There is no sound when the world explodes.
Only light.
Blinding white from the Moon.
Endless black from the Shadow.
They crash together and swallow me whole.
For one horrible heartbeat, I can't feel anything.
Not the ground.
Not my body.
Not my magic.
Not even Aiden.
Then—
Pain.
Like being pulled in two different directions.
My veins burn.
My bones hum.
My heart feels like it's being ripped in half.
"LIYANAAA!"
His voice slams into me like a lifeline.
I gasp.
Air rushes into my lungs as I collide with solid ground—
hard stone that knocks the breath out of me.
I groan, pushing myself up on shaking arms.
The world has changed again.
We're not in the Temple chamber anymore.
We're standing on a huge circular platform of dark stone suspended over a bottomless void. The air glows faintly with silver mist, but the space around us is endless black.
Two paths stretch out from the platform like long bridges:
One path bathed in moonlight—
smooth, pale stone, lined with silver flame.
The other swallowed in shadow—
jagged, dark, pulsing with black mist.
Between them, hovering above the center of the platform—
A jagged tear of light and darkness spiraling together.
The place where worlds bleed.
And in front of me—
Aiden.
Alive.
On his knees, clutching his chest, breathing hard.
"Aiden!" I choke out.
He looks up sharply.
His eyes find mine.
And everything inside me breaks in relief.
"Liyana—"
He staggers to his feet so fast he almost falls again.
"Are you hurt? Are you—"
"Yes," I say honestly. "But I'm alive."
He doesn't hesitate.
He stumbles across the stone toward me—
And slams face-first into an invisible wall.
I flinch.
He snarls and hits it with his palm again.
"A barrier." His voice is low, furious. "Of course."
He's only a few feet away.
Close enough for me to see the sharp tension in his jaw, the wild terror in his eyes.
But he can't touch me.
Can't reach me.
There's a circle around me—
a faint ring of shifting white and black light.
A separate circle around him.
Two cages.
One platform.
A voice booms around us.
"Final Trial:
The Severing."
My blood runs cold.
Aiden bares his teeth.
"Show yourself, coward!"
The Shadow King's voice answers from everywhere at once:
"You both hold a bond that should not exist.
Two powers that were never meant to merge."
A different voice overlays his.
Soft.
Cool.
Familiar.
The Moon.
"Only one soul may carry this burden forward."
I gasp.
Aiden growls.
"What does that mean?"
The darkness swirls.
Silver mist twists.
Two figures appear at the edge of the platform—
only half-formed:
A tall, cloaked shadow with white eyes.
The Shadow King.
And beside him—
a woman of light.
Silver hair.
Starlit skin.
Eyes like the full moon.
The Moon Goddess.
Aiden swears under his breath.
"Oh good," Kai would've said if he were here. "We're officially screwed."
My heart hammers.
"You're both here," I whisper.
The Moon Goddess studies me.
"Child of my flame."
The Shadow King's gaze sharpens.
"Child of my shadow."
Their voices layer over each other:
"You must choose."
I grit my teeth.
"I already did. I chose myself."
Silver eyes narrow.
White ones gleam.
"You defied balance," the Moon says.
"Now balance demands payment."
The Shadow King lifts a hand.
Chains appear—
Brutal, glowing chains, made of pure light and pure shadow, wrapping around Aiden's chest and wrists, anchoring him to his circle.
He snarls, yanking against them.
"Get these OFF me!"
I slam my palms against my barrier.
"LET HIM GO!"
"You share one fate," the Moon says softly.
"One life. One death."
The Shadow King's tone is almost amused.
"So we offer you mercy."
I laugh, harsh.
"Your 'mercy' nearly killed him already!"
"Strike him down," the Shadow King continues, ignoring me,
"and we will allow your power to stabilize."
The words don't register at first.
Then they do.
I go cold.
"What?" I whisper.
Aiden stills.
Very slowly, he turns his head toward me.
The Moon's voice is cool, emotionless.
"The bond has made you too fragile.
Two powers.
One fate.
Two lives tied into one.
It cannot last."
The Shadow King smiles faintly.
"Break the bond…
and you survive."
The world tilts.
I can't breathe.
"You want me to… to kill him."
The words scrape my throat.
"We want you to sever what makes you weak," the Shadow King replies.
"Kill the wolf. Keep the power."
The Moon's light flickers.
"Or…
do nothing."
The platform trembles.
"And the power tears you both apart."
Aiden watches me.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
His eyes—silver and bright—hold mine.
"Liyana," he says softly.
"Aiden—don't." Tears blur my vision. "There has to be another way."
"If you die, I die," he says. "If I die, you die."
I swallow hard.
He exhales.
"So either way… we die together."
"NO."
My scream echoes into the void.
"No, no, no—"
The Moon Goddess speaks again.
"There is a third possibility."
I snap my head up.
"What?"
"One of you surrenders your soul…
to free the other."
I go numb.
The Shadow King tilts his head.
"One sacrifices.
One survives.
The bond shatters.
The power settles."
Aiden goes very, very still.
Slowly, he straightens despite the chains, despite the pain I can feel through the bond.
He looks at me like I'm his entire universe.
"Then it's simple," he says.
"No."
My voice shakes.
"Don't say it."
He ignores me.
He tilts his head back toward the gods.
"I choose me."
My heart stops.
"Aiden—?"
He smiles at me.
Broken. Beautiful.
"I choose that I die."
"No!" I choke out. "NO!"
He keeps his eyes on mine, voice steady even as tears fill them.
"She lives. I die. That's the choice."
The chains tighten around him, reacting to his words.
I slam into my barrier so hard my shoulder burns.
"STOP IT! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"
His lips curve.
"You always wanted choices," he whispers.
"Let this one be mine."
My breath crushes in my chest.
"No—You don't get to decide that alone—"
"Yes, I do."
He swallows.
"For once… let me protect you the way I want to."
I shake my head furiously.
"You are not allowed to die for me."
"It's kind of my job description."
"Aiden!"
He closes his eyes for a second, inhaling slowly.
When he opens them again, they're wet.
"Liyana," he says quietly.
"If one of us has to suffer…
I'd rather it be me."
The Shadow King's voice purrs.
"Brave. Predictable.
A wolf's love is always suicidal."
Aiden snarls, "Shut up."
The Moon Goddess watches silently, unreadable.
I slam my fists against my barrier.
"TAKE ME INSTEAD!" I scream at them.
"TAKE ME! If someone has to die, let it be me!"
The Shadow King laughs softly.
"Oh, little flame… you think we will let you go? You are worth far too much."
The Moon's voice is like cold water.
"We do not choose.
You do."
The platform trembles again.
A sword materializes in front of me.
Made of silver and shadow—
a blade forged from both sides of me.
My hand shakes as it rises.
The blade hovers just within reach.
I stare at it.
"No," I whisper.
"I won't touch it."
The Shadow King's voice curls around me.
"Then slowly…
your power will eat you alive.
And you will drag your wolf into the grave with you."
Aiden growls.
"Stop talking like I'm not here."
I look at him.
He looks at me.
The bond frays again.
Aiden flinches, hand gripping his chest.
"See?" the Shadow King murmurs.
"You are already killing him."
My knees buckle.
This is the nightmare.
Not the monsters.
Not the gods.
This.
Being forced to choose between my life and his.
I drag in a shaking breath.
"I won't kill him," I whisper.
"Then you both die."
"Then so be it."
Aiden's face twists.
"Liyana—NO!"
I meet his eyes.
"If you think I'm going to live in a world where you don't exist," I whisper hoarsely,
"you don't know me at all."
Tears spill down his face.
His voice breaks.
"Moonlight—please—please—don't do this—"
I take a step forward inside my circle.
The sword hovers closer.
"Then what do we do?" I choke.
"What do we choose? Tell me, Aiden. Because I don't know how to pick a future where one of us dies."
He stares at me like it's killing him not to be able to hold me.
"I choose you," he whispers.
"Every time. Even if it kills me."
My heart cracks open.
"I choose you too," I whisper back.
"In every life. In every death. In every world."
The Moon whispers:
"Then your love destroys you."
The Shadow King hums.
"Beautiful."
The sword pulses brighter.
I feel the power building inside me again—
Moonfire.
Shadow.
Unstable.
My body trembles with it.
It needs release.
It wants to claim something.
Destruction.
Sacrifice.
Blood.
I grit my teeth.
No.
Not this time.
I grab the hilt of the sword.
The blade sears my palm.
"LIYANA!" Aiden roars.
Pain rips through me, but I don't let go.
The combined power surges into the blade, making it glow white-black.
I lift it.
Slowly.
My arms shake under the weight of it.
The Shadow King smiles faintly.
"Good.
Now aim it at the wolf."
I stare at Aiden.
He doesn't flinch.
He opens his arms—
as much as the chains allow.
"Do it," he whispers.
"If it saves you, do it."
I sob.
"I can't."
"You can."
His voice shakes.
"Because I love you. And I'd rather die by your hand than watch you suffer until you break."
The Moon says nothing.
The Shadow King waits.
The void watches.
My hands tremble.
The sword burns.
The bond frays.
I scream.
Then—
I flip the blade.
And aim it at my own heart.
Aiden's eyes go wide.
"LIYANA—NO!"
The Shadow King shouts,
"STOP!"
The Moon gasps,
"Child—!"
I choke out, voice shattered:
"If one of us has to die…
it will be MY choice, not yours."
The sword plunges forward.
Light detonates.
Aiden's roar tears through worlds.
"LIYANAAAAA!"
And everything goes white.