"Where Power Kneels"
The Sanctum had never been silent.It breathed like a living creature—stone sighing, veined with runes, pulsing with an ancient heartbeat that did not belong to any realm Aeloria knew. She stood in its center, barefoot on obsidian glass, while the Convergence slowly stabilized around her.
Light coiled.Shadow thickened.Heat rippled.
Three forces that were never meant to exist in the same plane now spiraled around her body, weaving into her aura like threads of gold, night, and flame.
Draven watched her as a man on the verge of losing control—jaw tense, scarred hands clenched at his sides, wings flexed in unconscious hunger. He looked like a king ready to kneel, and that alone would have terrified entire nations.
But Kael…Kael stood opposite him, calm in a way that only made everything more dangerous. His silver hair brushed his jaw, eyes glowing with the serpent-fire of the Celestial Order. His power curled around him like smoke that whispered sins instead of prayers.
Both men were bound to her now.Both pulled by the Convergence.Both resisting instincts older than the stars.
The Sanctum's light shook violently.
"Aeloria," Kael murmured, stepping close enough that heat spread up her spine. "You must center the bond. It's reacting to your emotions."
Draven's wings flared at the sound of Kael's voice so near her.
"Get away from her."
Kael smirked without turning."Then control the Convergence, dragon. She responds to strength, not snarling."
Aeloria exhaled sharply as their energies collided—shadow-fire and celestial flame crackling against each other above her head.
The Sanctum thundered.
Her knees buckled.
Both men reached for her at the exact same moment.
And the Convergence snapped into place with the force of an explosion.
Light engulfed her.Shadow wrapped her waist like a protective hand.Fire curled around her throat in a crown.
Power roared through her veins, intoxicating and terrifying all at once.
Then the Sanctum spoke.
Its voice was not a voice.It was pressure.It was heat.It was something ancient pressing into their bones—
"Three souls. One oath. One fate.Only united desire can stabilize the Convergence.Let power bow… or shatter."
Aeloria gasped.
Draven froze.
Kael's smirk faded.
The Sanctum demanded a vow.A vow forged not in words—but in the deepest truth each of them tried to hide.
Aeloria swallowed, throat dry."What happens if we don't seal it?"
Kael's eyes darkened."Your power will consume you."
Draven's voice was low, dangerous, aching:"And mine will destroy everything trying to save you."
The Convergence pulsed violently.
They had no choice.
They had to vow.
And it would require each of them to surrender something they had never given anyone.
Power.
Control.
Desire.