Vaelen's POV
They dragged us through the ruined temple like prisoners.
Morgassa led the way, practically skipping with joy. Behind us, the corrupted guardians kept their coils tight, cutting off any chance of escape. Marcus and Selene waited at the palace entrance, both grinning like wolves.
"Got them," Morgassa announced. "The serpent and his little captain. Gift-wrapped and ready for the final ritual."
"Excellent." Marcus stepped forward, studying me with disgust. "Two thousand years and you're still causing problems. Time to fix that permanently."
I said nothing. Just kept my hand locked with Maren's, feeling her pulse through our bond. She was terrified but determined. Whatever plan she'd concocted, she believed in it completely.
The problem? I didn't know if I could go through with it.
Dying was easy. I'd wanted to die for centuries. But dying with her? Watching Maren sacrifice herself for me?
That was a different kind of torture.
"Take them to the binding chamber," Morgassa ordered. "And bring the sister. I want the captain to watch as we drain her first."
"NO!" Maren lunged forward, but the corrupted guardian held firm. "You promised!"
"I lied." Morgassa smiled. "Shocking, I know."
Selene disappeared into the palace and emerged minutes later, pulling Lira's sphere behind her. The girl inside was awake, pounding silently against the barrier, tears streaming down her face.
"Lira," Maren sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I tried—"
"How touching." Marcus walked up to the sphere and tapped it mockingly. "Don't worry, little sister. You won't feel the draining. Much."
Rage burned through me. Two thousand years of chains, of torture, of watching humans destroy everything I'd tried to protect—it all crystallized in this moment.
"If you hurt her," I said quietly, "I will find a way to break free. And when I do, I'll make you beg for the mercy of death."
"Empty threats from a chained god." Marcus laughed. "You're pathetic."
"Am I?" I smiled, and it was all teeth. "Did you know the bond between me and Maren can't be severed? That whatever you do to one of us affects the other?"
Morgassa's smile faltered. "What are you—"
"I'm saying—" I squeezed Maren's hand, and power exploded through our connection. "—you should have killed us when you had the chance."
We moved as one.
Maren threw all her newfound power at the corrupted guardian holding her. I did the same. The creatures shrieked as divine energy burned through their binding runes. They didn't die—Morgassa's magic was too strong—but they loosened their grip just enough.
We ran.
"STOP THEM!" Morgassa screamed.
But we were already diving toward Lira's sphere. Maren's hands hit the barrier first, and I added my power to hers. The sphere cracked. Shattered. Lira tumbled out, gasping and disoriented.
"Got you," Maren caught her sister, sobbing with relief. "I've got you."
"Maren?" Lira's voice was hoarse from months of screaming. "What's happening?"
"No time!" I grabbed them both. "Hold on!"
The corrupted guardians converged. Morgassa's dark magic filled the water. Marcus and Selene launched binding spells.
We were trapped. No escape. No way out.
Which meant it was time.
I looked at Maren. She looked at me. Through our bond, we had an entire conversation in seconds.
Are you sure?
No. But I trust you.
It's going to hurt.
Everything hurts. At least this way, it means something.
I'm sorry I couldn't give you more time.
You gave me hope. That's enough.
I pulled Maren close, keeping Lira protected between us. "Whatever happens," I told the terrified girl, "close your eyes and don't let go of your sister."
"What are you doing?" Morgassa's eyes widened with sudden understanding. "No. NO! Stop them!"
But she was too late.
Maren and I spoke the words together—the ancient oath that Thessaly had whispered across death itself:
"By blood freely given, by souls freely offered, by love freely chosen—we break what was bound, we free what was chained, we end what began in darkness."
The marks on our chests blazed white-hot.
"You're INSANE!" Morgassa shrieked. "That spell requires your deaths! Both of you!"
"We know," Maren said calmly.
And smiled.
The light consumed us completely.
My chains shattered. Not broke—shattered. Dissolved into nothing. Two thousand years of agony vanished in an instant.
I felt free.
And I felt myself dying.
Beside me, Maren gasped as the magic began draining her life force. But she held tight to both me and Lira, refusing to let go even as the light burned brighter.
"Together," she whispered.
"Together," I agreed.
The palace exploded with released power. Every sphere shattered at once. Hundreds of trapped souls burst free, screaming with joy as they rocketed toward the surface.
Morgassa tried to contain them, but it was like trying to hold back the ocean. The souls overwhelmed her magic, swept past her defenses, escaped into open water.
"NO!" She reached for us, desperate to stop the ritual. "You'll destroy everything!"
"Good," I said.
And let myself fall into the light, Maren's hand in mine, ready for whatever came next.
But something went wrong.
The magic split. Maren began glowing gold. I began glowing silver. Lira, caught between us, started glowing both colors at once.
"What's happening?" Maren gasped. "This wasn't supposed to—"
"The sister," Morgassa breathed in horror. "She was trapped so long, she's connected to the magic now. The ritual thinks she's part of the sacrifice!"
"No!" I tried to push Lira away, but the light held her fast. "She's innocent! Let her go!"
"The magic doesn't care about innocence!" Morgassa actually looked frightened now. "If all three of you complete the sacrifice, it won't just break your chains—it'll break ALL divine binding magic everywhere! Every god ever imprisoned will go free!"
"Every god?" Maren looked at me. "How many are there?"
"Hundreds," I said weakly. "Scattered across the world. All chained by the Guild's system."
"Then we free them all." Maren pulled Lira closer. "No more chains. No more slavery. No more gods suffering like you did."
"You'll start a war!" Marcus shouted. "Free gods will destroy humanity!"
"Or—" Maren's eyes blazed. "—they'll destroy the people who enslaved them. There's a difference."
The light reached critical mass. I could feel death coming, warm and welcoming after so long in the cold.
But I could also feel something else. Something impossible.
The magic wasn't just taking our lives.
It was transforming them.
"Maren," I gasped. "I don't think we're dying."
"What?"
"I think we're—"
The world exploded into light so bright it erased everything.
When I could see again, we were somewhere new. Somewhere impossible.
We stood on a beach of white sand under a sun that burned gold and silver at once. The ocean stretched endlessly, and in its depths, I could see them—hundreds of chained gods, all waking up at once, all feeling the call of freedom.
And standing between me and Maren, holding both our hands, was Lira.
But she'd changed. Her eyes glowed with the same dual-colored light. And behind her, spreading like wings, were shadows of divine power.
"What did you do to me?" she whispered.
Maren stared at her sister in shock. "Lira?"
"I can feel them," Lira said, her voice echoing strangely. "All the chained gods. They're waking up. And they're angry."
She looked at us, and I saw fear in her transformed eyes.
"And they're coming here."