, an icy voice whispered in my mind. "Now do you see, little moth? Your goddess has abandoned you."

I stumbled, my back hitting a gnarled tree trunk. The corruption loomed over me, its maw gaping wide. In that moment of terror, a flicker of doubt wormed its way into my heart.

What if the Empress was right? What if everything I believed was a lie?

As the corruption's tentacles wrapped around my legs, dragging me towards its waiting maw, I faced a horrifying choice. Trust in a goddess who seemed to have forsaken me...or embrace the power offered by the Void?

ChapterFive

Senara

The corruption's tentacles tightened around my legs, its putrid breath hot on my face as it pulled me closer. Panic clawed at my throat, threatening to overwhelm me. I thrashed wildly, my fingers scrabbling against tree bark and earth, desperately seeking anything to hold on to.

"Your goddess cannot save you now," the Empress's voice purred in my mind, barely audible over the pounding of my heart. "But I can. Embrace the void, little moth, and I will give you the power to survive."

For a beat, I wavered. The temptation of power, of an escape from this nightmare, was almost overwhelming. But then I thought of Thorn, of Kaelyn, of all we had sacrificed to get this far. I couldn't betray them now.

"Never," I snarled, both to the Empress and to the corruption, which was dragging me to my doom.

As if in response to my defiance, a spark ignited deep within me. Not the familiar caress of moonlight, but something wilder, more primal. It surged through my veins like liquid fire, filling me with a strength I had never known.

With a feral cry, I lashed out at the corruption. My hands, glowing with a strange silvery-gold light, sank into its flesh. The creature shrieked, its tentacles recoiling as if burned. I scrambled to my feet, my entire body humming with this new, untamed power. It was different from what had erupted from me before. The gold tint that I associated with Thorn's power was unmistakable around the edges of silver, but why was it there?

"Impossible," the Empress hissed in my mind, her voice tinged with both fury and fascination.

I had no time to ponder this unexpected development. The corruption was already regrouping, its many eyes fixed on me with murderous intent. I turned and tried to run, but there, just a few steps in front of me, was the mage in the silver mask.

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