Page 47

47

LIORA

T he air in the ruins is overflowing with something unseen, pressing against my skin, suffocating. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to steady my breath, trying to ignore the way my hands tremble.

The whispers are louder now, curling around my skull, seeping into my veins.

It’s time, Liora. Time to choose.

Amara stands before me, or perhaps it’s only an illusion, a remnant of something that once was. Her form flickers, barely solid, and yet when she speaks, it feels as though her voice is inside me, wrapping around my ribs like a cage.

“Tell me the truth,” I demand, my voice hoarse, raw. “No more riddles. No more lies. What did you do? What did you sacrifice?”

Amara’s gaze softens, her lips parting as if she wants to reach for me, to comfort me. But she doesn’t. She never does.

“The artifact did not just bind Dain,” she says. “It bound me, too.”

My chest tightens.

She takes a step closer, the edges of her figure fraying like tattered silk. “I did not reincarnate naturally, Liora. My soul was trapped. Torn apart over and over.” Her expression twists, something pained flickering behind her eyes. “And each time I returned, the seal weakened.”

I shake my head, refusing to accept it.

“The artifact doesn’t just seek power,” Amara continues. “It seeks me. It needs me to surrender, to give in so that it can fully possess me.” Her voice wavers. “And if I die, it will finally be able to release all of its power.”

A violent shudder wracks through me. My stomach churns. “So I shouldn’t have been be born,” I whisper, the words bitter on my tongue. “I was just a?—”

“A consequence,” Amara finishes for me. “You’re me at the same time, not me.”

Something inside me shatters.

The dark presence laughs.

I press my hands against my temples, my breathing shallow, uneven. My mind feels like it’s splitting apart. The artifact’s hunger curls against my skin, taunting, coaxing.

I should break the bond.

I should let Dain go.

If I do, I will be defenseless.

But if I don’t…

I will always be the thing standing between him and his freedom.

A choice.

One last, final choice.

The decision falls into place.

A weight lifts from my chest. The pain dulls.

I will unbind myself from Dain.

To free him.

To let him live.

To love him enough to let him go.

The darkness shifts. The whispers grow eager. Amara smiles sadly.

"Perhaps," she murmurs, "this is the right choice."

A different path. Another possibility.

Her image fades, swallowed by shadow.

Suddenly, Dain is there.

He crashes into the space like a storm, wings unfurled, golden eyes blazing. The rage on his face is terrifying, lethal.

"Liora," he snarls. "Don’t you dare."

The sheer fury in his voice almost makes me falter, but I can’t.

I have already decided.

I step toward the center of the cave, toward the sigils carved into the stone, toward the magic thrumming beneath my skin.

"I’m breaking the bond, Dain."

His growl rips through the air. "You won’t live long enough to do it."

I smile. A soft, bitter thing.

He doesn’t understand.

Of course, he doesn’t.

I meet his gaze and say it.

"It doesn’t matter if I’m Amara or if I’m Liora." My voice shakes, but I do not waver. "Because no matter who I am, I will always love you."

Something breaks in his eyes.

I lift my arms.

The magic erupts.

Dain lunges toward me, roaring, but it’s too late.

The power surges through my veins, a blinding force splitting through my skin.

The sigils beneath me ignite.

The world fractures around me.

I hear his scream, my name ripped from his throat in a way I have never heard before, raw, desperate, pleading.

Agony.

I feel my soul tear.

The bond snaps.

The pain is indescribable.

Blood gushes from my mouth, from my eyes, from my skin. My body crumbles, every muscle seizing, every nerve shattering.

The cave trembles. The darkness shrieks.

Dain catches me just before I hit the ground.

His arms are warm. His voice desperate.

"Liora," he growls, shaking me. "No. NO."

His grip is so tight, his claws digging into my flesh as if he can force me to stay.

But I’m already slipping.

I blink up at him, vision fading. The warmth is leaving me.

I smile one last time.

Everything goes dark.