The Warrior’s Broken Mate novel Chapter 117

I shifted on the floor, every muscle screaming with exhaustion, my eyelids heavy as stone. My body ached from running, fighting, and narrowly escaping death more times than I could count. Yet beneath it all, a faint pulse thrummed through me–subtle at first, almost like a whisper beneath a roaring wind.

Elias was already awake, sitting back on the chair next to the window. His eyes followed me as I flexed my fingers, a faint tremor running along my arms. “You’re shaking.” He said quietly, his tone calm but wary. “And it’s not just because you’re tired. Something’s… happening.”

“I… I don’t know.” I admitted. “It’s like… something inside me is waking up.”

Before I could speak, the door creaked open. A swirl of gray ash drifted in, curling around the doorway before fading into the hut.

Elias jumped to his feet, and I backed toward him, fearing the sorcerer had returned.

Then she stepped fully into the dim light–the Ash Queen.

She moved with an almost unnatural grace, her ash–colored robes flowing around her feet, the swirling particles around her hands as if alive. Her presence was commanding, yet calm, a quiet authority that made every instinct in me tense.

I knew that she contained power. But now it was like she was trying to show off what sort of power she possessed. How she was able to use her power and what she could do.

Elias straightened immediately, placing himself slightly between me and her. “What do you want?” His voice was steady but wary, protective.

The Ash Queen lifted her hands in a gesture meant to soothe, not threaten. “I am not here to harm you. I am here because the sorcerer you fear is real, and he is dangerous. I have opposed him for longer than either of you have lived, and I am here to help you stand against him.”

I shifted again, exhaustion pressing into my limbs like a physical weight, but the pulse in my chest grew stronger, curling along my arms like molten fire. “Why should we trust you?” I rasped. “Why now? Why come to us now when we needed help last night?”

“Because hiding does not save lives.” She said softly, her gray eyes catching the light coming through the window. “Because you survived what many others would not. That makes you important. And the sorcerer cannot be allowed to continue.”

Elias’s gaze flicked to mine, a mixture of caution and something that looked like hope. “You expect us to just take your word for it?” He asked. “After everything we’ve gone through?”

“I do not ask for blind trust.” She replied, crouching slightly to bring herself closer to us. Her eyes swept over both of us, serious yet calm. “I ask only that you see the truth. I cannot do this alone. And neither can you. But together…” She let her words hang, and the swirl of ash around her hands seemed to emphasize her sincerity.

I felt the warmth in my chest pulse again, stronger this time, and the shimmer along my arms. reacted, tracing patterns I hadn’t consciously created. “It’s… responding.” I whispered. “To me or maybe to all of us.”

The Ash Queen nodded. “Yes. Your power is alive. It has been growing even when you did not notice. Today has pushed you to your limits, and now it has awakened fully. You must learn to control it, to focus it, or the sorcerer will exploit it.”

Elias stepped closer, his eyes scanning my arms, then locking with hers. “So what now? We just… start learning? Right here, in this hut?”

“For now.” She said. “Slowly. Carefully. The sorcerer must not know the full extent of what you are capable of–not yet. But you will begin. And when the time comes, you will be ready.”

“Why didn’t you

tell me all of this at your castle?” I asked, cautiously.

“Because Arthur was there. And he had no idea about any of this. About the power that the sorcerer was going to accidentally unlock after approaching you.” The Ash Queen said.

I swallowed hard, letting the warmth pulse through me. The exhaustion pressed in, gnawing, yet there was clarity beneath it–an awareness I had never known. I was alive in a way that terrified and exhilarated me at once.

“I… I think I can do this.” I whispered, my voice steadier than I expected. “I think I can control it… if we practice.”

Elias smiled faintly, cautiously. “Then we’ll do it together. If this power is going to be part of us, we’ll learn to use it, no matter how dangerous it is.”

For the first time that day, a fragile thread of hope wove through my exhaustion and fear. The night pressed against the hut’s walls, dark and heavy, but inside, there was light. The shimmer along my skin pulsed softly, a sign this new power might be a gift I could learn to wield.

Beside me, Elias, awake and resolute, grounded me. The Ash Queen’s presence was unsettling yet purposeful, her intent clear.

For the first time in forever, I allowed myself to believe: together, we could stand against the sorcerer and survive what was coming–perhaps even triumph.