Chapter 247: Episode 247.

The warmth inside Aire’s chest returned stronger than before, wrapping itself around her frightened heart until, for the first time in months, she felt safe.

"Silver dove..."

Her breath caught. "Alaric..." She murmured inwardly, hoping it would also reach him just as he had reached her.

"If you can hear me," his voice whispered gently, "I need you to trust me."

She shut her eyes.

"I’m here." He murmured assurantly. His voice remained calm despite the distance between them.

"I need you to do something that won’t make sense."

Her face softened. She looked back at Vaelor, waiting for Alaric to speak while she prayed to every gods and goddesses that nothing obstructs whatever this could be.

"Give one of them a strand of your hair."

Her eyes widened immediately. "What?" She screamed inwardly. She had no idea how this was happening, but it wad happening.

"They must take it from you. They must take what you give to them willingly." He responded.

Her heart began pounding. "No..."

"It’ll work."

"They’ll use it against me." She gritted ger teeth, scared this would be her doom.

"I know."

She swallowed hard, her fingers trembling. "It sounds insane."

"It does." He whispered back, soothingly. "But trust me."

Silence settled between them.

Aire looked at Vaelor, then at Morrigan. Every instinct screamed at her not to do it. But beneath the fear, the warmth remained.

Steady, and comforting.

Alaric had never made her feel unsafe.

Vaelor walked towards the shelf of books with the strange one in his grip.

She drew in a slow, shaking breath.

Then, before she could change her mind, she reached up, wrapped trembling fingers around a single strand of her silver hair, and pulled.

Moreigan stared at her like she had lost her mind. Meanwhile, she straightened with greed and readiness.

"What_"

"Take." Aire cut her off. "Take my hair, and let me be."

Morrigan didn’t move at first.

She stared at the silver strand lying across Aire’s trembling fingers as though it were a trap.

"What game are you playing?" she asked suspiciously.

"No game." Aire forced herself to hold her hand steady. "You wanted something from me. Take it."

For one brief moment, Morrigan hesitated, then greed won.

Her hand shot forward.

She snatched the strand from Aire’s fingers so quickly that it almost tore free from her grasp.

The strand of silver hair left Aire’s trembling fingers.

For one impossible heartbeat, nothing happened.

Morrigan smiled.

She gripped the strand greedily before it could drift toward the floor.

Vaelor turned to stop whatever just happened. The instant Morrigan’s skin closed around the strand fully, the entire chamber lurched violently.

The marble beneath their feet groaned.

A deep sound rose from somewhere far below the palace, ancient enough to feel older than the Dark Fae Realm itself.

Then, the walls cracked from power.

Purple veins of light exploded through the black stone, racing across every pillar and ceiling like lightning trapped beneath glass.

The chandeliers overhead burst into thousands of glittering fragments.

A deafening boom shook the room, and they both staggered, except Aire. She stood frozen in the centre of the chamber.

Her silver hair lifted slowly from her shoulders. There was no wind moving them. Rather, it was the force in her that had awakened.

Vaelor’s expression changed.

For the first time since Aire had met him, he looked afraid. His calm disappeared so completely it was almost unbelievable.

"No." His voice came out low. He took one quick step toward Morrigan. "DROP IT." He commanded.

Morrigan frowned. "What—"

"DROP THE HAIR!"

However, greed was always faster than wisdom. She tightened her fingers instead.

"I can feel it..." Her purple eyes widened. "I can actually feel—"

The strand dissolved. Not into dust, but into silver light. It shot straight through Morrigan’s hand.

She screamed, and the sound ripped through the chamber.

Power exploded out of her body like a tidal wave. Every window shattered, and books flew from shelves.

The enormous doors slammed open so hard they broke against the walls.

Outside, the estate, bells rang wildly without anyone touching them.

Dark Fae soldiers stumbled across the courtyards as the entire palace began to tremble.

Inside, Aire gasped.

Something impossible rushed into her. It felt overwhelming at first, like rivers... No, oceans.

It felt like an entire oceans pouring through veins that had never been meant to hold them.

She couldn’t breathe, think, or move.

She felt so much power. It rushed beneath her skin until every nerve screamed. Silver light escaped through her fingertips.

Her pupils expanded, then contracted. Then it became entirely silver.

.......

Far away...

In the Wolf Realm...

Every witch surrounding the basin gasped, and the water erupted upward.

"She’s done it!" One witch cried. "She gave the hair!"

The basin began glowing so brightly no one could look directly into it.

Alaric’s heart almost stopped. "Aire..."

....

Back inside the Dark Palace...

Aire heard him.

Not faintly this time, but clearly. Like he stood beside her.

She shut her eyes, trying to take control of her body for a minute.

"Alaric..." She called him desperately.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. His warmth wrapped around her chest again. She didn’t feel alone, and more tears left her eyes when she realised she did not imagine it.

She nodded before she even realised she had moved.

"Don’t fight it." Alaric spoke to her again.

The power surged harder the moment he spoke. The furniture exploded apart, and stone cracked beneath her feet.

The floor split open, and dark energy collided against silver magic until the air itself screamed.

Vaelor’s voice thundered across the chaos.

"MORRIGAN, GET AWAY FROM HER!"

The pressure forced every Dark Fae onto one knee. Even Morrigan, and everyone outside.

She stared at Aire with horror. "What... are you?"

Aire didn’t know. She would never answer that. She only knew one thing. She wanted home.

That single thought echoed through every part of her.

The silver light around her answered, and symbols appeared beneath her bare feet. Hundreds of them. They were all living, and spinning faster and faster.

The chamber shook harder.

Pieces of ceiling crashed around them.

Vaelor stared at the symbols. Recognition flashed across his face. His blood went cold.

"I need to contain her..." His voice barely came out. "EVERYONE AROUND, COME IN NOW!" He barked out.

He lunged toward Aire. "STOP HER!"

However, nothing in the room could reach her anymore. The magic had already been chosen.

Aire lifted one shaking hand.

She wasn’t trying to cast anything. She simply reached, toward the feeling. Toward Alaric, and toward the warmth inside her heart.

"I want..." Her voice cracked. "I want to go home."

The symbols exploded.

A pillar of silver light shot through the roof of the palace. The sky above the Dark Realm split apart, and the clouds rolled backwards.

The ground shook for miles.

Outside, every Dark Fae on one knee looked upward. A silver hole had opened in reality. It looked beautiful yet impossibly terrifying.

Inside the chamber, the light folded, bent and twisted until space itself ripped open.

A doorway appeared. A swirling silver light doorway. It was a portal.

Vaelor’s eyes widened. "No..." His voice finally broke. He lost all composure. "Close it!" He yelled, murmuring every spell he knew, and trying to get to her.

However, nothing was working, and he remained trapped where he stood. He couldn’t even move his finger an inch.

Aire looked at the portal. She could feel Alaric. She could feel him waiting. She could also feel Nate, as the mark in her thigh burned softly.

She smiled through tears. She felt Xander too.

"You found me..." Without thinking, or hesitating, she ran.

Vaelor shouted something behind her.

Morrigan screamed. The chamber also collapsed but none of it mattered.

Aire threw herself forward. She threw herself head first straight through the silver portal, and disappeared.