The moment Aiden and I cross the threshold of the gate,
the void disappears.
Not crumbles.
Not fades.
It vanishes.
As if someone erased it with a single stroke.
For a heartbeat, I am weightless—
floating between existence and nothingness,
with Aiden's warm presence brushing the edge of my thoughts.
"…Stay close."
"I am."
Darkness folds around us like a second skin.
Then—
Light erupts.
Blinding.
Cold.
White.
A soundless explosion tears through the dark,
and a landscape unfolds beneath my feet:
A long stone bridge stretching across endless sky,
floating above a sea of stars
that churn like storm-tossed waves.
The bridge itself glows faintly,
runes carved into every stone slab.
Aiden materializes beside me—
his massive form shimmering with starfire.
He scans the horizon with a low growl.
"This is wrong."
"What is?"
He flicks his tail.
"It's too quiet."
"It's a trial," I whisper.
"They want us off balance."
He huffs.
"They'll have to try harder."
But I feel it too—
a crawling chill up my spine,
a pressure behind my eyes,
as though the entire realm waits
for the perfect moment
to attack.
A voice breaks the silence.
A voice I do not expect.
Not the Primordial.
Not the merged entity.
A woman's voice.
Soft.
Regal.
Familiar.
"Welcome, Ascendant."
Aiden stiffens instantly.
I turn.
A figure stands at the beginning of the bridge—
tall, graceful, wrapped in silver robes that shimmer like moonlight.
Her face—
My breath stops.
She has my eyes.
My hair.
My wings.
Only older.
Wiser.
Etched with centuries of sadness.
Aiden whispers sharply:
"…Liyana.
That's you."
My heart pounds.
"No.
It can't be—"
But she smiles—
a tired, knowing smile.
"I am what you would have become
had you chosen the Ascendant alone."
A cold shiver goes through me.
"My… alternative future?"
She nods.
"I am the Sovereign that never was."
Aiden snarls, stepping between us.
"Back away."
She doesn't even blink.
"Wolf, if I wished to harm her,
this realm would not exist long enough for you to growl."
Aiden bares his fangs.
"Try me."
"Aiden," I whisper, touching his fur.
"She's not attacking."
"Yet."
My alternate self lifts a hand.
A soft glow forms at her fingertips—
moonfire without warmth,
perfect but empty.
"You walk a path I never took.
You carry a soul I never allowed beside me."
She looks at Aiden.
Not with hatred.
With pity.
"You are what I denied."
Aiden bristles.
I step forward slowly.
"What is this trial?"
She gestures to the endless bridge.
"A path built from choice.
Memory.
Fear."
My stomach twists.
"What must I do?"
Her wings unfold behind her—
wider than mine,
colder than starlight.
"To ascend the throne,
you must prove that your bond
is not weakness."
Aiden growls deep in his throat.
"Watch your words."
She turns her sad eyes toward him.
"Wolf, your love will be her undoing
if she clings to it blindly."
"Love saved her," Aiden snaps.
Her voice softens.
"Love destroyed me."
Silence crashes between us.
Aiden stiffens.
I swallow hard.
"What do you mean?" I whisper.
She steps closer.
"Love made me choose my heart
over my duty.
And the realms fell."
Aiden snarls again.
"Not happening this time."
But the Sovereign-Liyana shakes her head slowly.
"You do not understand the throne.
It does not allow balance.
It demands devotion."
She looks straight into my soul.
"If you choose the wolf,
you abandon the throne.
If you choose the throne,
you abandon him."
My heart spasms.
"Aiden—"
my voice cracks.
He presses his forehead to my side.
"Don't say it.
Don't you dare."
But the Sovereign lifts a shimmering hand.
The bridge trembles violently—
runic symbols lighting up beneath us.
A tidal wave of memories bursts open—
my childhood alone,
the years hiding my magic,
the night Aiden died,
the day I resurrected him,
our bond forging,
our souls merging.
The chains of every choice tighten around me.
The Sovereign speaks over the storm of memory.
"The throne needs your whole heart.
Not half."
Aiden roars.
"She doesn't HAVE half a heart!
We SHARE it!"
But she shakes her head.
"Two souls cannot lead one destiny."
Aiden lunges forward—
—but the bridge splits between us,
cracking with white fire.
I scream.
"AIDEN—!"
He leaps back, barely avoiding the drop,
claws skidding on stone.
The Sovereign raises her hand.
A wall of shimmering glass erupts,
separating him from me.
He slams into it with a snarl.
"LIYANA—GET BACK—
DON'T LISTEN TO HER—!"
But her voice commands the realm.
"The trial begins."
THE FIRST TEST — THE BURDEN OF HEARTS
The Sovereign-Liyana stands before me,
hands glowing with faint moonfire.
"The question is simple."
Her eyes lock onto mine.
"Can you lead
without him?"
My breath stutters.
"What?"
The bridge shakes again,
cracks glowing brighter.
The sky darkens.
"Show me a world
where you survive
without the wolf."
My chest constricts so hard I can barely speak.
"No—
no, I can't—
I can't imagine—"
"Then fail."
Her voice is as cold as star-ice.
"And fall."
Aiden slams against the barrier.
"I said—LET—HER—GO—!!"
But the wall holds.
The Sovereign walks closer,
her presence cold, crushing.
"Show me a future without him."
I shake my head, wings trembling.
"I—I can't—"
"Then the throne rejects you."
A second crack forms beneath my feet.
Aiden howls, claws scraping against the barrier.
"LIYANA—LOOK AT ME—
DON'T LET THEM BREAK YOU—!!"
I try.
I try so hard.
But the Sovereign's voice digs deeper.
"Show me a world
where he dies.
And you live."
I scream.
"STOP—
PLEASE—STOP—!"
The bridge ruptures.
The stars twist.
A vision bursts open—
Aiden dead.
My hands reaching for him.
A world empty.
I collapse to my knees.
"No—
NO—
I won't do this—
I WON'T—!"
Aiden roars.
"…Liyana—LOOK AT ME—NOT HER—ME—!!"
His voice cuts through the hallucination.
I look up.
His golden eyes burn through the glass wall,
through the fear,
through the trial.
His voice is a vow and a lifeline.
"…You don't choose a world without me.
Because it DOESN'T EXIST."
My wings flare,
igniting with fire and shadow.
The Sovereign steps back, startled.
Aiden snarls,
"Tell her, Liyana."
My heartbeat booms like a star exploding.
"I choose—"
my voice rises,
shaking the sky itself—
"THE WORLD
WHERE WE LEAD TOGETHER."
The glass wall shatters.
Aiden leaps to my side,
fur blazing with starfire.
The Sovereign's eyes widen.
The bridge stabilizes.
The Trial accepts my refusal.
But her voice echoes coldly:
"One test passed.
Two remain."
The storm calms,
but only barely.
And the chapter ends with:
Liyana and Aiden standing side by side on the endless bridge—
ready to face the next test,
knowing the hardest choices are still ahead.