The Sandreaver's roar shook the dunes.
Alyssandra's eyes snapped open. Kaelen's arms were still around her, his heartbeat steady against her back. The creature's mercury tongue flickered in the moonlight, its crystalline scales scraping the sand like blades.
"Get up," Kaelen hissed, pulling her to her feet. "This one's *different*."
The Sandreaver's maw split into three jagged sections, each lined with rotating teeth. It moved faster than the one they'd fought before, its body coiling like a whip. Alyssandra's mark burned—a warning.
"**It's not just hunting us**," she said. "It's *remembering*."
---
**The Hunt**
They ran.
The Sandreaver's tail slammed the ground, sending prismatic shockwaves that aged the dunes into glass. Kaelen summoned a pack of **Void Wolves**, but they whimpered, refusing to approach the beast.
"Why aren't they attacking?" Alyssandra panted.
Kaelen's face was grim. "It's not from the Ethereal Wilds. This thing's from the *Maw*."
Alyssandra's blood ran cold. The Chronos Maw—the labyrinth where timelines unraveled. *How did it get here?*
---
**The Sacrifice**
The Sandreaver lunged.
Kaelen shoved Alyssandra aside, taking the bite meant for her. His scream echoed as mercury teeth sank into his shoulder. Alyssandra's magic surged, uncontrolled.
"**No**!"
Fire erupted from her hands, but the Sandreaver didn't retreat. It dragged Kaelen into the sand, its body dissolving into a thousand shards. Alyssandra dropped beside him, her fingers brushing his wound.
His skin was peeling—aged decades in seconds.
"Don't you *dare* die," she snarled, tears dripping onto his chest.
---
**The Awakening**
The tears activated the Crown.
Alyssandra's mark flared blue-white. Visions flooded her: Kaelen's past—a mother's scream, Seraphine's bloodied hands, a prophecy scroll burning.
*"You're the Nullborn,"* she gasped. "The only one who can—"
Kaelen gripped her wrist. "**Don't say it**. Not yet."
The Sandreaver's shards reformed, towering over them. Alyssandra's dragon form erupted, scales cracking the sand. She tore into the beast, but its mercury blood seeped into her veins.
*"You're mine now,"* the Sandreaver hissed—not with sound, but in her mind.
---
**The Corruption**
Alyssandra's dragon wings shuddered.
She collapsed, human again, her skin flickering between scales and flesh. Kaelen dragged her behind a boulder, his arm still aged and withered.
"What's happening to me?" she whispered.
"The Maw's mark," he said. "It's rewriting you."
Alyssandra's laughter was manic. "Rewriting? I can't even *remember* myself."
Kaelen's hand cupped her face. "Then let me remind you."
---
**The Memory**
He pressed his forehead to hers.
Alyssandra's mind flooded with Kaelen's memories: Seraphine's death, his years alone in the desert, the moment he'd found the prophecy. *"The Crown's heir will bind the Maw… or become its vessel."*
"You knew," she breathed. "All along."
"I swore to protect you," he said. "Even from yourself."
The Sandreaver's roar cut through the moment. Alyssandra's mark pulsed—a command, not a request.
---
**The Choice**
"Shift again," Kaelen ordered.
"I can't control it!"
"**Try**."
Alyssandra's bones cracked. Wings erupted, but her left claw remained human. The Sandreaver struck, shattering her arm.
Kaelen's dagger flew. It pierced the creature's tongue, releasing a spray of mercury.
"Now!" he yelled.
Alyssandra's fire incinerated the Sandreaver. Its death scream echoed: *"The Maw knows you now."*
---
**The Aftermath**
They collapsed into the sand.
Kaelen's aged arm trembled as he bandaged her wounds. Alyssandra stared at the stars, her voice hollow. "Did you mean it? About stopping me?"
Kaelen didn't answer.
A shadow moved—a **Time Wraith**, its decaying body floating toward them.
*"The Crown's heir,"* it rasped. *"You've spilled the Maw's blood. Now it hunts you."*
Alyssandra's mark flared. The Wraith's eyes widened.
*"Not just the heir,"* it whispered. *"The *bride*."*
Kaelen's dagger was at its throat before it finished. "What did you call her?"
The Wraith dissolved into smoke, leaving one final warning: *"The Maw claims its mate."*
---
**The Revelation**
Alyssandra's laughter was broken.
"Mate?" she spat. "I'm a *weapon*, not a bride."
Kaelen's grip tightened on her. "No. You're Alyssandra. And I'll burn the Maw before it takes you."
But the Crown's mark pulsed again—this time, with a new vision: Kaelen, kneeling before the Maw's altar, his hands bound in chains of light.
*"It's already too late,"* Alyssandra whispered.
---