Kanah's knees buckled as the golden door ignited.
Its light wasn't warm.
It wasn't gentle.
It felt like staring into the sun while drowning.
Her pulse faltered.
Her lungs squeezed.
Her vision blurred.
"Owain…"
Her voice trembled.
"I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry…"
The golden light expanded—
And wrapped around her like a burning halo.
Kanah sobbed.
"I chose you to lose… because you're the one I can't bear to see die."
She pressed a shaking hand to her heart.
"And because I know… you'll keep living."
The gold swallowed her.
Owain Feels the Tear
Owain didn't hear her exact words.
He didn't need to.
The second the golden door activated—
He felt it.
The bond.
Ripping.
Not snapping—
tearing,
strand by strand,
like someone pulling out nerve endings with bare hands.
Owain screamed.
Not a wolf scream.
Not a human scream.
Something in between.
Something primal.
Something broken.
"KANA—AHHH—!!"
His hands clawed into the barrier until his nails split.
Gerrin staggered back.
"Owain—OWAIN—STOP—your heart—your HEART—!!"
Yllas dragged himself forward, wing dragging against the ground.
"Owain—don't—DON'T FIGHT IT—"
Owain slammed his fist so hard against the barrier that bone cracked.
He didn't even feel it.
Helion tried to physically pull him back.
"Owain—ENOUGH—ENOUGH—YOU'LL KILL YOURSELF—"
Owain snarled, teeth sharp, voice hoarse:
"LET ME GO— LET ME GO— I CAN GET TO HER—"
The bond tore again.
Owain's chest arched sharply.
He collapsed to his knees, vomiting blood into the snow.
Helion grabbed him from behind, wrestling him back.
"Owain— OWAIN— breathe— BREATHE—"
"I—can't—she's—she's—"
His voice broke mid-word.
He clutched his chest with both hands.
"Something's— being— ripped—out—of—ME—"
Gerrin's throat tightened.
"Owain… that's your instinct bond. It's unraveling."
Owain's eyes widened in horror.
"No—no—NO—SHE'S MINE—SHE CHOSE ME—SHE—SHE—"
His sentence choked.
Not from pain.
From missing something.
His voice came out smaller.
Lost.
"...what did she choose?"
Yllas froze.
Gerrin's face blanched.
Helion's eyes widened.
Owain blinked slowly, like he had forgotten how his eyes worked.
"What… what am I… forgetting…?"
Kanah's name hovered on the edges of his mind—
And slipped.
Kanah Endures the Unbonding
Kanah stepped through the golden door.
Her feet hit a warm, endless field of light.
Her breath caught immediately.
Something stabbed through her chest.
Sharp.
Burning.
Twisting.
She screamed.
"Owain—!! OWAIN—PLEASE—"
Her voice echoed through a place that had no walls.
Her legs buckled and she collapsed on her hands.
The pain doubled.
Her pulse stuttered.
Her chest felt like someone was pulling a glowing thread out of it—
Slowly.
Mercilessly.
A voice whispered above her, the First King:
"This is the unbonding."
Kanah gasped, hands clawing at the ground.
"N—no—please—he—he'll die—he'll—"
"He was not the one chosen to die."
The pain intensified.
Kanah screamed so loudly she thought her throat would tear.
She grabbed her chest, feeling the bond unravel inside her.
Her memories flickered.
Her warmth.
His warmth.
Owain smiling.
Owain holding her.
Owain whispering her name.
They flickered—
faded—
dimmed.
"No—no—NO—PLEASE—PLEASE DON'T TAKE HIM FROM ME—!!"
Her own voice echoed back at her.
Her own sobs.
Her own heartbeat fading into a hollow rhythm.
She curled into a ball, sobbing into her knees.
"I loved him… I love him so much—please don't make me forget—please—PLEASE—"
But the light pulsed again.
And she felt something inside her—
break.
Silent.
Irreversible.
Owain Loses Something Critical
Owain suddenly went still.
His chest stopped heaving.
His eyes unfocused.
As if something had been unplugged inside him.
He whispered,
"…my chest… it feels empty…"
Helion let go of him slowly.
"Owain… do you… remember her name?"
Owain blinked.
Confused.
"What… what do you mean…?"
Gerrin swallowed.
"Owain.
Say her name."
Owain opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
His heart thudded painfully.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
The absence carved into him like a wound.
"I… I… I know someone was here…"
He clutched his head.
"I—I can feel the shape of her—but the name—her name—why—why—WHY CAN'T I SAY HER NAME—!!?"
He roared in agony.
Yllas and Helion exchanged a horrified look.
Gerrin whispered:
"That is the price.
He lost the bond."
Owain collapsed into the snow, trembling violently.
He whispered into the cold:
"...why does it hurt… when I don't even know who I lost…?"
Helion pressed a hand to the back of Owain's head.
Soft.
Painful.
"You didn't lose her," he said quietly.
"She lost you."
Owain choked.
Tears dripped onto the ground.
"Who…?
Who did I lose…?"
Kanah's Final Tear
Kanah's world dimmed.
She lay face-down on the glowing floor, trembling so hard she could barely breathe.
The First King stood above her, voice calm.
"The unbonding is complete."
Kanah sobbed into the ground.
"He…
he doesn't remember me…?"
"He remembers everything… except the part of his soul you anchored."
She curled her fingers into the light.
"Will I forget him too…?"
"No."
Her breath stilled.
"What…?"
"You will remember every detail."
The First King paused.
"That is what loss means."
Kanah closed her eyes.
A single tear slid across the golden floor.
"Then why…
why does this feel like a punishment…?"
The First King answered, voice low:
"Because this is the trial that shapes the throne."
Kanah forced her eyes open.
"Turn… turn it back."
"No."
She sobbed.
"PLEASE—turn it back—PLEASE—DON'T MAKE HIM FORGET—"
The First King stepped closer.
"Loss must be lived. Not undone."
Kanah covered her mouth to smother another scream.
Her chest ached.
Her breath shook.
Her hands trembled.
And then—
The golden light opened beneath her.
She fell.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Falling toward the Beastworld again.
Falling toward the ones who no longer shared her bond.
Falling toward Owain—
Who no longer remembered the feeling of loving her.
Wind whipped past her ears.
Her voice cracked.
"OWAIN—!!"
Her cry hit the world—
And echoed.
Owain looked up from the snow.
His expression shifted.
Recognition?
Pain?
Confusion?
Something.
He whispered:
"…who are you…?"
Kanah hit the ground in front of him—
Broken.
Trembling.
But alive.
She lifted her head.
Tears streamed down her face.
And she whispered:
"I'm the one you forgot."