The stone staircase wound endlessly downward, deeper than any ruin should reach. The heat was suffocating. Walls wept molten tears, and echoes of forgotten screams whispered from cracks in the stone.
Kael's hand stayed in Aria's, fingers trembling slightly. She could feel the war within him—his breath uneven, his grip sometimes too tight, as if afraid he might slip away from himself.
"The air… it feels thicker," Aria murmured. "It's like the bond's… being watched."
Kael gave a faint nod. "We're near the source. The place where the first bond was broken."
At the bottom, they entered a massive, glowing chamber—a cathedral of flame and bone. Pillars of obsidian stretched to a ceiling lost in shadows. At the center stood an altar shaped like a broken crown, hovering above a pit of fire.
Suddenly, a shape emerged from the flames.
Not a demon. Not a beast.
A mirror.
Kael gasped—it was him, but not. A darker version. Armor scorched black, crimson eyes burning, and a twisted crown hovering above his brow. The Devourer, as he once was.
> "You finally arrived," it said, voice like smoke and velvet. "And you brought her."
Aria stepped in front of Kael. "We're not afraid of you."
The Devourer's grin was slow and cruel. "Oh, little Seer… I am not here to fight. I am here to show. Kael cannot destroy me… because I am him."
In a flash, Kael was ripped from Aria's side and pulled into the flames.
"Kael!" she screamed, running forward—but a barrier of golden light stopped her.
The Devourer turned to her, eyes boring into hers. "You see the future, Aria? Then see this."
And suddenly—visions filled her.
Kael alone, sitting on a throne of ash. Her body in his arms, lifeless. A world silent. A bond shattered.
"No…" she whispered.
"You will break him," the Devourer whispered. "You, who claim to love him. Your love will be his undoing."
Aria fell to her knees. Tears streamed down her face, not from fear—but from fury.
"I don't believe you," she whispered, rising slowly. "You're not his future. I am."
And with that, the bond surged between them, light blazing across the chamber. A scream tore from the flames—not Kael's, but the Devourer's.
Aria stepped into the fire.