The world did not return to normal after the Arbiter vanished.
The wind refused to move.
The sea's waves hung mid-curve, as if some part of reality forgot how to finish its own motion.
Aurelianth, Solance, and Lioren remained in their circles until the last crack of white light disappeared.
Then the circles dissolved instantly, and the ground steadied beneath them.
Aurelianth ran to Solance first.
Solance collapsed into him, glowing faintly, light trembling like a fevered heartbeat.
Lioren stumbled to them, knees scraping the earth, breathing like she had sprinted a mountain.
Aurelianth pulled them both close, one arm around each.
"Are you okay?"
Solance whispered:
"…I hated that.
I hated being pulled away from you.
I..."
Lioren pressed her forehead to Aurelianth's shoulder.
"I felt like I was suffocating."
Aurelianth kissed the top of her head gently.
"You both stayed connected.
You did everything right."
Solance clutched his tunic weakly.
"…But it said the next trial will… break one of us."
Aurelianth stiffened.
"Yes."
Lioren took a shaky breath.
"What does 'loss' even mean in Arbiter language?"
Aurelianth's jaw clenched.
"Something we can't fight."
Solance's glow dimmed.
"…We will face it together."
Aurelianth held Solance's face in both hands.
"You are not losing anything.
Not today.
Not ever."
But even as he said the words the sky pulsed once.
Like a heartbeat too large to belong to anything mortal.
Aurelianth's chest tightened.
"That pulse…"
Lioren's voice shook.
"It's the Arbiter...preparing something."
Solance curled its glowing fingers.
"…We should rest.
Before it begins."
But the Arbiter had no intention of letting them rest.
The second pulse hit.
Harder.
The air thinned.
The ground warped.
Reality bent like heated metal.
Lioren screamed:
"IT'S STARTING...!!"
Aurelianth grabbed both of them and the world shattered.
Into the Chamber of Loss
When Aurelianth opened his eyes, he was standing on a wide obsidian platform floating above an endless void.
Lioren stood to his right, frozen in shock.
Solance stood to his left, glow flickering violently.
A new Watcher...not the First stood before them.
This one was smaller, more human-shaped, but with a head split down the middle like a cracked mask.
Its voice was soft:
"TRIAL OF LOSS : INITIATING."
Aurelianth stepped forward.
"Which of us are you targeting?"
The cracked Watcher tilted its head.
"THE ARBITER WILL CHOOSE."
Solance grabbed Aurelianth's sleeve.
"…It will pick me."
Lioren shook her head.
"No....
it will target me.
I'm the human.
The weak link."
Aurelianth clenched his fists.
"It'll choose me.
Because I'm the one you both anchor yourselves to."
The Watcher extended a hand.
Three spheres appeared above it:
One gold.
One silver.
One amber.
The spheres pulsed.
Then the Watcher whispered:
"THE ARBITER SELECTS…"
Solance grabbed both Aurelianth and Lioren.
"…Please… not them…"
The spheres spun.
Slowly.
Painfully slowly.
Then....
They stopped.
The silver sphere lit up.
Solance's glow collapsed.
"…Me."
Aurelianth's heart cracked.
"NO."
Lioren screamed:
"TAKE ME INSTEAD!"
But the Watcher ignored them.
It pointed at Solance.
"THE LOSS TRIAL TARGET :
THE NEW NAME."
Solance shook violently.
"…What does that mean…?"
The Watcher answered:
"ONE OF TWO OUTCOMES WILL OCCUR."
Aurelianth stepped protectively in front of Solance.
"Say it."
The Watcher replied:
"OPTION ONE :
THE BOND HOLDS.
SOLANCE DEPARTS TEMPORARILY.
THE TRI-LINK REFORMS WITHOUT HARM."
Aurelianth exhaled.
"That's fine.
We can handle that."
But the Watcher raised a finger.
"OPTION TWO :
THE BOND BREAKS.
SOLANCE IS REMOVED PERMANENTLY."
Lioren's scream tore the air.
"AURELIANTH....
STOP IT....STOP THIS....
WE CAN'T....WE CAN'T...."
Aurelianth roared:
"NO.
NO.
WE ARE NOT LETTING THAT HAPPEN."
Solance put a glowing hand on Aurelianth's chest.
"…There is more."
The Watcher nodded.
"CORRECT."
Solance whispered:
"…Tell them."
The Watcher lifted its hand again.
"IF THE TRI-LINK BREAKS THE OTHER TWO LOSE A PORTION OF THEIR IDENTITY."
Lioren choked on her breath.
"Oh stars....
Aurelianth....we'll lose part of ourselves....
we'll lose....we'll...."
Aurelianth shook his head fiercely.
"No.
No one is losing Solance.
No one is losing themselves."
The Watcher extended its arms.
A cage of white light rose around Solance in a perfect square.
Aurelianth slammed his fists against it.
"LET IT GO...!!!"
The cage didn't move.
Lioren sobbed against the bars.
"SOLANCE....SOLANCE....
STAY WITH US....PLEASE...."
Solance pressed its hands to the inside of the cage.
"…I am trying...not to be afraid…"
Aurelianth touched the barrier where Solance's hand pressed on the other side.
"You don't have to be unafraid."
Solance's voice broke.
"…Then what do I do?"
Aurelianth whispered:
"Just stay.
Any way you can."
Lioren cried harder.
"We'll stay with you.
Every heartbeat."
Solance smiled faintly through tears of light.
"…I feel...your love."
Aurelianth choked.
"And you keep it.
Every pulse."
The Watcher lifted its hand.
"BEGIN."
The cage lit up.
Solance screamed....
A bright, tearing wail that sounded like glass cracking underwater.
Lioren collapsed.
Aurelianth slammed his fists again....
"SOLANCE...!!
HOLD ON...!!
DON'T YOU DARE LET GO OF US...!!"
Solance's voice flickered through the cage:
"…I am...trying....
I am....I...."
Then its glow cracked.
Aurelianth's heart seized.
Lioren screamed.
The bond....
The bond snapped.
Like a string cut by a knife.
Aurelianth fell to his knees.
Lioren clutched her head, sobbing:
"I CAN'T FEEL IT....
AURELIANTH....
I CAN'T FEEL IT ANYMORE....
WHERE DID SOLANCE GO....?!"
Aurelianth looked up.
The cage was empty.
Entirely empty.
Solance....Was gone.
Gone.
Aurelianth's voice rose in a raw, broken howl...
"SOLANCE...!!!"
The Watcher whispered:
"LOSS HAS BEGUN."
And the platform beneath them started to crack.