**The Corruption Deepens**
Alyssandra's dragon form towered over Kaelen, her claws inches from his throat. The Maw's voice slithered through her mind, cold and hungry. *"Submit. The Nullborn's blood is *ours*."*
Kaelen's dagger glowed faintly—the same blade that had pierced the Sandreaver days ago. He lunged, not at her, but at the canyon wall. The dagger's tip struck stone, releasing a pulse of blue light that illuminated glyphs hidden beneath the sand.
Alyssandra recoiled, her scales flickering between silver and black. The light spread, revealing a labyrinth of runes etched into the cliffs. Visions assaulted her: a battlefield choked with Sandreavers, a throne room crumbling to dust, Kaelen's lifeless body at her feet.
"Stop!" she gasped, clutching her head.
Kaelen caught her as she collapsed. "What did you see?"
"Your death," she whispered. "Again."
Her voice broke. "Every time I touch the Crown's magic, it shows me how I'll lose you."
---
**The Memory Shard**
Dawn revealed the canyon's secret—a labyrinth of glyphs carved into the cliffs. Alyssandra traced one, her fingers trembling. The symbol resembled her mother's sigil but warped, its edges jagged.
"These… they're from the Crown's forging," she said.
Kaelen studied the patterns. "Your mother's work?"
"No." Her voice was hollow. "The Maw's. It's been here all along."
The ground shuddered. A **Temporal Wraith** emerged, its body a patchwork of decaying flesh and clockwork gears. The Wraith's mouth stretched into a grin.
*"The heir awakens,"* it rasped. *"The Nullborn's oath is *broken*."*
Kaelen summoned a pack of **Void Wolves**, their obsidian fur bristling. The Wraith dissolved into smoke, but not before hissing: *"The Spire awaits."*
---
**The Escape**
They fled into the desert, the Wraith's laughter echoing behind them. Alyssandra's dragon form flickered, unstable. Sandreaver hybrids circled—a dozen, then twenty. Kaelen's wolves fought savagely, but their mercury blood seeped into the sand, aging it into glass.
"**The Spire**," Alyssandra panted, her human form resurfacing. "We need answers."
Kaelen's grip tightened on her wrist. "You're sure about this? Malric's army—"
"—is nothing compared to what the Maw will do if we fail." She cut him off, her eyes glowing faintly blue. "It's using Malric. Using my bloodline. We end this now."
The world blurred as her mark flared, pulling them into a vortex. Kaelen's stomach lurched. When they landed, the Spire loomed—a needle of black glass piercing the sky, its surface shimmering with trapped souls.
---
**The Spire's Shadow**
Alyssandra landed on a balcony, her dragon scales receding. Guards surrounded them, their armor fused with Sandreaver shards. Kaelen's **Sky Basilisk** incinerated the first wave, but more flooded the chamber.
"**Alyssandra**!" Malric's voice boomed from the Spire's core. "The Maw's bride returns!"
Kaelen's dagger flared blue. "He's using the Crown's power. *Your* power."
Alyssandra's hands shook. *"No. The Crown is using *him*."*
She stepped forward, her mark burning brighter. The guards hesitated, recognizing the symbol.
"**Stand down**," she commanded, her voice echoing with the Crown's authority.
They didn't obey.
---
**The Confrontation**
Malric emerged from the shadows, his body half-flesh, half-smoke. The Chronos Crown's symbol pulsed in his chest—a glowing hourglass.
"You think the Maw wants *you*?" he sneered. "It wants the Nullborn. The Crown's *key*."
Alyssandra's mark burned. "What key?"
Kaelen's eyes widened. "The dagger. The glyphs. It's a *blood oath*—my life for yours."
Malric's laughter echoed. "Too late, boy. The Maw's already claimed her."
Alyssandra's dragon form erupted, but her claws swung toward Kaelen.
*"Submit,"* the Maw urged. *"His blood will free us."*
---
**The Blood Oath**
Kaelen dodged, his Nullborn magic flaring. "**Fight it**!"
Alyssandra froze, her human hand gripping the dagger. Memories of Seraphine flashed—her "death," her warning about the Crown's sentience.
*"She lied,"* the Maw hissed. *"The wizard lives. And she's *mine*."*
Alyssandra drove the dagger into her chest. The Maw's scream echoed.
*"You dare?"*
"I'm not your bride," she gasped. "I'm the Crown's *heir*."
The dagger's light intensified, revealing Malric's true form—his body a puppet, strings of time magic tied to the Crown's core.
---
**The Revelation**
"**Release him**," Alyssandra commanded.
The Crown laughed. *"He's mine. As you are."*
Kaelen's voice cut through the chaos. "It's the *bloodline*. The Crown's bound to your family."
Alyssandra shattered the balcony floor, dropping them into the Spire's depths. They landed in a chamber lined with portraits—every Veyth'ra heir, their eyes scratched out.
*"The Crown consumes heirs,"* Kaelen said, steadying her. "You're next."
Alyssandra's gaze fixed on her mother's painting. "Unless we break the cycle."
---
**The Gambit**
Kaelen plunged the dagger into his palm, blood sizzling. The Nullborn's mark (a black hourglass) flared on his wrist.
*"What have you done?"* the Crown roared.
"**Nullborn blood resists time magic**," he panted. "Even the Crown's."
The Spire's walls aged centuries, crumbling. Alyssandra clung to Kaelen as the chamber collapsed, revealing the Crown's core—a pulsing blue gem.
"Take it," Kaelen urged.
Alyssandra hesitated. *"The Maw's inside."*
The gem flared, and her dragon form engulfed the Spire, scales turning black. Kaelen's scream faded as the world unraveled.
Alyssandra stood atop the Spire's ruins, the Crown's core fused to her chest.
Kaelen lay unconscious below, his Nullborn mark dimming. The Maw's voice purred: *"Now you see. The throne is yours. The Nullborn is *ours*."*
She knelt beside him, her human hand trembling. "I won't let you take him."
But the Crown's power surged, and her dragon eye reflected a future she couldn't stop: Kaelen, chained to the Maw's altar, his blood feeding the void.