The bridge becomes still—
too still—
as if the world itself is holding its breath
after witnessing my refusal to abandon Aiden.
The Sovereign-Liyana watches us in silence,
her expression unreadable,
her wings folded with impossible poise.
Aiden steps in front of me,
still growling low,
fur bristling in waves of starlight.
He positions himself between me and her
as if I'm the one on trial
and he is the judge, jury, and executioner.
"Round two," he mutters.
"I swear if she asks you to choose me or power again,
I'm biting her."
Despite everything,
I almost laugh.
But the Sovereign doesn't.
She raises her hand—
the air ripples like someone dragging a blade
through silk.
"The first test has been passed,"
she says softly.
But her voice carries the weight of collapsing realms.
"Now comes the second."
The runes under our feet brighten—
blinding white, then molten gold,
then black as starless night.
The bridge shifts.
Aiden lowers himself defensively,
hackles rising.
"Brace," he warns.
The ground falls out beneath us.
I gasp—
my wings snap open—
Aiden leaps—
but there is nothing to land on.
We plunge through darkness—
No sound.
No wind.
No resistance.
Only the cold certainty
that we're falling into something designed to break us.
Then—
We hit the ground.
Not painfully.
Not violently.
We simply… land.
And find ourselves standing in a place
I prayed I would never see again.
My breath freezes.
Aiden goes silent.
Because the world around us is—
Snow.
Endless white snow.
The clearing.
The trees.
The frozen lake.
The place where Aiden died.
Where I held his body.
Where his blood seeped into my palms.
Where the bond snapped like a broken bone.
Where my magic erupted uncontrollably for the first time.
Aiden stiffens slowly,
his massive wolf-body hovering between rage
and unbearable memory.
"Why…
why would they bring us here?" I whisper.
He doesn't answer.
Because he can't.
His golden eyes are fixed on the ground
where his lifeless body once lay.
The Sovereign's voice echoes from behind us—
though she is not physically present.
"The second test is the Trial of the Broken Crown."
The snow rustles.
Something moves.
Aiden's ears flatten.
A low rumble forms in his chest.
"Not this," he mutters.
"Anything but this."
The Sovereign continues:
"A crown must be forged
from loss."
The air shimmers.
A shadow forms ahead.
I step back instinctively—
Aiden moves to cover me.
Then the shadow gains shape.
Fur.
Blood.
Cold.
Aiden's dead body
appears in front of us.
Frozen.
Blue-lipped.
Eyes lifeless.
Exactly as he was the night he died.
Aiden chokes—
a sound I've never heard from him before.
It's not fear.
Not anger.
It's grief.
Raw and old
and reopened like a wound.
"Don't look," I whisper, grabbing him.
He doesn't move.
His eyes never leave the corpse.
The Sovereign's voice is ruthless:
"To ascend,
you must face the death of the wolf
without breaking."
Aiden snarls sharply.
"Break this trial,
and I break this realm,"
he snaps.
But even he sounds shaken.
My chest tightens painfully.
"What are we supposed to do?" I whisper.
The Sovereign answers:
"She must walk to him."
Aiden shoves me back.
"NO."
"Aiden—"
"NO.
You're not touching that thing."
His voice is sharp, panicked.
"That's not me.
It's a weapon.
A trick.
You're not going near it."
But the snowstorm thickens,
circling us in a tight spiral.
Her voice echoes again:
"Walk to him, Ascendant."
I step forward—
Aiden blocks me with his entire body.
"Liyana, listen to me," he says, voice trembling.
"Look at me."
I do.
His golden eyes burn with fear I've never seen before.
"If you walk to that…
memory…
the trial might pull you inside it."
His voice lowers.
"You might relive it.
All of it."
My breath stutters.
The night he died.
The moment the bond collapsed.
The scream that ripped my lungs raw.
The blood on my hands.
The cold that numbed my soul.
"I—"
My voice shakes.
"I don't want to relive it."
Aiden nudges my hand.
"Then don't."
But the Sovereign's voice slices through his reassurance:
"If she cannot face loss,
she cannot wear the crown."
Aiden roars:
"SHUT UP!"
But the world doesn't listen.
The corpse shifts.
A breath hitches in my throat.
It lifts its head—
as if waking.
No—
No, no, no.
Aiden moves instantly—
He storms forward,
planting himself between me and his dead self.
"If that thing moves toward her," he growls,
"I'll tear the trial apart."
But the corpse doesn't attack.
It speaks.
Its voice is my worst nightmare.
Soft.
Cracked.
Barely there.
"Liyana… why didn't you save me?"
Aiden's breath stops.
He staggers back.
My heart shatters into dust.
"No—
Aiden—
don't listen—"
But the corpse continues:
"Why did you let me die?"
Aiden snarls,
but the sound cracks at the end.
"SHUT UP—
I told you—
you're not him!"
But the corpse only crawls closer,
leaving streaks in the snow.
"Why did you scream for me…
after I was gone?"
My knees give out.
Aiden whips his head toward me.
"Liyana—DON'T—LOOK—AT—IT—"
But I can't stop.
Because I remember.
Every second.
Every heartbeat.
Every tear.
"I can't…"
I whisper, shaking.
"I can't do this—"
Aiden is in front of me instantly.
His huge body shields me.
His voice is a blade and a plea.
"Liyana.
Look at me.
ONLY ME."
Tears spill down my face.
"Aiden…
if I walk to it—
I'll break."
His voice softens,
pain woven through every word.
"…And if you don't…
you fail."
I choke on a sob.
"I'm scared."
He presses his forehead to mine.
"…Me too."
"But if I leave you—"
"You're not leaving me," he whispers fiercely.
"You're walking toward a memory.
I'm the one standing beside you."
My heart cracks open.
He pulls back just enough to meet my eyes.
"Liyana."
His voice is a vow.
"If we relive that night,
we relive it together."
"But—"
"Together," he repeats,
voice breaking.
I nod slowly.
Aiden steps back,
letting me move forward.
The corpse lifts its head again.
Snow swirls.
My wings unfold.
My heart aches.
And as I take the first step—
Aiden whispers through the bond:
"…I'm right here."
The snowstorm swallows us.
And the chapter ends with:
Liyana stepping toward the memory of Aiden's death—
while the real Aiden stays beside her,
ready to fight the past itself
to protect her heart.