Aidan lay on the cold stone floor of his cell. His mind was a fog of despair and exhaustion. The memories of their failed ambush still haunted him. The shadows in his cell closed in, the silence suffocating

A faint sound like footsteps echoed down the corridor. Aidan tensed as he struggled to focus. The hatch at the base of his cell door creaked open, and a tray of food was pushed through. The dull light from the corridor seeped into his cell, casting hunted shadows across the walls.

Aidan dragged himself toward the food, his body moving purely on instinct. His hand mushed into whatever they had served. He devoured the meagre meal without thinking about what he was eating, licked the tray clean and drained the cup of water in desperate gulps.

The urge to vomit rose within him, but he fought it down, clutching his stomach as the pain twisted inside him.

He reached for his magic, but only pain answered. Frustration and fear clawed at his mind, and he let out a hoarse scream, the sound echoing in the empty cell. Time had lost all meaning as the grim reality sunk in.

Aidan screamed until nothing came out; he cried, begging for someone to come. After hours of despair, exhaustion finally overcame him, and he slipped into a restless sleep. His dreams came and went in a mix of darkness and fleeting images. Each one cursed him for failing. Each new image drove him deeper down, clawing at his very soul.

He was in the middle of another dream, an image of his brother telling him he was disappointed when the vision shattered. Aidan jerked awake to the sound of singing.

A soft, melodious voice filled the cell, wrapping around him like a warm embrace. Aidan blinked, his eyes struggling to adjust to the dim light. A woman sat beside him, her features obscured by shadows. She continued to sing like she hadn’t seen him wake. The haunting melody stirred something deep within him.

Aidan croaked, rubbing his eyes as he tried to make sense of her presence. “Who are you?”

The woman giggled, her laughter like the tinkling of bells. She reached out and touched his forehead, and Aidan felt a rush of energy coursing through him. The fatigue and despair that had weighed him down vanished, leaving him clear-headed and alert.

He sat up, blinking in disbelief. “Who are you?” he asked again, his voice stronger now.

The woman smiled mysteriously and waved her hand. “You already know who I am. The question you should be asking is why you are here?”

Aidan stared at the woman, trying to process who she was, his mind racing through possibilities but drawing a blank.

The woman sighed, sparking a small flame in her hand. “Come on, Aidan. Think.”

As the light the flame lit up the cell. Aidan could make out the woman’s features better. He crinkled his eyes before it hit him. “You are the girl from the river. The one who told me about a menu.”

“Yes. But you haven’t used the menu options at all. I went to a lot of trouble to give you access to that. Yet here you are. Prisoner of the same people who…” The woman went quiet for a second before continuing. “Never mind. Tell me. what happened to Tanithil?”

Aidan sighed before he ran his hand over his face. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but the Elder is dead. We were told that the Saint had killed her.”

“Hmm,” the woman replied, her tone thoughtful. The woman shook her head before casting the flame in her hand over their heads. “I don’t believe that they would kill each other, but there is a lot of pain there. I want to show you something.”

An image appeared before Aidan, hovering in the air like a shimmering mirage. Aidan’s eyes widened as he recognized the planet—Earth, yet not quite Earth. The continents were strange and unfamiliar, shifted from their rightful places.

“What is this?” Aidan murmured, transfixed by the image.

The woman giggled once more, and the image changed. It zoomed out, revealing Earth joined by an unknown planet and Mars, the three planets suspended in the vastness of space. Aidan shook his head, struggling to comprehend what he was seeing.

“What are you showing me? Just who are you?” he repeated, his voice tinged with awe at the display before him. It was similar to the high-end projections back on Earth he had used in meetings.

The woman merely pointed to the image, urging him to watch. A bright light appeared before the unknown planet, followed by another, and then a third. The indistinct and ethereal figures began to circle one another, their movements graceful yet charged with tension.

Aidan couldn’t take his eyes off the scene as the figures clashed, their forms a blur of motion as they fought in the void of space. The scene shifted to the unknown planet’s surface, revealing a brutal war raging below. Aidan watched in horror as the two sides battled fiercely, neither offering mercy nor quarter. One side began to falter, and the tide of war shifted ominously.

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The image returned to the cosmic battle, where one of the three figures seized another. The third figure, seizing the opportunity, struck with lethal precision. The wounded figure plummeted toward the planet below. Their descent was a blazing trail of light.

They struck the surface. The world erupted in a cataclysmic explosion. The shockwave rippled through space, leaving behind a ring of debris—the asteroid belt. Aidan’s heart pounded as he realized the truth of what he was seeing.

The two remaining figures turned toward Mars. One pointed, and the planet ignited in a searing red glow, a wave of fire consuming its surface. A moment later, Mars lay lifeless, its once-vibrant surface now barren and desolate.

“Is that how Mars became lifeless?” Aidan whispered, the enormity of the revelation crashing over him. “And the asteroid belt… it was a planet destroyed by these beings?”

He turned to the woman, his voice trembling. “Did Earth have magic once?”

Tears glistened in her eyes as she nodded, her gaze filled with sorrow. Then, with a soft blink, she vanished in a flash of light, leaving Aidan alone once more.

The visions lingered in his mind, swirling with questions and half-formed ideas. He struggled to understand what the woman had just shown him. He jumped from moment to moment as his mind started to put things together.

“She was there when the planets were destroyed,” Aidan muttered, replaying the scene in his mind. Was she one of the two? Or was she trying to stop the fighting? The questions spun in his head, each possibility more baffling than the last. Aidan shook his head, but a possible explanation finally clicked into place.

“Does this mean that she is a Goddess? Or at least was one at some point.” Muttered Aidan out loud. He lay down as the flame over his head spluttered out.

The silence pressed in once more, and Aidan’s eyelids grew heavy. Just as sleep threatened to claim him, the sound of footsteps echoed from beyond the cell door.

“Wake up.” A voice came from the other side of the cell door. “Get up now. Back away from the door. No funny business.”

Aidan groaned as he rolled over to the far side of the cell. He struggled to get his eyes to focus as the cell door was pulled open. A large shape appeared just as their smell caught up.

The guard stepped into the dim light, his frame hulking and coarse, with a stench of sweat and unwashed leather. “On your feet,” he barked, roughly grabbing Aidan by the arm and hauling him upright. The grip was bruising, leaving Aidan wincing as he was dragged from the cell and down the cold, narrow corridor.

They turned several corners before the guard shoved him through a doorway into a better-lit chamber. Aidan blinked against the sudden brightness, his vision adjusting slowly. The room was lavish compared to the cell he had just been in, with tapestries on the walls and plush chairs lining one side.

In the centre stood a man in elegant robes, every finger adorned with jewelled rings that caught the light and gleamed with unsettling brilliance.

The man examined Aidan with an air of practised indifference, his eyes cold and calculating. “This is the one?” he asked, his voice smooth and rich like oil. He lifted his chin slightly, signalling the guards to position Aidan in the centre of the room.

“Yes, sir,” one of the guards replied. “He’s been resisting the scrying.”

The well-dressed man’s eyes narrowed with interest. He stepped closer, circling Aidan like a predator appraising prey. “Resisting, you say? Or perhaps protected.” He reached out with one ring-covered hand, his fingers brushing the air around Aidan’s head as if feeling for something unseen. “Interesting…”

Aidan swallowed, unease prickling the back of his neck. “I’m not anyone important,” he blurted, trying to mask his growing fear. “I don’t even know who you think I—”

The man silenced him with a raised hand. “You’ll speak when spoken to, prisoner. Your protests are of little concern to me.” He turned to the side, motioning for an attendant to bring forward a scrying orb. The crystal gleamed as it was set before Aidan, and the robed man’s lips curled into a thin smile.

“Let’s see if your defences hold, shall we?” The man placed his hands over the orb and began to chant softly, the rings on his fingers glowing faintly. Tendrils of light extended from the orb, reaching toward Aidan like searching vines.

Aidan clenched his jaw, bracing for the intrusion, but nothing happened. The tendrils recoiled as if burned, and the orb’s glow dimmed to a sickly green. The man’s eyes narrowed in irritation as he tried again, pouring more power into the orb, but the result was the same—a feeble flicker followed by failure.

The robed man hissed in frustration. “Protected by powerful wards, yet no trace of alignment with the temple’s magic. Curious.” He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. “What are you hiding, I wonder?”

Aidan shook his head, desperation creeping into his voice. “I’m telling you, I’m not hiding anything! I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”

The man straightened his expression hardening. “Enough. It’s clear you’re either lying or unaware of your own significance. Either way, you’re a liability. We’ll sell you off before someone from the temple comes sniffing around and makes things complicated.”

He snapped his fingers, and the guards moved in, grabbing Aidan roughly by the arms. “Take him to the platform. Let’s see what price he fetches.”

Aidan struggled, but the guards’ grip was ironclad. “You’re making a mistake! The temple is the reason I am here. They... I... Stop…”

The robed man didn’t even glance back as he walked away. “It’s of no consequence. By the time they sort out who you really are, you’ll be far from here—sold to the highest bidder.”

The guards dragged Aidan from the room, his heart racing as he realized he was being taken to be sold like property. Panic surged in his chest, but he knew he had to stay calm, had to think of a way out. But options were running out fast; his magic was still locked away, and his strength was gone. And he still had to find where they had Kaelira.

They hauled him down another set of winding corridors until they reached a set of wide double doors. As the doors creaked open, the noise from the other side hit him—a crowd buzzing with anticipation. Beyond the doorway was a platform raised above a sea of faces, a grim marketplace where lives were bought and sold.

Aidan’s pulse quickened. This was his last chance. He couldn’t afford to be taken any further. He needed a plan, and he needed it now.