The Nine-Winged Outcast is an epic short drama filled with fantasy adventure, phoenix rebirth, hidden power, family betrayal, and legendary destiny. Cast aside as weak and unwanted, Elowen discovers an ancient force that transforms her into a warrior destined to shake the world.
Watch the Full Episode and experience an unforgettable drama series packed with magical battles, mythical creatures, powerful awakenings, and breathtaking twists from beginning to end.
#ShortDrama #FullEpisode #Fantasy #Phoenix #Magic #FantasyAdventure #DramaSeries #EpicFantasy #ShortFilm #ShortMovie #ENGSUB
Watch the Full Episode and experience an unforgettable drama series packed with magical battles, mythical creatures, powerful awakenings, and breathtaking twists from beginning to end.
#ShortDrama #FullEpisode #Fantasy #Phoenix #Magic #FantasyAdventure #DramaSeries #EpicFantasy #ShortFilm #ShortMovie #ENGSUB
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Short filmTranscript
00:00My mother never called me daughter. She called me mistake. A cursed family stain. They whipped me, abused me, and
00:07finally cast me aside. Only Nanny Gilly never gave up on me. Under her devoted care, I finally awakened. When
00:14they found out, they wanted my magic even threatened Nanny Gilly's life. Cornered and with no way out, I returned
00:20this life, and fell into the abyss.
00:23I didn't die. I ignited. And now, it's time to pay the blood debt.
00:31I was born with a cracked core. A glitch in the divine bloodline of House Phoenix. My mother called me
00:36a waste of skin. A goddamn disappointment who dragged the family name through the dirt.
00:41Years later, I became the deadliest soldier House Phoenix had ever seen. And then, the woman who tossed me out
00:46like a dead rat came crawling back.
00:48I gave you life, Elevin. You owe me gratitude. Your sister is hurt. Need you to cut out half your
00:54spark and give it to her. She needs it more.
00:57The accident happened before I even took my first breath. My father, Lord Alaric, had made the mistake of looking
01:03at a hand made a second too long.
01:05My mother, in a fit of jealous rage, snatched my unhatched egg from its gilded nest and used it as
01:11a bludgeon.
01:11She bashed the girl's brains out with my shell. I forced my way into the world early. Shivering. Bald. My
01:17spark was fractured before it could even ignite.
01:19I was a nysaur. A plucked chicken in a nest of eagles. Because of my broken core, I couldn't reach
01:24my awakening even at ten.
01:26In our world, if you can't shift, you're nothing. My mother couldn't stand the sight of me. She pinned me
01:32against the cold stone walls. Her fists doing the talking.
01:35What kind of curse did I bring upon myself to birth a pathetic freak like you? Do you have any
01:40idea how much of a joke I am at the high table?
01:42Why won't you just die? You're so useless, yet you cling to life like a goddamn parasite. If you don't
01:48die soon, you'll be the death of me.
01:50I'd just stare at her with hollow eyes. That only made her angrier.
01:56One night, she drew a silver blade. She was done. My father caught her wrist. He didn't look at me.
02:02She's a waste, Serafina. But killing your own blood, the high lords would have our heads. The scandal would ruin
02:09us.
02:09My mother dropped the sword and collapsed into his arms.
02:12I can't do this anymore. I want her gone. She makes me sick.
02:16Alaric whispered, stroking her hair.
02:18I sent her to the fringes. Out of sight, out of mind.
02:21My mother tossed a purse of 3,000 gold marks at her feet.
02:25Take the runt. Feed her, drown her. I don't care. Just make sure I never see that face again.
02:31Gilly looked at my broken, battered body. She didn't say a word. She just sighed and took my hand.
02:36I followed her, my legs heavy, my mind a blur. At the iron gates of the palace, I looked back.
02:42The doors slammed shut.
02:43Gilly? Is mother, is she mad at me?
02:47Gilly turned away. Her shoulders shook. And she made a sound like a wounded animal.
02:52When she looked back, she forced a smile.
02:55We're gonna learn how to survive, little bird. Once you're strong, the world won't be able to ignore you anymore.
03:01We were both fools. We thought power could heal everything. We were wrong.
03:05We moved to the Grey Ridges. A place for those the world forgot.
03:09Soon after, my parents had another daughter.
03:11Cassandra. Perfect. Radiant. The rumors reached even our shack.
03:15Per they called her the son of House Phoenix.
03:18She had shifted at birth a goddamn miracle.
03:20They said Alaric built her a palace of solid gold for her first birthday.
03:24They spent a fortune to send her to the Great Citadel for training.
03:27She was going to be a goddess.
03:29Unlike me, people whispered I wasn't even a phoenix.
03:33A mistake. A half-breed.
03:37One day, the local kids cornered me.
03:40Where are your flames, freak?
03:42Then came the stones.
03:44One hit my temple. Warm blood ran down my neck.
03:47I didn't move. I just watched them.
03:50Gilly came charging out.
03:51Swinging a heavy iron ladle.
03:53Screaming like a banshee until they scattered.
03:56She held me, her heart thumping against my ear.
03:59Elle, look at me. You are a phoenix.
04:01Do you hear me?
04:02You're going to be the strongest of them all.
04:05But one of those boys was the son of the High Warden.
04:07We were hunted out of the ridges by sunrise.
04:10Gilly spent every gold mark she had left to get me to Stormhaven Sanctuary.
04:14A school for the unwanted, the broken, and the desperate.
04:18Even they didn't want me.
04:20Her core is a dead rock.
04:22A waste of space.
04:24Gilly did something that made my stomach turn.
04:26She knelt.
04:27She reached into her cloak and pulled out her elder feathers,
04:29the source of her own remaining life force,
04:31and laid them on the table.
04:33I was in.
04:33An outcast initiate.
04:35But I was more than broken.
04:36My mind was a fog.
04:37I couldn't learn the spells.
04:38My body wouldn't listen.
04:40Give up.
04:40You're trying to light a fire with a wet log.
04:43Gilly didn't listen.
04:45Every night, she'd sit behind me, her skin grey and papery.
04:48She'd press her palms to my spine,
04:50shivering as she forced her own thinning mana into my body.
04:53She disappeared for days into the Forbidden Peaks,
04:55looking for herbs that didn't exist in Legends.
04:57She fought off starving beasts with nothing but her bare hands and a jagged stone.
05:02Every time she came back, she was bleeding.
05:05Thinner.
05:05Shaking.
05:06I lived for her.
05:07I bled for her.
05:08And I hated them for her.
05:12I was terrified of losing Gilly.
05:14I clung to her tattered cloak, begging her to stop.
05:17I told her I was fine being a freak.
05:19I'd be a useless brat for the rest of my life if it meant she stayed safe.
05:23For the first time, Gilly snapped.
05:27Don't you ever fucking say that again!
05:30Stop acting like a damn coward!
05:32The more they look down on you, the harder you fight.
05:37You stand up, Elle.
05:40You win.
05:42And then you slap the hell out of every person who ever called you a mistake.
05:47When my mother beat me, I felt nothing.
05:49But Gilly's words, they made my throat go thick.
05:52My vision blurred.
05:54One hot tear escaped, then another.
05:56Gilly's expression softened.
05:58She wiped my face with a thumb that felt like sandpaper.
06:00I can't stay forever, little bird.
06:02This world is a meat grinder.
06:06You have to learn how to keep your own head above water.
06:09Why not?
06:10Why can't you stay?
06:11She didn't answer.
06:13She just sighed and forced a vial of bitter, glowing liquid down my throat.
06:17I stopped arguing.
06:19I started working.
06:21Sunrise to sunset.
06:22Moonrise to dawn.
06:23I pushed my fractured core until my veins felt like they were filled with molten lead.
06:28Seasons bled into years.
06:29Finally, it happened.
06:31The awakening.
06:32I was still scrawny.
06:33Still plain.
06:34But I was an initiate of Stormhaven.
06:36I had a foundation.
06:39Gilly beamed.
06:40Look at you.
06:42A real phoenix.
06:44Beautiful.
06:47She kept going back to the Forbidden Peaks.
06:50Every time, she returned with more blood on her clothes and less light in her eyes.
06:55It's too dangerous, Gilly.
06:57Stop.
06:58Dangerous?
06:59I'm just bored of this dusty school.
07:02I go out for the fresh air.
07:04The herbs?
07:05Just a bonus.
07:06And the bruises?
07:10I like sticking my nose where it doesn't belong.
07:13Helping the weak.
07:15It's a hobby.
07:16She never complained.
07:17Instead, she told me stories of the Great Divide.
07:20A world where miracles were common.
07:22Where a beggar could become a king.
07:24And a god could fall into the mud.
07:27If I get strong enough, do you think my parents would love me then?
07:35Like they love her.
07:36I couldn't remember their faces anymore.
07:38It had been 200 years since the Iron Gate slammed shut.
07:40But I saw the other students talk about their families.
07:43Gentle mothers.
07:45Stern fathers who hugged them when they won a duel.
07:47Of course they will, Elle.
07:49Who wouldn't love a girl as brave as you?
07:51That night, Gilly borrowed a scrying mirror from the Headmaster.
07:55I watched through a crack in the door.
07:58The glass shimmered, revealing a room of gold and silk.
08:01A woman lady Serafina was brushing the hair of a girl who looked like a polished version of me.
08:06Serafina looked.
08:07Soft.
08:08Tender.
08:08A mother I'd never known.
08:10Gilly spoke.
08:11Her voice trembling.
08:12She mentioned my name.
08:14She asked about a return to the High Court.
08:16Serafina's face turned to stone.
08:18The tenderness vanished.
08:20I told you before.
08:22I won't see that freak.
08:25But she's powerful now, m'lady.
08:27I don't give a damn if she's the Queen of Hell.
08:30She's...
08:30Don't bother me with this again.
08:32I decided long ago that I have no such daughter.
08:36She swiped her hand.
08:37The image shattered into darkness.
08:40Gilly sat there in the silence.
08:41Her eyes red and swimming with tears.
08:46I became a ghost in the training halls.
08:48Once I awakened, something inside me snapped open.
08:52The broken thing inside me finally started working.
08:55From initiate to adept a hundred years.
08:58From adept to master twenty.
09:00Thirty years after that.
09:01I hit the zenith grave.
09:03I was a half step away from ascension.
09:05The headmaster, the man who called me dead weight, couldn't even look me in the eye anymore.
09:10He just stood there, mouth agape, watching me spar, my peers.
09:14Some quit because the grind was too much.
09:17Others died of old age, their mortal shells giving out before their spirits could rise.
09:21I became the first disciple.
09:23The strongest weapon Stormhaven ever produced.
09:27Then came the grand games.
09:29The continental tournament.
09:30The headmaster took me and the junior initiates to the capital.
09:34It was my first time leaving the sanctuary.
09:36My first time back in their world.
09:39I saw Cassandra there.
09:40She was a student at the Citadel of Solstice.
09:43The elite of the elite.
09:44She was the silver medalist of the new generation.
09:47The second strongest youth in the world.
09:52The top spot belonged to Silas, the crown prince of the zenith.
09:56I saw Cassandra in the center of a roaring crowd.
09:59She was laughing, glowing, a star surrounded by a hundred adoring moons.
10:04A younger disciple from Stormhaven nudged me, looking between us.
10:09Master L, that girl from the Citadel.
10:11She looks just like you.
10:12Is she your sister or something?
10:15I rarely looked in mirrors.
10:17I had no idea what my face looked like these days.
10:20Before I could answer, a sneering voice cut through the air.
10:24A street nerd doesn't get to compare herself to a phoenix.
10:27They look nothing alike.
10:29Who's a mutt?
10:30Our master L is a phoenix too!
10:33The shouting match caught the attention of the crowd.
10:36Cassandra turned.
10:37Her eyes landed on me.
10:38Surprise.
10:39Then confusion.
10:40Then a flicker of staged hurt.
10:42She started looking for someone in the throng.
10:45A chill swept down my spine.
10:47A glare like a frozen blade.
10:49I turned.
10:49I saw her.
10:51A face I'd seen in nightmares and scrying mirrors.
10:54Lady Serafina.
11:02Mother, I thought you weren't coming.
11:05Serafina stroked her hair with a tenderness that made my stomach turn.
11:08I would never miss this, my love.
11:11I'm here to watch my little princess become the finest mage in the realm.
11:16Mother, do you know her?
11:18She looks so much like me.
11:23Never compare yourself to trash like that.
11:26You are the high princess of house phoenix.
11:29Lady Serafina, this peasant was just claiming to be a princess.
11:33Serafina's eyes were sharper than daggers.
11:35She let out a cold, sharp laugh.
11:38Any stray can bark about being a princess.
11:41House phoenix has only one, my daughter, Cassandra.
11:45She took Cassandra's hand and walked toward the VIP dais without looking back.
11:49I stood there, drowned in a sea of laughter.
11:51Pathetic.
11:52A mutt trying to play phoenix.
11:53Trying to claim kin with Lady Cassandra?
11:55Bold move.
11:56Shameful but bold.
11:57I looked at my disciples.
11:59They looked crushed.
12:00Stop it.
12:00Don't fight them.
12:01I'm not a princess.
12:02Hell no!
12:03We've seen her true form!
12:04She's a nine-winged golden Seraf!
12:06Pro tip for the idiots.
12:08Only the royal bloodline can spawn a nine-wing.
12:10Cassandra is the only princess.
12:11Who the hell is this Elowon?
12:12The shouting turned into shoving.
12:15Shoving turned into a fist in a nose.
12:16Finally, a high overseer stepped in.
12:21Stormhoff.
12:21Typical.
12:22Guards, throw these troublemakers out.
12:26What about them?
12:28The overseer's eyes narrowed.
12:30A crushing weight settled on my shoulders.
12:33Gravity doubled.
12:34Cold sweat beaded on my forehead.
12:36It was hard to breathe, let alone speak.
12:38I forced my spine straight.
12:40Bullshit!
12:41This is bullshit!
12:43It wasn't one-sided.
12:44You're being biased, and you know it!
12:46Fine!
12:47Everyone involved is disqualified!
12:50That's when Cassandra stepped in.
12:52Looking like a goddamn saint.
12:54She bowed.
12:55Modest.
12:56Humble.
12:56Perfect.
12:57Lord Varric, please.
12:59This was all because of me.
13:01Don't punish my classmates.
13:02They were just defending my honor.
13:06Lord Varric, please.
13:09This was all my fault.
13:11Don't punish my brothers.
13:13They were only defending my honor.
13:15This tournament only happens once a century.
13:18To miss it over a misunderstanding, it would destroy their futures.
13:22She knelt.
13:23Modest.
13:24Pathetic.
13:25A goddamn saint.
13:26The Citadel students looked at her with wet eyes.
13:29Fists clenched.
13:30They looked like they wanted to tear our throats out for even existing.
13:33But her mercy didn't extend to us.
13:36Not a word for Stormhaven.
13:38Fine.
13:39Stormhaver is out.
13:43Guards!
13:45Escort them to the gates.
13:47Hold it!
13:49Right there!
13:49Check the Eftari.
13:51Rewind the records.
13:52Let everyone see who threw the first punch.
13:55If you kick us out without the truth, I'll take this to the High Council myself.
13:59I'll scream bias until every house in this realm hears it.
14:03The crowd went silent.
14:04To challenge an overseer was social suicide.
14:07But Stormhaven's reputation was on the line.
14:10My kids' futures were on the line.
14:12I wasn't budging.
14:15You dare.
14:18You're a fraud, Elowen.
14:21Pretending to be a phoenix, causing riots, and now you want to lecture us on justice.
14:25I should have ended you years ago.
14:27She flicked her wrist.
14:29A wave of white-hot phoenix fire roared toward me.
14:32I felt the heat before I saw the flames.
14:35My new robes singed, the smell of burnt fabric filling my nose.
14:39The fire stopped half an inch from my throat.
14:45Master, let's go.
14:46Are you trying to bully me into silence, m'lady?
14:49Or are you just afraid of what the records show?
14:52Stormhaven is a joke.
14:53A sanctuary for runts and failures.
14:56You don't belong on this stage.
14:58Then let's make it interesting.
15:00A bet.
15:01If I win the tournament and beat your golden girl,
15:04you apologize.
15:05In public.
15:06To all of us.
15:08Laughter erupted from the Citadel benches.
15:11You?
15:13Beat Cassandra?
15:14You won't even survive the first round.
15:16Then you have nothing to lose.
15:17Unless you're scared the mutt actually has teeth.
15:22Fine!
15:25And when you lose...
15:26I looked at her, the woman who had broken me before I was born.
15:29I'll return everything.
15:31I'll cut the very flesh you gave me from my bones.
15:34I'll bleed out every drop of your house's blood
15:36until there's nothing left.
15:38You can have the corpse.
15:40The air went cold.
15:42The laughter stopped.
15:43Even Seraphina's face went pale for a split second.
15:46The crowd felt the weight of it, the sheer, jagged hatred in my voice.
15:50Deal.
15:52Cassandra, when you meet her on the field, show no mercy.
15:58The games began.
16:00The other houses avoided us like the plague.
16:02They knew the Citadel had marked us.
16:06Cassandra, stay back.
16:07I'll deal with these failures myself.
16:13Stay inside.
16:14Unless I'm dead, nobody touches you.
16:16The Citadel crowd roared with laughter.
16:18Going solo?
16:19You really are suicidal!
16:21Silas lunged.
16:23His blade wreathed in lightning.
16:24I didn't blink.
16:25I didn't even draw a weapon.
16:27In a blur of motion, I was behind him.
16:30My palm slammed into the base of his skull.
16:32The sound echoed in the sudden silence.
16:34Silas hit the dirt.
16:36Hard.
16:37His lightning fizzled out like a dying candle.
16:39I looked at Cassandra.
16:41Next.
16:45I let out a slow, steady breath.
16:48Fine.
16:49Let's do this the hard way.
16:50I reached down and unlatched the gravity braces from my wrists and ankles.
16:54They hit the stone floor with a bone-shaking thud.
16:57My body felt lighter than air.
16:59Speed was the only absolute I'd ever learned in 200 years of training in the dirt.
17:04Facing 20 Citadel elites.
17:06I became nothing but a blur of motion.
17:08I moved through them like a ghost through a graveyard.
17:11I didn't have time for flashy spells.
17:13Every strike had to count.
17:15Behind me, my disciples were huddled in the barrier.
17:18If I tripped, they were dead meat.
17:21Three seconds later, only 10 of them were still standing.
17:24The arena went graveyard silent.
17:26The mocking whispers died in their throats.
17:29They weren't looking at a mutt anymore.
17:31They were looking at a predator.
17:33They tried to form a battle circle, a complex web of mana designed to trap and crush.
17:37I didn't wait.
17:38I dived straight into the heart of their formation, shattering the flow of their energy.
17:43But they were fast.
17:44They shifted.
17:45A whirlwind of invisible blades spinning toward me from every direction.
17:49Enough playing around.
17:51I let my true form rip.
17:53My human skin dissolved as I shifted into the nine-winged phoenix, my spirit armored in white-hot solar fire.
17:58A massive shockwave of flame erupted from me with a deafening screech.
18:02She's a phoenix!
18:04A goddamn golden nine-wing!
18:06Does Alaric have another daughter?
18:08Where the hell did she come from?
18:12I shifted back to my human form and stepped toward Cassandra.
18:16She was trembling, her face pale as a ghost.
18:19Suddenly, she burst into tears.
18:22I'm the only princess!
18:24She's a fake!
18:25She's a goddamn fake!
18:26She shrieked and summoned the sun-feather daggers, the seven legendary relics of our house.
18:31They blazed with destructive power, screaming through the air as they dove toward my heart.
18:36Just as the daggers reached my skin, I raised a hand.
18:40They stopped.
18:41Seven glowing blades hovering inches from my flesh.
18:44I traced a symbol in the air.
18:46The daggers hummed, vibrating under my command.
18:48I reversed their path, turning the points toward Cassandra, surrounding her in a ring of cold, glowing steel.
18:57Trying to kill me, little sister?
18:59Cassandra's lip quivered.
19:00Fear leaked into her eyes.
19:02I let the daggers inch closer, just enough to feel the heat.
19:06Surrender.
19:07Say the word.
19:10You don't get it, sister.
19:12All I have to do is cry.
19:14And mother will end you.
19:16She knew who I was.
19:17She always knew.
19:18Before I could breathe, she threw herself backward.
19:21The blades barely grazed her silk dress, but she fell as if she'd been struck by a truck.
19:26Lady Serafina blurred from the dais.
19:29She caught Cassandra with one hand and slammed a palm into my chest with the other.
19:33I could have dodged it.
19:34I chose not to.
19:35I wanted this to be the end of us.
19:37I hit the dirt, coughing up blood.
19:40A roar of fury erupted from the crowd.
19:45The High Lady is cheating!
19:47This is bullshit!
19:48Is anyone going to stop this?
19:50How is this a fair fight if the gods intervene?
19:53Shut your mouths!
19:54This brat tried to murder her own sister.
19:56As her mother, I'm teaching her a lesson she should have learned long ago.
20:00Oh, so now she was my mother.
20:02Only when it came time to punish me.
20:05I should have killed you in the cradle.
20:07Where did you steal our family's blade arts from?
20:09You're not worthy to touch these daggers.
20:11You're a fucking abomination!
20:13They're filthy now.
20:14I won't have Cassandra getting sick from your touch.
20:16She flew off with her precious golden girl.
20:19I stood up slowly, wiping the blood from my chin.
20:22I looked at the High Overseer.
20:23Did I win?
20:24Yes.
20:25You won.
20:26I thanked him and dropped the barrier.
20:28My disciples swarmed me.
20:30My little junior was a mess of snot and tears, clinging to my waist.
20:34Screw that lady!
20:35If she doesn't want you, I'm taking you home!
20:37I'll tell my mom to adopt you!
20:39You can be my sister for real!
20:41Back off, kid!
20:42If anyone's adopting her, it's my family!
20:45We're richer!
20:45I laughed.
20:46It hurt my ribs, but for the first time in centuries, my heart didn't feel like a stone.
20:52I wasn't alone.
20:53I took the championship.
20:55Elevon, join us at the Citadel.
20:58With your talent, you could rule the realm in a decade.
21:00Thanks, but I've already got a home.
21:03Loyalty is rare these days.
21:05If you ever find yourself in trouble, little phoenix, find me.
21:10I headed back to Stormhaven, my heart racing.
21:13I had the vitality call.
21:15This would save Gilly.
21:17It would help her survive the waning, the natural fading of old age.
21:20We'd have forever.
21:22But when I reached our shack, Gilly was gone.
21:24A note sat on the table.
21:26Three words.
21:27Come to phoenix spires.
21:29My blood ran cold.
21:30I flew.
21:31The palace was more bloated and gilded than ever.
21:33I didn't care about the gold.
21:35I found my parents in the throne room.
21:38Where is she?
21:39Where is Gilly?
21:40No manners.
21:42You see your parents and you ask for a servant.
21:43Eloweni, your sister is in trouble.
21:46After the game, she suffered a massive psychic backplash.
21:48Her core is shattered.
21:49I need you to be a sister.
21:50Give her half of your core.
21:51You're a nine-wing now.
21:52You'll regrow it.
21:53I stared at them.
21:54They were asking for my heart.
21:56Like it was a piece of candy.
21:59No!
22:00No!
22:02Look, El.
22:03We're different from the other houses.
22:06Our cores regrow.
22:07Like skin.
22:08Especially yours.
22:09That primordial spark of yours is living proof.
22:13You were born broken and look at you now.
22:15You're a goddamn miracle.
22:18You'll make a new one.
22:20But Cassandra, she needs half of yours now.
22:22She'll have a perfect core.
22:24And you'll be fine in a few decades.
22:26He said it like he was asking to borrow a cup of sugar.
22:30Like my call, the thing Gilly spent centuries of blood and agony to fix was just a spare part.
22:35Hell no!
22:40You heartless bitch!
22:42That's your sister!
22:43If you hadn't broken her pride at the games, she wouldn't be in this mess.
22:47You owe her!
22:48If you won't give it, I'll carve it out of your chest myself.
22:51I gave you that life, Elwan.
22:54I own every drop of blood in your veins!
22:57I pushed myself up.
22:58My heart was a stone.
23:01Where is Gilly?
23:02Dead.
23:05She's exaggerating.
23:06Gilly is in the Golden Palace, tending to your sister.
23:09She wants you to do this, El.
23:12She wants what's best for the family.
23:14I see her, or no deal.
23:16They brought a woman out.
23:18She had Gilly's face, Gilly's clothes.
23:21But when she spoke, my stomach turned.
23:23Oh, little bird.
23:25Just give the princess your spark.
23:28It's for the best.
23:29My hands shook.
23:31Not from fear, but from rage.
23:33Gilly never called me little bird without it sounding like a prayer.
23:37This creature sounded like a salesman.
23:39I flicked my wrist, sending a lash of solar fire across her face.
23:42The illusion shattered, revealing a terrified shapeshifter who scrambled away, shrieking.
23:50Where is she?
23:55What did you do to her?
23:56Alaric wouldn't look at me.
23:58Seraphina signaled the guards.
24:00They carried Gilly in on a stretcher.
24:01The smell of copper hit me first.
24:03She was a map of open wounds, blood dripping onto the floor.
24:07She couldn't even groan.
24:08Gilly, no, look at me.
24:13I have the cure.
24:16Just open your mouth, please.
24:20She's a servant, Ellawon.
24:22She's lived long enough.
24:25This belongs to Cassandra now.
24:27I looked at her.
24:28I realized then that hate has no bottom.
24:30It's just an endless, freezing dark.
24:35Give it back.
24:37A blast of wind hit me from behind.
24:40I waited for the impact.
24:42The bone-deep pain.
24:43It never came.
24:44I turned.
24:45Gilly was standing.
24:47Her true form.
24:48A tattered, grey bird had expanded.
24:50Her wings shielding my back.
24:52There was a hole, the size of a fist in her chest.
24:55Blood pumped out in rhythmic, dying spurts.
25:00Run, Ell.
25:03Live.
25:04Be.
25:06Free.
25:07She used the last of her life to shove me toward the balcony.
25:10You're not going anywhere!
25:13Seraphina screamed, kicking Gilly's dying body.
25:16Gilly didn't let go.
25:17She clung to Seraphina's ankles with a grip like iron.
25:20Even as the light left her eyes.
25:25I ran.
25:26I didn't know where, but I ran until my lungs burned.
25:29I ended up at the edge of the abyss of the fallen.
25:32Seraphina, Alaric, caught up.
25:34Their guards surrounded me, blades drawn.
25:36Give us the spark, you brat!
25:38It's the only way you can pay for what you've done!
25:41I owe you nothing.
25:42You gave me life.
25:44Today I give it back.
25:45But you?
25:47You get nothing!
25:48I didn't hesitate.
25:50I stepped back into the void.
25:51My body shattered.
25:52Pain?
25:53No.
25:54It was a cold, tearing vibration.
25:56Then, a voice.
25:57Gilly's voice.
25:58Live.
25:59Ell.
26:00Don't let the fire go out.
26:01The darkness didn't swallow me.
26:03It ignited.
26:04I swam toward a pinpoint of white light.
26:06When I opened my eyes, the sky was screaming.
26:08Lightning struck me not once, but a thousand times.
26:12It wasn't killing me.
26:14It was forging me.
26:15My flesh woven itself back together.
26:17Not as a girl, but as something ancient.
26:20Something eternal.
26:21I roared.
26:22The clouds vanished.
26:24Below.
26:24The crowd at the abyss stared up in terror.
26:27A bird the size of a warship filled the sky.
26:29It wasn't gold.
26:30It was a blinding, crystalline crimson.
26:33Flames that didn't just burn they purified.
26:35The Vermilion Avatar, the sun god, has returned.
26:38Serafina and Alaric were trembling.
26:41They saw the power.
26:42They saw the divinity.
26:45Elevin, our daughter.
26:47Come home.
26:48Lead the house.
26:49We'll rule the world together.
26:51I shifted back.
26:52I drifted down.
26:53My feet barely touching the scorched earth.
26:56No.
26:57It can't be you.
26:59You were a runt.
27:00A mistake.
27:03You wanted a spark?
27:08Serafina trembled, as if she were looking at a ghost.
27:11But the shock didn't last.
27:13She stood up, a jagged, hysterical laugh tearing from her throat.
27:17So what if you're some goddamn avatar now?
27:19I'm your mother.
27:20You think a few shiny feathers make you something you're not?
27:22You wouldn't dare kill me.
27:24You're still too weak to do it.
27:26No.
27:27I won't kill you.
27:28That would be too easy.
27:29I want you to live.
27:30I want you to live forever.
27:32I flicked my fingers.
27:33A thread of crimson gold light spun from my hand and buried itself in her forehead.
27:38She froze, her hands flying to her skin, clawing at nothing.
27:43What did you do to me?
27:45I ignored her.
27:46I turned to Lord Alaric.
27:47He was smarter than her.
27:49Or at least more of a coward.
27:51He was already backing away.
27:53Hands raised in a pathetic gesture of peace.
27:56I didn't do any of it.
27:58It was her.
27:59All of it was her.
28:01I looked at him the man who had watched my mother bash a girl's brains out with my egg.
28:05The man who had watched me get beaten for 10 years and never said a word.
28:09The man who sat on his throne while they tortured Gilly.
28:11He never raised a fist against me.
28:13But he was worse than Serafina.
28:15He had every chance to stop the nightmare.
28:17And he chose comfort instead.
28:19He thought silence made him innocent.
28:22Silence is a goddamn lie.
28:24I threw two more golden threads into his chest.
28:26They didn't feel it yet.
28:28The slow, screaming fall into hell.
28:31As they began to harden into stone, frozen as statues on that jagged peak, the citadel crowd arrived.
28:39Cassandra was with them.
28:41She looked perfect.
28:42No scars.
28:43No shattered core.
28:45Her magic was pulsing through her.
28:47Strong and healthy.
28:48I could see through her glamour now.
28:50Her core had never been damaged.
28:52You monster.
28:53You're committing the ultimate sin.
28:55You're killing our parents.
28:56Even if you're an avatar, the cosmos won't forgive this.
28:58Release them now.
28:59Your parents?
29:00What do they have to do with me?
29:01They're your flesh and blood.
29:02You're lower than a beast for doing this to them.
29:04I paid that debt.
29:05I died in that abyss.
29:07Every drop of blood they gave me is gone.
29:10Now, I'm here for Gilly.
29:13And you.
29:14You played your part, little sister.
29:16Ah, Lucian!
29:17She's going to kill me!
29:18Elevins, stop.
29:20I've heard about the drama with your house, but parents are parents.
29:23Let them go.
29:24Be the bigger person.
29:26Be the bigger person.
29:27That's what people always say when they're not the ones bleeding.
29:30And if I don't?
29:31You think you can take on the entire High Council?
29:34Retribution will destroy you.
29:36I didn't kill them.
29:37They're alive.
29:38You want them?
29:39Take them.
29:39Lucian frowned.
29:40He waved a hand, breaking my glamour.
29:43The stone skin fell away.
29:45And Alaric and Seraphine aghast, falling into the dirt.
29:48Thank you for being reasonable.
29:50He took the three of them and left.
29:52He thought he had won.
29:53He didn't know that once the golden thread enters the soul, there is no cure.
29:58A week later, Phoenix fires burned.
30:00The rumors said Alaric and Seraphine went mad.
30:04Driven mad by the curse.
30:05They turned on their precious Cassandra.
30:07They tore her apart with their bare hands before they even realized what they were doing.
30:12When they woke up covered in her blood, the real hell began.
30:15Every time one died, my thread pulled them back.
30:18Their flesh would rot.
30:19Their bones would shatter.
30:21And then snap they were whole again.
30:23Two half-rotted monsters driven by nothing but hatred.
30:26Clawing at each other in the ruins of their palace.
30:28Nobody went near the mountain.
30:30The screams were enough to drive a lesser mage insane.
30:36Finally, Archmage Tyi from the Citadel came to Stormhaven.
30:40I was sitting by a simple headstone in the garden.
30:43If you're here to talk me out of it, save your breath.
30:45They deserve it, but how long do you want this to go on?
30:49It's time for an ending, Elm.
30:51I can't kill them.
30:52The divine backlash would destroy everything I've built here.
30:55Then I'll do it.
30:55I'll be the hand of fate.
30:57You've carried enough, little Phoenix.
30:59What do you think, Nanny?
31:00The wind caught the leaves of the evergreen tree nearby.
31:03Making a sound that felt like a sigh.
31:05Tyi ended them that night.
31:07He announced their crimes to the realm.
31:09There was no funeral.
31:10No mourning.
31:11Just spit and curses for the fallen house Phoenix.
31:14The elders of the high houses tried to get me to take the throne.
31:17I told them to go to hell.
31:19I stayed at Stormhaven.
31:20I became the master of the sanctuary.
31:22We're the top tier school now.
31:24Not because of gold or bloodlines.
31:26But because we take the runts.
31:28We take the broken.
31:29My littlest junior is a champion now.
31:31She still cries when she fights.
31:33Which pisses off her opponents.
31:35They think she's weak until she starts breaking ribs.
31:39I go to the garden every day.
31:41Whenever I look up, the wind moves the branches of the evergreen.
31:45And for a second, it sounds like someone is whispering my name.
31:48I didn't become the legend Gilly told me about.
31:50I became something better.
31:52I'm alive.
31:53And I am free.
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