Amolot never approached me again. I overheard father complain to another Valkyrie that the woman stopped sleeping in his chambers. His unhappiness pleased me immensely.

Not long after, I visited mother's chamber to collect my brother for playtime. We were in the middle of designing a fort, using books and furniture to model it in my bedroom. I opened the door and froze.

A man stood over my brother's bed. An Icarus with wings. He stared at me with tears in his brown eyes. "I have to," he whispered.

I don't know how I knew what he intended. But I knew he meant to kill Xelan. And I just... "No... no, please. Why?"

Where was mother?

"Night Prince, you need not worry. We only require one to challenge the monster. Let it be the babe. You can return to your mother's sole favor." He picked up my baby brother, slowly.

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Xelan babbled at him a bit, cursing him for disturbing a toddler's sleep.

I rushed to the stranger. "Take me. Please. Leave him unharmed."

The man held me aloft with a dagger in his hand. "The monster builds an arsenal in his children."

I staggered back, confused.

"By killing you both, we can end his tyranny and stop the annexation of our world." The man deftly took the blade to Xelan's throat.

What was it like for your first activation, Rayne? Korac reported you produced a blinding light and the salty smell of the beach. For me, it was shadow and brimstone. I absorbed the light in the space, casting it into darkness. You blinded at least four of my men, permanently.

I broke that Icarus' neck, retrieved Xelan, and returned him to his crib before the body hit the floor.

Mother and Karter burst into the room. Beyond them, the hall cast into pitch. Everywhere around me, outside and inside, went black.

Karter clasped a hand over her mouth at the sight of me. Mother rushed to the crib.

I waited for a target. Anything I might consider a threat. Frozen. It wasn't that I couldn't move. It was more like I didn't want to move unless it was to kill someone.

Umbra walked in. He took one look at me and grinned. "Finally."