Chapter 10: The Sacrifice and the Shift
Return to a Fractured Citadel
Aether was too injured to fly or teleport immediately. Jade used the Divine Eye to commandeer a pair of winged, griffin-like Yaoguai to carry them back to the Citadel, with Bao limping faithfully behind.
The return journey was silent, heavy with unspoken consequences. Aether was bleeding profusely, and though his Dragon regeneration was active, the magical backlash from the corrupted wires had poisoned his elemental core.
They arrived to find the Citadel in a state of controlled panic. Grand Elder Lin met them in the courtyard, his aged face etched with worry.
"Prince! You live! But the King..." Lin trailed off, seeing Aether's critical state.
"The corruption is severed, Elder," Aether gasped, leaning heavily on Jade. "But the anchor remains. And the King's integrity is too low. We have the Heartwood Bloom, but it is only a temporary stabilizer."
They brought Aether and the Bloom to the King's chamber. Lin immediately started preparing the Bloom, grinding the golden petals into a thick, luminous paste.
The Dragon Council
Before Lin could administer the medicine, the chamber doors burst open. The Dragon Council, the five eldest and most traditional Dragon Generals, entered. They were powerful, ancient, and radiating stern disapproval.
The leader, General Vorlag, whose scales were the color of tarnished bronze, spoke with icy contempt.
"Prince Aether. You return gravely wounded, bringing the source of life force, yet your father's vitality is at its lowest. And you are accompanied by the human weapon, who is visibly clinging to you. The Council has convened."
"Vorlag, I have severed the corruption planted by Seraphina and the Night Weaver," Aether countered, forcing himself to stand tall, using the sheer force of his will.
"You have committed treason," Vorlag hissed, ignoring the defense. "Seraphina reported your violation of the First Decree before she fled. You risked the Western Lineage's security by forming an intimate, forbidden pact with a Celestial Host! For this, the Council strips you of your rank and demands the human be surrendered for immediate execution."
The verdict was absolute. Jade felt a cold dread seize her, but the Divine Eye remained steady.
"No," Jade said, stepping forward. "The Eye is bound to no rank or decree. The King dies in hours if we do not act. And Aether's life force is too low to survive the elemental backlash of removing the anchor."
Vorlag scoffed. "And what does the human offer? Execution is the only path for your kind."
The Sacrifice
Jade looked from the dying, majestic Dragon King to the critically wounded Dragon Prince. She knew what she had to do. The Divine Eye gave her the ultimate power of command, but it also demanded the ultimate price.
"I offer a choice," Jade said, her voice clear and strong. "The Divine Eye can shift its core energy. I can stabilize Aether's elemental core by feeding him the raw life energy of the Eye, stabilizing him for the removal procedure. And I can use the Eye to pinpoint the anchor and protect the King's core during its extraction."
Aether stared at her, horrified. "Jade, no! To channel that much raw Celestial energy—it will burn out the Eye! It will kill you!"
"It's the only way for both of you to survive," Jade insisted, ignoring his protest. She looked at General Vorlag. "If I succeed, Aether is pardoned, and the King lives. If I fail, you execute me instantly. Do we have a deal, General?"
Vorlag, seeing the desperate logic and the potential for preserving the Lineage, nodded stiffly. "If the King lives, the Prince is pardoned. Proceed."
Jade walked to Aether. She didn't use the Divine Eye for command; she used it for connection. She placed her hands on his ruined obsidian armor, focusing her entire being on the electric blue eye.
"Hold on, Aether," she whispered.
She channeled the raw, intense energy of the Azure Sight. The blue light exploded, bathing both of them in an intense, searing glow.
[Divine Eye Core: ACTIVATING TRANSFER PROTOCOL. Warning: Host Integrity Failing.]
Jade felt a violent, agonizing drain. Her life force, her memories, her very essence—all flowed into Aether, rushing into his fragmented elemental core. Aether screamed, the sudden rush of power both restorative and painful.
Then, she turned the focused Eye onto the King. The Eye pulsed, creating a stable, protective cocoon of blue energy around the King's core, isolating the parasitic anchor.
"Lin! Now! Remove the anchor!" Jade commanded, her voice weak but absolute.
Grand Elder Lin, tears streaming down his face, plunged a sacred, silver blade into the King's hide, precisely where Jade's Eye indicated. He wrenched out a tiny, black, crystalline shard—the Night Weaver's Anchor.
The Aftermath
The moment the anchor was removed, the King's sapphire scales pulsed, and his silver energy flared back to full, dazzling power. The Western Dragon King was healed.
But the price was paid. Aether's core stabilized, and he sat up, restored, but covered in sweat and tears.
Jade collapsed. The Divine Eye was gone. Her left eye was no longer the electric azure blue; it was pale, cloudy, and completely blind. The energy transfer had succeeded, but it had burned out her celestial connection.
General Vorlag stepped forward, seeing the miraculously healed King and the alive, stable Prince. He bowed low. "Prince Aether is pardoned. The human, though mutilated, has fulfilled her bargain."
Aether ignored the General. He stumbled to Jade, gently cradling her limp body. He looked at her blind, pale left eye, his heart shattered by the sacrifice.
"You saved us all, Jade," Aether murmured, his voice thick with raw, unrestrained emotion—something Dragons rarely show. "You gave your sight for my life."
Jade managed a faint smile. "I'm still a historian, Aether. I just can't read the footnotes anymore."
The pact was broken, the war was won, and the price was paid. Now, the new reality of their relationship, forged in sacrifice and pain, must begin.