Light swallowed everything.
Heat.
Pressure.
Breathless brightness—
Then darkness.
Not the Beast King's shadow.
Not helpless, suffocating void.
Just quiet.
When I blinked my vision back into focus, I was lying on the smooth obsidian floor at the base of the Spire's inner chamber.
Warm arms were wrapped around me.
Strong.
Steady.
Unfamiliar—
Yllas.
He was kneeling, cradling my upper body against his chest, one hand supporting my back, the other braced against the floor. His eyes were molten gold, sharper than usual, pupils thinned into vertical slits.
"Kanah." His voice was low. Controlled.
But it trembled.
I blinked. "Yllas…?"
"You're awake."
He exhaled slowly, relief softening the lines of tension in his jaw.
"I thought—"
He stopped. Jaw flexing.
He didn't finish the sentence.
Because he didn't need to.
Gerrin rushed into view, markings glowing bright silver. "Her pulse is steady. Good."
Helion appeared seconds later, crouching lazily—though his eyes were sharp. "She looks better than Yllas, honestly."
Yllas hissed. "Not now."
Helion smirked. "Good. You're alive enough to snarl."
But then—
Owain's voice erupted like a storm above us.
"KANAAAAH!"
The sound shook dust off the Spire walls.
My heart lurched. "He's still—"
Yllas nodded tightly. "He never left the barrier."
Owain's voice cracked again.
"KANAH—ANSWER ME—"
He sounded like he was breaking.
Gerrin swallowed. "His aura's spiraling. He's going feral outside."
Helion rubbed the back of his neck. "Poor bastard."
Yllas slowly set me upright—but didn't let go until I was stable.
"You should go to him," he murmured.
Not jealous.
Not bitter.
Quiet.
But before I could take a step—
The Spire pulsed.
A shockwave shot through the chamber, golden and fierce, knocking Gerrin backward and forcing Helion to brace against a wall.
Yllas shielded me instantly, wrapping his wings—
yes, wings—around my body.
They manifested in an instant.
Black and gold.
Scaled and glowing.
Heat radiating from every feathered membrane.
My breath caught.
"Yllas—your wings—"
He didn't respond. His focus was on the Spire.
The walls lit up.
A voice echoed—
not spoken.
Not heard.
Felt.
The Seal stirs. The child rises.
The Beast King hunts.
The world trembles.
Owain's voice hammered the barrier again.
"KANAAH!"
The Spire ignored him.
A choice approaches.
Wolf.
Dragon.
Elf.
Leopard.
The runes pulsed violently.
Yllas' wings tightened around me, protective.
Gerrin stood, breath sharp. "The prophecy is repeating."
Helion muttered, "No—it's continuing."
The Spire whispered again—this time directly to me.
One will shield you.
One will claim you.
One will follow you.
One will betray you.
My stomach dropped.
"I—what—what does that—"
Yllas froze.
Gerrin's markings flared to a painful brightness.
Helion stopped smiling.
And then the line that ended every breath in the chamber—
Only one will stand when the final seal breaks.
Silence.
Real, suffocating silence.
Owain's faint voice again outside—
"Kanah… please…"
Everything in me twisted.
"I need to go to him."
"You will," Yllas said softly.
He withdrew his wings.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like he didn't want to step away.
But then—
A thundering crash shook the Spire.
The ground trembled.
Stone split.
Heat surged upward violently.
Helion stood instantly, tail flicking into existence behind him, golden and spotted. His pupils sharpened into predatory slits.
"That wasn't the Spire," he hissed.
Gerrin gripped his staff. "That was—"
"OWAIN!" I shouted.
Because I recognized the sound.
Wolf rage.
Wolf claws.
Wolf instinct—
Breaking something massive.
Yllas snarled, "He's trying to force his way in."
Helion grinned darkly. "Idiot's going to get himself cooked alive."
"He won't stop," Gerrin murmured. "Not while she's down here."
Yllas' aura tightened. "Let me handle him."
"No." I stepped forward.
"I'm going."
Helion placed a hand on my shoulder. "Kanah. Dragon territory isn't a place to run around when you're glowing like a damn beacon."
"Then protect me."
Helion blinked.
Gerrin let out a low breath. "She's learning."
Yllas moved toward me. "Stay at my side."
I nodded.
We moved up the spiral path, my legs still trembling from the Trial. Yllas stayed half behind me, half beside me, shielding me with tiny shifts of position.
Helion walked ahead, scouting.
Gerrin followed behind, reinforcing words.
The temperature rose as we ascended.
Voices echoed from above—
Angry.
Sharp.
Commanding.
Draconic.
And one voice louder than all of them—
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
Owain.
We reached the upper chamber.
The barrier glowed blinding gold, shaking under Owain's assault.
He slammed clawed hands into the surface, cracking it with every strike.
He was half-shifted—
ears pointed,
fangs bared,
claws extended,
pupils blown wide with the kind of fear only instinct could create.
"Owain!" I screamed.
He froze.
Spun.
Eyes locking onto me instantly.
"KANAH!"
He threw himself at the barrier—
It cracked—
Then shattered.
Yllas lunged forward. "DON'T STEP INSIDE—"
Too late.
Owain crashed through the remnants of the barrier in a burst of gold and flame.
And was instantly struck by a wall of heat so intense his body buckled.
He dropped to his knees, screaming.
"Owain!"
I ran toward him.
Yllas grabbed my arm. "KANAH—NO—he'll burn you!"
"I don't care!"
The rune burned in my chest—
flare
pulse
ignition—
and blasted outward.
A shield of golden light wrapped around me, then shot across the chamber and slammed into Owain—
not harming him
not burning him
shielding him.
Yllas staggered.
Gerrin caught his breath.
Helion choked on air.
Owain gasped as the shield wrapped around his body like a protective cocoon.
"What—what is this—"
He looked up at me—
eyes wild, terrified, relieved beyond reason.
"You protected me," he whispered.
My heart stuttered.
"I said I'd come back."
He crawled toward me, collapsing into my arms, shaking.
I held him.
He held me.
His face pressed into my neck.
"Don't leave me again."
"I won't," I whispered.
The shield flickered around us.
Then shattered like glass.
Owain sucked in a breath. "That was… you."
Yllas stepped forward slowly. "That was her rune."
Gerrin added, "It activated offensively. Protectively."
Helion unfolded his arms. "First time I've seen a human cast dragon shields."
Owain glared up at Yllas. "You took her inside."
"You would have died," Yllas replied calmly.
"I nearly did anyway!"
"Because you are reckless."
"Because I love her!"
Silence exploded through the chamber.
Owain froze.
Eyes widening.
I stared at him, breath catching.
Yllas blinked once. Slowly.
Helion muttered, "Well. There it is."
Gerrin whispered something in Elvish that sounded like God save us.
Owain realized what he'd said—
And didn't take it back.
He stood, pulling me with him gently.
"I love you," he said again—voice raw, unpolished, desperate.
"I love you. I've loved you since the moment you fell into my arms in the forest. I knew it before I admitted it."
"Owain—"
"But you—"
His voice trembled.
"You might choose Yllas. Or Gerrin. Or Helion. Or all of them. Or none."
He swallowed.
"Just don't choose him."
"Who?" I whispered.
Owain's voice broke.
"The Beast King."
The Spire pulsed violently.
Heat surged around us.
A deep, ancient voice whispered through the chamber.
Too late.
The ground split beneath us.
A crack of fire shot through the floor.
Yllas shouted, "KANAH—MOVE—!"
Owain shoved me behind him—
The flames erupted—
And a voice roared through the Spire—
I HAVE FOUND YOU.
The Beast King.
Here.
Inside dragon territory.
Helion swore loudly. "We're screwed."
Gerrin pulled his staff. "No—we fight."
Yllas stepped in front of me, wings erupting fully behind him.
Owain growled, claws digging into the stone.
More cracks split the ground, fire shooting upward—
And my rune blazed white-hot.
The Spire screamed.
I screamed.
And the Beast King's silhouette tore through the rift.