I froze on the cliff edge.
My lungs were clawing for air, my chest couldn't seem to give. Sunlight cut through the mist over Lunaris Manor, catching on the stone like it was trying too hard to be beautiful but all I saw was Kael being chained and wrapped in the guardian's coils like some nightmare sculpture that decided to breathe.
My stomach flipped so hard I thought I'd throw up.
Victor's voice sliced across the gardens, sharp enough to cut skin.
"Elara Fynn!!!!!, Step forward. The ritual calls for its conduit, you know your role."
I shook my head so fast my hair whipped into my eyes. "No! I'm not doing anything for you!"
My voice cracked, it sounded small and I hated that. But Victor didn't care, he never did. Not when he held all the power down below.
Selene nudged me forward, not gently. "Move, you can't leave Kael like that."
My heartbeat slammed so loud it drowned everything else. My legs felt like they belonged to some dying animal, but I forced myself to look at him again.
Kael... His head tilted up just enough, his eyes catching mine. He looked hurt and hoping I'd do something. He tried to smile, but the chains dragged his shoulders down.
Victor lifted his staff, red symbols crawling across it like angry fire ants. "One step closer, or he suffers."
I wanted to run, gosh..., I wanted to sprint right off that cliff and disappear, but Kael was down there and he was breathing only because Victor let him.
Selene muttered, "If you don't act, he dies. And I'm not dragging his unconscious body across this yard alone."
The guardian let out a roar that throbbed in my teeth, it made the air vibrate. My blood felt like it was pulsing wrong, too loud, too fast. It didn't attack me, but it wasn't neutral either. It felt… aware of me, or maybe...., judging me.
My knees were shaking but I had to step forward. The closer I got, the heavier everything felt. Like the air had weight, pressure, and magic pressing down on my shoulders.
Victor's grin stretched, cruel and proud. "The blood chooses, the guardian awaits its bond."
I stopped just short of the garden's edge, my legs were still trembling. "Kael," I whispered. "I'm coming, I swear. Please don't let go."
His eyes softened, barely. He mouthed, I trust you.
My breath hitched. Trust shouldn't feel this heavy.
I took one more step and the guardian stiffened. Its amber eyes snapped to me and the world around us pulsed like a heartbeat that wasn't mine. Something in my chest pulled toward it, hot and cold all at once.
Selene whispered, "It sees you, like it did back underground."
I nodded shakily. "Yeah… I feel it."
"Bind her! Do it now!"
I hesitated for half a second, a half second too long.
The guardian lunged at Victor and slammed into him, knocking him straight off his feet. His staff clattered across the stone like it was fleeing him.
Selene screamed, "Elara! Go!"
Adrenaline snapped through me like lightning. I sprinted toward Kael, slipping on wet grass. The guardian spun with me, cutting through the sunlight, massive and fast and.... terrifying.
I threw myself at Kael, grabbing the chains with shaking hands. "Hold on!"
He looked up, pain etched into every line of his face. "Elara… don't get yourself killed."
An elder launched at me from the shadows, his claws were out, aiming right for my skull.
I ducked and hit the ground so hard, scraping my elbow. The pain flared up my arm, but I didn't stop. I grabbed the chains again and yanked with everything I had.
Kael grunted, as the metal was biting into his wrists. "Elara…"
I ignored the sting in my fingers, I ignored the fear burning up my throat and I pulled him like my life depended on it…..because his did.
Another elder lunged, too fast but the guardian moved first.
It smashed into the attacker so hard the ground cracked, this made the elder fly like a broken doll.
Kael stared at me, breathless. "How…..how is it helping you?"
"I don't know!" I gasped. "Just move!"
I yanked again and this time, the chains felt loose and that gave us a little hope.
Selene jumped into the fight, slamming her boot into another elder's ribcage. "I'm not letting you idiots die today!"
Kael finally tore one wrist free. Blood ran down his arm. "Elara…"
I wrapped an arm around him, as I dragged him, using whatever strength I had left to tilt him out of the guardian's hold.
Victor scrambled up, rage twisting his face. "The ritual cannot be broken!"
The guardian froze mid-motion. Its head turned toward me slowly….., too slowly like it was choosing something.
Those amber eyes locked on mine; it wasn't angry, it wasn't confused, but was waiting.
The chains in my hands trembled. A faint glow crawled across them. The earth cracked beneath our feet like something was waking underneath us.
And then, a voice boomed inside my skull, deep and ancient and impossible to ignore: "Elara Fynn… claim it."
Kael looked right at me. "You can do this," he whispered.
My hands tightened around the chains. The guardian bowed its massive head toward me, expecting something.
I swallowed hard.
Because it hit me all at once, sharp as teeth: I didn't have a choice.