Ashir's scream cracked the soul-world.
Mountains of memory split in half. The mirrored skies fractured, raining down shards of forgotten lives. And in the center, Arien stood—her blade burning with whitefire, a flame born not of wrath, but of will.
Kael reappeared, crawling from the broken wall. His eyes met hers—filled with awe.
"You did it," he whispered.
"Not yet," Arien said. "He's still here."
Ashir knelt in the ruins, tendrils of shadow retreating from his body like smoke exhaled in terror. But then… he smiled.
"You think you've won?" he rasped. "Child… I was never meant to rule."
A tremor ran through the ground.
> "I was meant to unlock what comes after flame."
The world trembled again.
And from the cracks below, something older stirred.
A pulse like a heartbeat.
A name with no tongue.
And then a voice—not Ashir's—spoke:
> "She woke us."
Joss appeared beside them, covered in blood and laughter. "Please tell me that wasn't you talking."
Kael readied his sword. "What is that?"
Arien stepped toward the crack in her soul—the one bleeding light and darkness.
"That," she said, "is what Ashir kept caged. The part of me even he feared."
She plunged her hand into the fissure.
Pain flooded her.
Visions of every possible Arien screamed through her mind.
But she held on.
And when she pulled her hand free—she was holding a blade older than time. Forged from memory. Laced with names. Burning and still.
The Soulshard.
Ashir tried to crawl away.
"No. Please. You were mine—"
She struck him once.
And the shadow shattered.
Ashir's form broke like glass, the pieces scattering into light and dust.
And for the first time in centuries…
he was gone.
The soul-world calmed.
The skies cleared.
Kael placed a hand on Arien's shoulder.
"You brought yourself back."
She turned, smiling weakly.
"No. We did."
And then—
They woke.
In Pyraeth, Arien gasped and opened her eyes.
The Circle of Truth had burned away.
Maev stood over them, exhausted but relieved.
"You came back."
Arien nodded, her voice soft.
"But something else came with me."
She looked up at the stars.
And for the first time…
They blinked.