A Warrior’s Second Chance novel Chapter 167

Faye sat on the ground, her hand resting lightly against Alexander’s chest. His breathing had grown shallow, each inhale weaker than the last. She could barely feel the rise and fall beneath her palm anymore, and his heartbeat had slowed to a faint, irregular rhythm that terrified her.

But Faye didn’t move. She just sat there, staring into nothing, her mind numb from grief and disbelief. The world around her had gone strangely quiet, as though even the wind and the trees were holding their breath… waiting for the inevitable.

Somewhere behind her, footsteps approached. Sage had come looking for her. She had known Faye would be here; the training ground was the one place her sister always turned to when her world started to fall apart… Alexander was probably with her too.

Sage stopped short when she saw them. For a second, she thought her eyes were deceiving her. Then she blinked, looked again… and froze.

“Faye…” she whispered, her heart pounding hard, her voice trembling. “Your hand… your hand is…”

Faye didn’t react at first. The words barely registered. But when Sage spoke again, louder this time, Faye blinked out of her daze and looked down.

Her breath caught.

The hand that had been resting on Alexander’s chest was glowing softly, a pale silvery light spreading from her fingertips to her wrist. It pulsed faintly, almost in rhythm with the weak thump of his heart. The light grew brighter–stronger–like it was drawing directly from the moon.

Faye’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What–what’s happening?” she whispered.

Sage couldn’t move. She stood rooted to the spot, her mouth parted in shock. The glow intensified until it surrounded both of them, bathing Alexander’s still body in a soft radiance. Faye could feel something beneath her palm…some strange warmth, deep and alive, thrumming through her veins. It wasn’t pain; it wasn’t fear. It was… power.

And then, just as suddenly as it began, the light vanished.

The air between them crackled with invisible energy, and before Faye could make sense of what had happened, she felt a violent jolt beneath her palm.

Alexander’s body arched upward.

“Alexander!” she gasped.

He began to cough violently, his chest heaving as his body jerked with each breath. Faye panicked, holding onto him, calling his name, her voice breaking as tears blurred her vision. His coughs grew harsher, more painful, and then he lurched forward, vomiting with such force it seemed like his body was rejecting something inside him.

Sage, shaken from her shock, turned and sprinted back toward the house. “Somebody! Help! The healer…get the healer!”

Faye stayed by Alexander’s side, trying to hold him upright as his body convulsed. She had no idea what was happening, only that she couldn’t let go. His skin was hot to the touch, sweat beading along his forehead. He gasped between coughs, his eyes still closed, his breathing ragged and uneven.

When Sage returned, she wasn’t alone. The healer came running with Faye’s parents close behind, their faces pale with fear. The moment they reached the training ground, everyone froze at the sight before them… Alexander slumped against Faye, pale and trembling, with traces of blood and dark bile staining the ground.

“What happened?” the healer demanded, kneeling beside them.

Her father regained his composure first. “Get him inside,” he ordered. “Now.”

Two of the warriors nearby rushed forward, carefully lifting Alexander’s limp body. Faye stood back, dazed, watching as they carried him toward the house. She didn’t move until Sage touched her arm gently.

“Faye,” her sister whispered, still wide–eyed. “What… what was that?”

Faye didn’t answer. She couldn’t.

She just stared at her hands again, flexing her fingers as though the motion might help her understand. The glow was gone now, but the memory of it burned bright in her mind…the light, the heat, the pulse that had felt so alive.

She knew she carried gifts she didn’t fully understand…power that had stirred beneath her for a while now but never fully manifested in any defined form. Yet this… this was something else entirely. It hadn’t felt deliberate or controlled…it had burst out of her like a storm breaking through.

Even healing gifts, she’d been told, came subtly… through herbs, energy, touch, or time. Not through blinding light that seemed to draw power from the moon itself.

Faye swallowed hard, then rushed toward the house too.

Behind her, Sage still stood frozen. For the first time, she looked at her twin as if she were staring at a stranger.