The creature hits me like a nightmare made solid.
All teeth and claws and rotten wings, its roar feels like it's tearing the sound right out of the air. The blast of wind from its strike sends my hair whipping around my face.
I can't move.
For one frozen heartbeat, I am nothing but fear.
This is it, I think numbly.
This is how I die—
devoured by something I created.
"LIYANAA!"
Aiden's scream rips through the chamber like a thunderclap.
He's slamming his fists against the invisible barrier so hard his knuckles are bleeding, eyes glowing silver-white, wolf howling under his skin.
"MOVE!" he roars. "FIGHT IT!"
I try.
My legs refuse.
The creature's claws swing toward my chest—
And instinct finally snaps everything into motion.
I drop.
The claws swipe over my head, shredding air.
I roll to the side, palms scraping against stone. The beast crashes into the floor, wings flaring, stone cracking beneath its weight.
It turns, white eyes burning.
It lunges again.
I throw my hands up.
"STOP—!"
Magic answers before my mind finishes.
Golden chains burst from my palms, wrapping around the creature's throat and front legs in a blazing flash.
It jerks mid-air, dragged sideways, slamming into the ground. The impact shakes the entire chamber.
Aiden's roar echoes.
"YES! HOLD IT!"
"I—I'm trying!" I gasp.
The beast thrashes, wings beating against the air, claws scraping the stone through the chains. My arms shake with the force of holding it.
I can feel it—
its madness, its hunger, its emptiness.
This creature is not just fear.
It's made of my fear.
Not of death.
Of myself.
"You're afraid," my reflection's voice whispers behind me.
"Afraid of what you'll become. Afraid you'll destroy him. Afraid you'll prove your father right."
I grit my teeth.
"SHUT UP!"
The reflection only laughs—my laugh, twisted.
"You hold back your power because you fear it. But that makes it own you."
The chains slip.
The creature surges forward with a snarl, dragging itself closer inch by inch.
My feet slide on the stone.
I'm losing it.
Pain lances through my arms. My knees buckle.
"Aiden—!"
He slams into the barrier again, cracking it slightly.
"LIYANA, LOOK AT ME!" he shouts.
I glance up.
He's there—
eyes wild, chest heaving, blood on his hands, teeth bared.
Not afraid of me.
Afraid for me.
"You're not a monster!" he roars. "You're MINE—now FIGHT FOR US!"
…For us.
The words slam into something deep inside me.
The creature's claws dig forward, inching closer.
My reflection steps in front of Aiden, eyes glowing, smirking.
"If you embrace what you are," she whispers, "you might survive. But you'll lose him. He'll look at you the way everyone else has. With fear."
I look at Aiden.
There is fear in his eyes.
But not of me.
Of losing me.
My magic spasms under my skin like a panicked animal.
I've spent my whole life trying to be less.
Less strange.
Less dangerous.
Less magical.
For them.
For anyone who might love me.
For a future where no one would flinch when I walked by.
But that future never came.
Instead—
a wolf did.
A wolf who saw me burn and stepped closer.
A wolf who looked at my curse and said: mine.
If I keep holding back now, I will die.
And worse—
I'll leave him alone with a broken bond.
No.
Not happening.
I straighten slowly, chains burning in my hands.
"You're right," I whisper to my reflection. "I am afraid."
She smiles cruelly.
"But not of my power."
Her smile fades.
"I'm afraid of not using it when it matters."
The creature lunges—
I let go.
Not of the chains.
Of the fear.
My magic surges—not just gold this time.
Shadow threads curl around the golden chains—
dark, smoky lines wrapping around the light, strengthening it.
Moon and Shadow.
Both.
My veins blaze gold-black. My mark flares silver-bright.
The Temple hums loudly, almost alarmed.
The beast shrieks as the hybrid chains tighten around its throat, its body forced fully into this world.
"DOWN!" I shout.
The chains slam it into the floor.
Stone cracks. Dust explodes.
Aiden stares—
eyes wide, stunned.
"Liyana…"
My reflection's eyes narrow.
"You used Shadow."
"I used mine," I say.
She frowns. "Shadow power belongs to him."
"It's MY blood," I snarl. "MY magic. My choice."
I glance at Aiden.
"And my life."
The creature struggles weakly.
I pull harder.
The chains sear through it—
burning, consuming, dissolving.
It screams one last time—
—and explodes in a burst of black dust and golden sparks.
Silence.
The chains vanish.
My arms drop to my sides, trembling.
I'm breathing hard. Sweat trickles down my spine. My veins are still glowing, but the pain is… softer.
Manageable.
Aiden looks like he wants to break the world and pull me into his arms at the same time.
"Liyana…" he whispers again.
But the trial isn't over.
My reflection still stands there.
She tilts her head, studying me.
"You have made a dangerous choice."
"I made the ONLY choice," I snap. "I chose me."
"And the wolf," she adds.
"Yes," I say. "And the wolf."
Her eyes flash with something like disdain.
"You would tie yourself to him knowing you might destroy him?"
I lift my chin.
"He's not that easy to destroy."
"Do you truly believe that?"
She lifts her hand.
A ball of golden fire appears.
Only this time—she doesn't aim it at me.
She flicks it—
Straight at Aiden.
"NO!" I scream.
He doesn't move away.
He throws his body in front of Kai and Ethan instead, shielding them.
Of course he does.
The fire slams into the barrier above his heart, lighting up the invisible wall with a violent flare. Cracks spiderweb across it.
Then the fire punches THROUGH.
It hits Aiden in the chest.
He flies backward, crashing into the far wall.
"NO!" My voice breaks.
He groans, collapsing to his knees, clutching his chest. Smoke rises from his shirt, his skin beneath charred.
Blood spills from the corner of his mouth.
"AIDEN!"
I slam myself against the inside of the circle. The barrier burns my palms, but I don't care.
He tries to stand—
crumbles.
Tries again.
"Aiden, stay down!" Ethan shouts.
Aiden snarls at him.
"I don't—take orders—from you."
He drags himself upright, swaying, eyes locked on me.
He tries to reach me.
He can't.
My reflection laughs softly.
"That is your weakness. That is what the Shadow King will exploit. That is what will break you."
Something in me snaps.
"YOU DON'T GET TO TOUCH HIM," I snarl.
I turn toward her fully, anger building like a storm.
"You're not my power. You're not my destiny. You're not my fate. You're just every voice that ever told me I was wrong for being what I am."
She goes still.
"You are me," she says.
"No," I whisper. "You're the version of me that never got loved."
Aiden chokes softly.
My magic surges.
"I'm not her anymore," I say. "Because someone looked at me and chose me. Not my power. Not my curse. Me."
The bond pulses violently.
Aiden whispers my name again, like a prayer.
"Liyana…"
I raise my hand.
For the first time, the power doesn't fight me.
It listens.
Silver light (Moon) swirls around my fingers.
Gold fire (Moonfire) dances on my palm.
Dark threads (Shadow) curl around all of it, like ink in water.
My reflection's eyes widen.
"You can't—"
"Watch me."
I thrust my hand forward.
The swirling magic shoots toward her, not as a blast—
As a web.
It wraps around her wrists, her throat, her chest.
She struggles, screaming, face distorting.
"You can't kill me! I AM YOU!"
"I'm not killing you," I whisper, voice shaking.
"I'm integrating you."
The light surges.
For a moment, I feel everything—
Every time I hated myself.
Every time I wished I were ordinary.
Every time someone recoiled from me.
Every time I thought no one will ever choose me.
Tears burn my eyes.
"I'm done hating you," I whisper.
The magic snaps inward.
The reflection collapses into a burst of light—
—and slams into my chest.
I gasp, stumbling back.
Pain flares—then melts.
I feel…
whole.
More solid.
More me than I've ever been.
The golden cracks along my veins shift.
They don't look like fractures anymore.
They look like markings.
The barrier dissolves.
Aiden staggers forward instantly, pain be damned, reaching for me.
I feel my legs give out.
We meet halfway.
He catches me, arms wrapping around me like iron bands.
"I've got you," he rasps. "I've got you—I've got you—"
I grip his shirt, pressing my forehead to his chest.
"You're hurt—" I whisper.
He laughs weakly.
"You just ripped your own fear apart and welded your soul back together."
He kisses the side of my head.
"I'll survive."
I pull back enough to see his face.
There's blood on his lip. Burn marks on his chest. Pain carved into his features.
And still—he smiles at me.
"Don't do that again," he whispers.
"I don't plan to," I say, voice breaking.
His hand cups my jaw.
"You chose me," he says.
"In the middle of everything. You chose me."
"I'll keep choosing you," I whisper.
"As long as I'm alive."
Something raw flashes in his eyes.
He kisses me.
Not slow.
Not careful.
A desperate, grateful, you're alive kiss.
His hand tangles in my hair as his mouth slants over mine, pouring everything he can't say in words into that kiss.
My fingers curl against his chest despite the burn there. He doesn't flinch away.
The bond sings.
Magic flickers around us in soft silver and gold.
We break apart only when breathing becomes non-negotiable.
He rests his forehead against mine.
"You passed," he whispers.
Before I can answer—
The Temple voice echoes again.
"First trial complete."
The floor glows.
The marks on my skin flare.
"Cost accepted."
My stomach twists.
"Cost?" I whisper. "What cost?"
Aiden stiffens.
"WHAT DID YOU TAKE?" he roars at the Temple.
The voice answers calmly:
"The bond has been strengthened…
and therefore made more fragile."
My heart stops.
Aiden's jaw clenches.
"What does that mean?" I breathe.
The voice is almost gentle.
"If one of you dies now…
the other will not survive."
The chamber goes silent.
Aiden and I stare at each other—
Realization crashing into us like a wave.
We're tied together.
Forever.
In life.
And in death.
And somewhere, far beyond the Temple walls—
The Shadow King smiles.
"Good," his voice purrs in the dark.
"Now I know exactly where to strike."