The last thing I feel before the world dissolves
is Aiden's forehead pressed against mine—
warm, solid, real.
The next thing I feel
is fire.
Not burning.
Becoming.
Silver-gold flames erupt across my skin,
spreading like living wings,
curling into my lungs and spine
until I can't tell where the fire ends
and where I begin.
The void HOWLS.
Aiden roars—
a sound so loud it cracks the air.
"LIYANA!"
I try to answer—
but my voice melts into light.
I can feel him lunging toward me,
massive paws tearing into the void floor,
his starlit fur blazing.
But the merged entity blocks him with a single, glowing wing.
"Do not interrupt the ignition."
"MOVE," Aiden snarls,
every word vibrating with the promise of violence.
The Primordial booms:
"IF YOU TOUCH HER DURING TRANSFORMATION,
YOU WILL DESTROY HER FORM!"
Aiden freezes.
His rage,
his fear,
his need to protect—
all slam into me through the bond.
I feel EVERYTHING he feels.
It hurts.
"Aiden…"
My voice is faint inside the fire,
like a whisper trapped in ash.
He hears it instantly.
"Liyana—stay with me—
stay awake—
STAY—WITH—ME—"
I try.
But the fire drags me deeper.
My bones feel like molten glass.
My skin dissolves into sparkles.
My wings—my six wings—
fold inward,
melting into the core of my being.
"What's happening to me—?" I gasp.
The merged entity steps forward,
calm as stars in a storm.
"The Wolf Ascendant must hold two souls.
Your current form cannot."
"I'm not losing him," I whisper fiercely.
"You will not."
Another wave of fire erupts from my chest—
so bright the void momentarily goes white.
Aiden roars again.
"LIYANA—ANSWER ME—!!"
I try—
but my voice is stolen by the blaze.
My heart beats once—
THRUM—
Then everything inside me breaks.
THE INSIDE-OUT WORLD
Suddenly
I'm not in the void anymore.
I'm somewhere else.
Somewhere terrifyingly familiar.
My own memories.
But they are wrong.
Twisted.
Mirrored.
Burning.
I see myself as a child,
hands shaking with uncontrolled magic—
but the child has golden wolf eyes.
I see the first time my Moonfire erupted—
but the fire is now streaked with black and silver.
I see Aiden bleeding in the snow—
but when I run to him,
the snow melts under my feet
as if bowing to my presence.
"What is this place?" I whisper.
A voice answers behind me.
"…Our crossroads."
I turn.
Aiden stands there—
his human form—
but shining with starlight,
eyes blazing gold.
"Aiden?"
My voice cracks.
He steps toward me slowly.
"This is the inside of you.
The place where our souls finish merging."
I swallow hard.
"You look—
alive."
He smiles faintly.
"Because in here, we both are."
The world shimmers.
The fire around us pulses with our shared heartbeat.
Aiden lifts a hand,
touches my cheek.
Warm.
Solid.
Real.
"You did it," he whispers.
"You let me stand beside you again."
My eyes burn with tears.
"Aiden…
if you can walk in here…
then what's happening to my body?"
He looks over my shoulder.
His smile fades.
"Everything."
THE ASCENDANT'S FIRE
A scream tears through the realm.
Not mine.
Not Aiden's.
The scream of my physical body splitting open with new power.
I jerk toward the sound—
but Aiden grabs my hand.
"Don't move," he warns.
"Not yet."
"I have to—
I have to go back—
I have to finish—"
"You can't control it if you go too soon."
His voice is raw.
"You'll burn yourself out."
"But—"
He steps closer, forehead touching mine.
"Liyana.
Look at me."
My breath shakes.
"I'm here," he says.
"And you're here.
That means your body is still alive.
Your heart is still beating."
A pause.
"We just need to finish this part."
The fire pulses again,
shaking the memory-world we stand in.
I squeeze his hand.
"What part?"
"The part where you choose."
My breath stops.
"Choose what?"
Aiden steps back,
creating space between us.
"You're no longer just Ascendant.
You're no longer just Moonfire.
You're bonded to a wolf soul—
to me—
and you can't return with only a single form."
The world ripples.
"Liyana," he says softly,
"you must choose how you want to exist."
"What are my choices?" I whisper.
Aiden raises three fingers.
THE CHOICES
"One,"
he says,
"you take a form like a celestial goddess—
wings, power, Moonfire—
and I stay beside you as the stellar wolf."
My heart twists.
"That means we're separate."
"Separate bodies," he nods.
"But not separate souls."
"And the second choice?"
His voice lowers.
"Two:
you take a hybrid shape.
Ascendant and wolf in one body.
Strong enough to hold both souls."
He looks away.
"But… you may not look the same."
Fear spikes through me.
"Not look the same how?"
He clenches his jaw.
"You might lose your face.
Your voice.
Your hands.
Your… humanity."
I flinch.
Aiden sees it.
He softens.
"That form would be nearly unstoppable—
but you might not recognize yourself."
"And the third choice?"
He looks right into me.
This one hurts him.
"Three:
You take a form that is you…
but I take the hybrid form instead."
"What?" I whisper.
"You remain yourself.
Fully.
Completely."
He smiles weakly.
"And I take the burden."
My throat closes.
"No—
no—Aiden—
you already sacrificed too much—
you can't—"
But he holds up a hand.
"I'm not saying I want that.
I'm saying it's an option."
I step closer, grabbing his face in my hands.
"Aiden.
I will NEVER choose a future where you bear the pain alone."
He exhales shakily.
"I knew you'd say that."
The world ripples again,
urgently.
The fire outside screams for me.
Aiden cups my hands.
"We don't have long."
My heart races.
"What do we choose?"
His voice is quiet but strong.
"Whatever keeps us together."
I tremble.
"We already are."
He smiles—
the smile that ruined me from the beginning.
"…Then choose the form
that lets you stay by my side
without losing yourself."
The world collapses.
The fire surges.
And I finally understand.
THE CHOICE
"I choose…"
I whisper,
reaching for his hand,
feeling the fire pull me back to my real body—
"…the form where we both stand.
Side by side.
Two bodies.
One soul.
Forever."
Aiden's smile is blinding.
He pulls me into a breathless kiss—
light exploding around us—
then shoves me upward as the world dissolves.
"Go."
"Aiden—!"
"I'll meet you on the other side."
Light swallows everything.
My physical eyes snap open.
My body ignites in gold-white flame,
lifting me off the void floor.
Aiden's starlight wolf form
roars as he lands beside me.
And the chapter ends with:
Liyana's new Ascendant form beginning to solidify—
as Aiden stands guard,
ready to fight the universe itself
until she returns to him.