Mirror

Searching her father’s study, Isla finds a map marking a distant island named “Isla.” Suspecting significance, she starsticks toward it, nearly drowns at sea, and after several attempts reaches a large, living archipelago. Confirming the map from the sky, she lands hard but recognizes the island’s richness and isolation.

In the forest, Isla discovers impossible abundance—fruit-laden trees and thriving wildlife—contradicting Nightshade’s scarcity. She weaves vine baskets, repeatedly portals harvests to village doorsteps, then claims the island as a safe ground to test her unbound powers. Immersing in a pool, she releases everything she has suppressed; water erupts to steam, flora surges, winds howl, and shadows coil, granting the “beast” within relief without harming anyone.

Back at the castle, Isla wakes from a nightmare to find serpents guiding her through corridors to a mirror before they vanish. Startled by Grim, she learns the stormfinch is singing—the storm season has begun. They portal to rural villages and evacuate residents as lightning gathers.

Multiple tornadoes touch down, each infused with shade-made metal that slices the land and nullifies power. Grim’s abilities falter; Isla’s magic dims as if braced. Sheltering behind a stone wall, she clutches the ring meant to trap a storm but cannot get close enough without dying. After the tempest, destruction litters the villages.

For a week, daily storms ravage Nightshade. With Wraith still injured, Isla cannot reach the heights needed, and the metal keeps suppressing her Skyling power. Repeated attempts to capture a storm fail, and the mounting deaths harden her resolve. With less than a month of winter left, she takes up Aurora’s feather again and writes, “Teach me.”