Chapter 44
There was no light inside the Heartgate.
No time.No shape.Just a sea of possibility, endless and loud.
Eliendara floated through it—not walking, not flying—just drifting, as thousands of versions of herself screamed to be heard.
"Choose me.""I was the stronger one.""I killed for us.""I saved everyone.""I never loved him.""I never failed.""I burned the world so you wouldn't have to."
Their voices were hers.
But they weren't her.
And yet… they could be.
That was the danger.
That was the trap.
She saw them form around her.
A ring of selves, surrounding her like judges. Each wearing her face—older, younger, crueler, colder. All forged by choices she hadn't made but might have.
One stepped forward.
She wore black flame like armor and had Kael's blood on her blade.
"I protected us," the Dark Eliendara said. "I made sure we never suffered again."
Another emerged.
Draped in royal silk, crowned in ice.
"I ruled. I gave them peace. I never let love distract me."
A third floated closer.
Wounded. Eyes hollow. But alive.
"I survived. That's all that mattered."
And more came.
Versions who killed.Versions who loved someone else.Versions who let the world end just to stay safe.
All of them stepped closer, voices louder, burning her mind from every side.
"You're weak.""You're soft.""You're indecisive.""Let us take the throne of reality."
Eliendara fell to her knees, hands over her ears, the noise unbearable.
But then—
One voice.
Quiet.
Warm.
Kael's.
Not spoken aloud.
Remembered.
"You are always you."
She opened her eyes.
And remembered.
The mistakes.The losses.The love.The fear.
She didn't need to erase those things to be whole.
She needed to accept them.
She stood.
Looked at all the versions.
And whispered:
"I don't choose any of you."
The others froze.
"You can't survive this alone," one shouted.
"You're not enough!" screamed another.
But Eliendara raised her hand.
And the true flame surged within her chest—burning clean, fierce, golden.
"I was never meant to be perfect. I was meant to be true."
And the Heartgate roared.
The false selves howled and were consumed—burned not by vengeance, but by truth.
And in that fire, only one remained.
Her.
Eliendara.
Real.
Flawed.
Alive.
Outside the Gate, the world shook as light burst from the sky.
The versions vanished mid-step.
The fires turned gold.
And a single figure stepped from the Heartgate's light—
Eyes glowing.Hair trailing flame.Truth incarnate.
Kael whispered, broken with hope.
"…Eliendara."
She looked at him.
Smiled.
And the world remembered her again.
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 45: The Crown That Waited
She has returned.
But the world she saved is not the one she left.
The gods are stirring.
And one final crown remains—
The one she cast aside.The one that still waits in the ashes.The one only she can wear.