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Cetus just laughs. It’s a sound that’s not a sound, but a pulse of something vast and cruel, vibrating through the fabric of space and time.

“No,” Sapphire whispers, understanding dawning on her face as I struggle to stand. “Every attack...”

Yes,Cetus confirms, circling us slowly.Every wound you inflict on me transfers to the other. This is the final trial—a test of devotion to see which one of you loves the other more.

My hands shake around the hilt of my sword. Because this is worse than anything the visions showed us. This is a nightmare brought to life—a twisted game where protecting her means hurting her.

“There has to be another way,” I say, my voice strained from the pain in my ribs that hasn’t gone away. “A loophole, or a trick. We can’t?—“

You cannot escape your fate,Cetus interrupts, lunging toward Sapphire.

For the first time in my life, I hesitate. My sword hangs mid-air, useless. Because if I strike, I’ll hurt her more. If I don’t?—

Cetus’s tail whips around, slamming into Sapphire with bone-crushing force.

She flies backward, crashing onto the ground several yards away. And for a terrifying second, she doesn’t move.

Ice explodes around my feet, surging across the black sand.

“Sapphire!” I call out to her, panic flooding my veins.

She stirs, her breath coming in short, uneven gasps, her body trembling from the impact. Blood seeps between her fingers, its crimson shadow staining her shirt and crushing my heart into dust.

She should be healing. She should be getting up and striking back.

But her healing isn’t working.

And the pain from my fall… I still feel it in my ribs. It’s throbbing under my skin,bruisingme.

I’ve never had a bruise in my life.

Snapping back into focus, I rush toward her, but Cetus moves swiftly, blocking my path.

Your bodies are tethered to mine now,he rumbles, his scales rippling with starlight.Your injuries won’t heal until one of us is dead.

Realization slams into me like a death sentence as I look at Sapphire’s bloodied form. Because we’re vulnerable now—truly vulnerable. No supernatural healing. No safety net. Just flesh, blood, pain, and the crushing weight of a mortality that neither of us should ever have to experience.

She’s going to die if this continues.

And there’s only one way to stop it. At least, only oneviableway.

“Kill him, Sapphire.” I step forward, sword raised, ignoring Cetus’s growl. “End this.”

She struggles upright, her face pale, her eyes blazing with anger.

Anger I hoped to never see directed at me again.

“No,” she snaps. “If I kill him, I’ll kill you, too. I won’t do that. How could you even ask me to?”

Her words whip into me, hurting worse than the bruise across my ribs.

“You hate a lot of things I do, don’t you?” I say softly, bitterness seeping into my voice.

Her expression cracks. “That’s not what I meant?—”

“It doesn’t matter. Becauseyou’rewhat matters.” I exhale sharply, desperate for her to understand. “The Star Disc belongs to you. And when you’re out of this place, you’ll do incredible things with it. I know you will—I’ve always known. Even when you doubted yourself, even when you hated me, and even when I pushed you away to protect you. Throughout all of it, I knew you’d change the world.”

She freezes, anguish and fury warring across her beautiful features.