Ember's POV
"I'm not doing it."
The words come out firm and clear despite the temple crumbling around us.
Celeste laughs. "You don't have a choice! The prophecy—"
"Can go to hell." I summon fire in both hands—not silver light, but pure red flame. MY flame. "I'm not erasing myself from existence just because some ancient prophecy says I should."
"Then both realms will die!" Celeste screams.
"Maybe they deserve to." I glare at her. "Maybe realms built on lies and manipulation and fake prophecies should burn."
Selene steps forward, her moonlight eyes sad. "Ember, I understand your anger, but millions of innocent people—"
"Will find another way to survive." I turn to Lyra. "Get everyone out. Now."
"What are you going to do?" Lyra asks.
"Something stupid." I smile. "You know, my usual thing."
Through the connection I share with Kaelan—not a bond anymore, but something deeper—I feel his curiosity. He's listening. Dying, but listening.
"Kaelan," I think toward him. "I'm not merging with you."
"I know." His mental voice is weak. "You're too stubborn."
"But I'm also not letting you die."
"Ember, there's no other way—"
"There's always another way." I close my eyes and focus on the silver light inside me. "The Consortium split us apart six hundred years ago. But they didn't destroy what we were. They just... separated it. Like tearing a page in half."
"You can't un-tear a page," Kaelan thinks back.
"No. But you can tape it back together." I open my eyes. "We don't have to merge completely. We just have to reconnect. Stay two people but share one power source."
Selene's eyes widen. "That's... that's never been attempted."
"Good. I like being first." I plant my feet as the temple shakes. "Kaelan, if this works, we'll be connected forever. Like, FOREVER forever. You'll feel everything I feel. I'll know everything you think. No privacy. No separation. Are you okay with that?"
A pause. Then: "Will we still be ourselves?"
"Yes."
"Then I'm in. Let's break another prophecy."
I laugh despite everything. "On three?"
"On three."
The ceiling starts to collapse. Celeste throws magic at me, but I barely notice. All my focus is on the silver light.
"ONE!" I shout.
The light grows brighter, spreading through my veins like liquid starlight.
"TWO!" Kaelan's voice echoes in my head.
I feel him gathering his shadow magic, weak as it is. He's pouring everything he has left into this.
"THREE!"
We connect.
Not merging. Not bonding. Something else entirely—like two rivers flowing side by side, touching but never mixing, sharing the same current.
The explosion of power is instantaneous.
Silver fire erupts from my body, and I hear Kaelan scream from wherever he is. But it's not a scream of pain—it's a scream of rebirth.
Through our connection, I feel his corruption burning away. The Consortium's curse shattering. His life force stabilizing.
And I feel something else: his memories flooding into me.
Three hundred years of loneliness. Waiting. Searching. Never giving up hope.
"I see you," I gasp. "I see everything you've been through."
"And I see you," he responds. "Your strength. Your fire. Your refusal to be broken."
The silver light explodes outward, destroying the Consortium's magic in a wave of pure power.
Celeste screams as it hits her, burning away her stolen abilities. She collapses, powerless.
The temple stabilizes. The collapse stops.
And I feel Kaelan standing up, wherever he is. Alive. Whole.
"Did it work?" Lyra asks, staring at me.
I look down at my hands. They're glowing with silver fire—not destroying me, but part of me now. "Yeah. It worked."
"What did you do?"
"Created a new type of bond. One where we stay ourselves but share power." I can feel Kaelan in the back of my mind, like a constant presence. "We're connected, but not merged. Two people. One source."
Selene is staring at the temple walls. The silver writing is changing, rearranging itself into new patterns.
"The prophecy is rewriting itself," she whispers. "You've changed the fundamental rules of soul bonds. This is... unprecedented."
"Good," I say. "I'm tired of following other people's rules."
Through our connection, I feel Kaelan's agreement. And something else—he's moving. Coming here.
"He's on his way," I tell the others. "We should probably leave before—"
The temple door explodes inward.
But it's not Kaelan who enters.
It's my father, Lord Vespian. And he's not alone.
Behind him are dozens of Consortium members, all channeling magic into a single point. Into him.
"Clever girl," Father says, his voice echoing with power. "You found a loophole in the prophecy. But you made one mistake."
"What's that?"
"You showed us it's possible." He smiles, and it's the cruelest thing I've ever seen. "If you can create a new type of bond, so can we. And we have dozens of compatible pairs ready to connect. Dozens of power sources to drain."
My blood runs cold. "You're going to create an army."
"Not an army. A hivemind." His eyes glow with stolen magic. "Every soul bond in both realms, connected through us. The Consortium will become a single entity with the power of thousands."
"That'll kill everyone involved!"
"Not if they don't have a choice." He raises his hand. "And neither do you, daughter. You're coming with us. Your new bond is the template we need to make it permanent."
Lyra throws fire at him, but he swats it away like an insect.
"Run!" I shout at her and Selene.
But before they can move, Consortium mages surround us. We're trapped.
Father approaches me slowly. "You should have merged with the Shadow King when you had the chance. At least then your sacrifice would have meant something."
"It still will." I gather every ounce of power I have. "Because I'm about to show you what happens when you push a fire mage too far."
Through our connection, I feel Kaelan. He's close. So close.
"Ember, hold on," his voice echoes in my mind. "I'm almost there."
"Hurry," I think back. "Because I'm about to do something really, really stupid."
I close my eyes and grab my father's hand.
His stolen magic floods into me—and I let it. All of it. The power of dozens of corrupted soul bonds, all pouring into my body at once.
It should kill me instantly.
Instead, through my connection with Kaelan, I channel it all to him.
We become a conduit—me absorbing the corrupted power, Kaelan purifying it with shadow magic, then sending it back out as pure silver fire.
Father screams as his stolen magic burns away. "What are you DOING?!"
"Cleaning up your mess," I gasp through the agony.
The power is too much. Even shared between Kaelan and me, it's destroying us from the inside.
But we don't let go.
Every soul bond Father corrupted—we free them. Every person he enslaved—we liberate them.
And when the last bit of stolen magic burns away, Father collapses. Empty. Powerless.
I fall to my knees, barely conscious.
Through our connection, I feel Kaelan collapse too.
"We did it," I whisper.
"We're dying," he responds.
"Yeah. That too."
Lyra catches me before I hit the ground. "Ember! Stay with me!"
But I can barely hear her. The silver light is fading. The connection with Kaelan is flickering.
We purified too much power. Saved too many people.
And now we're paying the price.
"Kaelan," I think desperately. "I'm sorry. I should have said this earlier. I think I'm falling—"
The connection cuts.
Everything goes black.
And the last thing I hear is a voice I don't recognize: "Foolish children. You played right into our hands."