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00:04I finally got the rarest magic core for you.
00:08You've worked hard.
00:22After Rebirth, I abandoned the Mighty Phoenix as my magical pet, instead chose an almost
00:28dead little black snake in my past life.
00:30I'd hunted rare ingredients for Phoenix, pouring every resource I had into his growth.
00:35He cheated with my sister behind my back.
00:37Finally, to make their little love story easier, they killed me together.
00:40This time around, I wanted to see how that perfect couple managed without me as their
00:43stepping stone.
00:44The same pact ceremony, the same standout, undeniably that golden Phoenix.
00:49Even caged with a suppression collar, he held his head high, like the rest of us were beneath
00:53him.
00:54As expected, the ceremony elder assigned him to me.
00:56The Phoenix tilted its head back and rolled its eyes, just like in its previous life,
01:01its face full of disdain.
01:02That was when my sister Evelyn walked in, cradling a limp little black snake in her palms, tears
01:07rolling down her cheeks.
01:09My sister was too weak.
01:10Phoenix fell in love with her pitiful appearance immediately, which made me look like the villain
01:14standing between them.
01:15The ceremony elder shifted awkwardly and turned on Evelyn.
01:18Your power isn't strong enough.
01:20Even if the Phoenix is drawn to you now, you won't be able to handle him.
01:24She didn't react, instead pretended to be scared by my gaze, bit her lip with tears down.
01:29Lila, I know I have no right to compete with you.
01:31It's just, I've never seen a golden Phoenix before.
01:35I didn't have the patience to listen to her feigned weakness.
01:37I reached out and lifted the limp black snake from her hands, smiled at the ceremony elder.
01:42I've taken a liking to this one.
01:44The Phoenix clearly doesn't want me.
01:46Why not let her have him?
01:47I'll take the snake.
01:48The others thought I'd lost my mind.
01:50They pulled me aside.
01:51You're the strongest here.
01:53This black snake has a mixed bloodline.
01:55He's basically worthless.
01:56But I knew the truth about that Phoenix.
01:58He was no prize.
01:59In my last life,
02:04my past life, scene had played out exactly the same way.
02:08The Phoenix ignored me.
02:09I felt the sting of being rejected for the first time in my life.
02:12And instead of thinking clearly, I thought,
02:15he's so hard to get.
02:16I'm obsessed.
02:17As the Archmaster's student, I was supposed to be an example to the others.
02:21I told myself I had to tame the Phoenix, strengthen the Spirit Pact Academy.
02:25So I threw everything I had at him.
02:27Every student got a limited ration of elixirs.
02:30So I took assassin missions, hunting rogue creatures,
02:32the kind that had lost their minds and turned feral, to earn extra elixirs.
02:36I came back bleeding every time.
02:38The Phoenix pretended not to notice.
02:40He only came near me when I pulled out elixirs, took what he wanted, and walked away.
02:4410 years.
02:46I spent 10 years helping him break through his limits and take human form.
02:50When he finally did, he was stunning.
02:52Tall, sharp-featured.
02:53But the warmth stopped there.
02:55He always treated me like I was his errand girl.
02:57I told myself it was fine.
02:59Creatures with strong bloodlines had pride.
03:01One day, he'd recognize what I'd given him.
03:03One day, we'd fight side by side, and I wouldn't have to face those feral creatures alone.
03:07Then one day, I saw him kiss my sister passionately.
03:10She was laughing, dancing around him.
03:12A fellow student rode past on her white tiger, saw them in the distance, and shook her head at me.
03:18Liar, you really need to stop asking Evelyn to look after the Phoenix when you go on contracts.
03:23When did I ever ask her that?
03:25She says it every time you leave.
03:27I saw stars.
03:28I'd been out there risking my life, and she was back here cheating with my things.
03:32Doesn't she have her own creature?
03:34That little black snake died in its second year.
03:37Then it clicked.
03:38I'd spent 10 years sewing a wedding dress for someone else.
03:54It wasn't some gentle, forgiving heroine turned on Evelyn.
03:57It enraged the Phoenix.
03:59As punishment, he lured me to the back forest under false pretenses, then broke open the
04:03wards keeping it sealed.
04:04The creatures trapped inside started pouring out, and among them was one that had fallen into complete
04:09madness.
04:10A Leviathan.
04:11The Phoenix joined forces with my sister to shoot me down the cliff.
04:14In the end, I died in the beast's head, and I could only watch Evelyn snuggle up beside it.
04:19So this time around, I wasn't going to be anyone's sacrifice.
04:21I just wanted to see what this couple would do next.
04:24The Phoenix held onto Evelyn tightly, refusing to let go.
04:27The Elder sighed, and Spirit Pact Academy'd the Pact Circle drawn.
04:31Once a creature bonded with someone, they were bound to that person's commands.
04:35Harm the bonded partner, and the creature suffered for it.
04:38The bonding ritual's energy agitated the black snake.
04:41He wound himself around my arm with everything he had.
04:44Evelyn got the Phoenix, and was clearly thrilled.
04:46Then she looked at the snake clinging to me.
04:48You and that serpent really do seem meant for each other, Lyra.
04:50She was very smug.
04:52Had she also been reborn?
04:53Watch your tongue, Evelyn.
04:55If Lyra hadn't stepped in for you, you'd never have gotten the Phoenix.
04:58If I were you, I'd be on my knees thanking her.
05:00Oh, stop.
05:01She's crying again.
05:02Always crying.
05:04You'd think she was the tragic one.
05:05The Phoenix paced anxiously while Evelyn sniffled.
05:14Anxious didn't help him.
05:16Evelyn had almost no power at this stage.
05:18The creatures shared energy with their bonded partners, but Evelyn's reserves were basically empty.
05:24Probably the first time in either life that the Phoenix had been on the losing side of the situation.
05:29Good.
05:30He'd adjust.
05:31This was the consequence of choosing weakness and cheating.
05:35The black snake, finally convinced I wasn't abandoning him, went limp and passed out in my arms.
05:41Back home, I finally got a good look at the snake.
05:45He was tiny, couldn't have been more than a few decades old, barely past the threshold of maturity.
05:51But he was strange, different from the serpents I knew.
05:54Water serpents had snake-like tails.
05:56This one had a tail more like a fish, with a fin.
06:00Mixed bloodline.
06:01Serpent and something older.
06:03Seafolk, maybe.
06:04I had a natural spring in the courtyard.
06:07The moment he hit the water, he came alive.
06:09Diving and surfacing, pulling in energy from the current.
06:13I laughed.
06:15Relax.
06:16I fed a golden phoenix for ten years.
06:18I think I can manage one little snake.
06:20He froze, and stared at me with those tiny green eyes.
06:23Then he spat water at my face.
06:26I flicked him on the head.
06:27Heel up.
06:28You're not going anywhere.
06:29The next morning, I woke up wrong.
06:32I turned my head and found a face three inches from mine.
06:35Dark lashes.
06:36Warm skin.
06:37The kind of face that belonged in a painting.
06:40Long lashes that trembled slightly.
06:43Objectively gorgeous.
06:44Didn't stop me from nearly jumping out of my skin.
06:47He'd gotten into bed without waking me.
06:49Whoever this was, his power was well above mine.
06:53He stirred, opened gold-slit eyes, and looked at me.
06:56I scrambled to the corner.
06:58Who are you?
06:59This is Spirit-Packed Academy grounds.
07:01Don't try anything.
07:03He sat up.
07:04I noticed he was wearing the clothes I'd set aside
07:06for when a creature took human form.
07:08A dark, fitted robe with a subtle pattern.
07:11He wore it well.
07:12He was tall.
07:13He'd had to curl up to fit in my bed.
07:15Under those long lashes were a pair of gold vertical pupil eyes.
07:19The answer was obvious.
07:21Snake.
07:22He smirked, reached out, and flicked me on the forehead.
07:25Rude.
07:26I have a name.
07:27It's Kieran.
07:44Kieran, it turned out, had been fleeing an enemy when he crossed paths with my tutor.
07:49He'd taken the form of a small, injured serpent.
07:52My tutor, true to form, had taken him in.
07:54Kieran clearly hadn't been injured because he was weak.
07:57Please tell me your enemies aren't about to show up here.
08:00We're bonded now.
08:01You're the master.
08:02I'm your mate.
08:04So I suggest you train hard and try not to slow me down.
08:07He taught me a breathing and absorption technique developed for serpentkind.
08:11Most days I sat in the spring practicing, while Kieran sprawled in the tree above me,
08:15watching with half-closed eyes.
08:17The breeze moved his hair and caught the light on his skin.
08:20Evelyn appeared at my gate, peering in.
08:22I sighed and got out of the spring.
08:24Kieran dropped from the tree and draped a dry robe over my shoulders without being asked.
08:29Who is this?
08:30You remember him, the little black snake from the bonding ceremony.
08:33You said yourself we seemed meant for each other.
08:43Flicker of something crossed her face.
08:46What do you want?
08:46This is training time.
08:48I was hoping we could raise the phoenix together.
08:52Kieran's hand tightened on mine.
08:53I glanced at him.
08:54He was watching me, clearly unhappy.
08:56I'm not your backup plan.
08:58Figure it out yourself.
08:59How is it not your responsibility?
09:01You took the black snake and left me with the phoenix.
09:04You don't get to just walk away.
09:06Half a year's gone by and I've given him every elixir I had.
09:10There's nothing left for my own training.
09:12And I was in the lower ranks.
09:13I can't go hunting rare ingredients.
09:15I'd die out there.
09:16You bonded with the phoenix first.
09:17You should be helping.
09:19I cut her off mid-sentence, sent a gust of air to push her back through the gate,
09:22and led Kieran inside.
09:24Little sister, don't mistake everyone for a fool.
09:26I'm not spending my resources raising your creature for you.
09:30If you can't afford to keep him, dissolve the bond.
09:33Let someone else take him.
09:34I'm sure the elders would be happy to.
09:36She wouldn't do that.
09:37Her ambitions were too big.
09:47After weeks passed, I broke through to a new level of power.
09:51What those in the Spirit Pact Academy called Fourth Circle Stage.
09:56At the same time, the Archmaster arranged for me to escort a rare spirit fox to the Spirit Pact Academy,
10:03alongside Elder Celia, who was about three centuries older than me and acted like a kid half the time.
10:09I sweet-talked her through the handover to the creature registry, and she settled for it.
10:14Before she left, she pressed her hand over her mouth to hide a smile.
10:18Your little serpent is very clingy, you know.
10:21I didn't understand until I started up the mountain path and saw a silhouette leaning against a tree in the
10:26distance.
10:28He didn't move.
10:29When I got closer, he reached out and grabbed the back of my neck.
10:33Lyra, am I not good to you?
10:35Why are you trying to give me away?
10:36What are you talking about?
10:38That girl came to the courtyard today, said you sent her to check on me.
10:41Did you change your mind about bonding with me?
10:43You hit Fourth Circle and now you're done with me?
10:45...publin' again.
10:46Same playbook, different life.
10:48Before I could explain, Kieran's pupils contracted to thin lines.
10:53He bent his head and pressed his face into my neck.
10:55His tongue brushed the skin there.
10:58Light.
10:58Quick.
10:59I shivered hard.
11:01Smells like fox.
11:02Lyra, did you already find yourself a replacement?
11:06Doesn't matter.
11:07Once I eat that fox, I'll be your only option.
11:10You hit me for her?
11:11That fox belongs to my Archmaster.
11:13You touch her and I will end you.
11:27Kieran stopped fighting me and let himself be pulled along.
11:30Most students weren't training, so the residences were quiet.
11:34A few people raised their eyebrows when they saw me coming.
11:37Short greetings, and then they told me.
11:39Evelyn had gone to the back forest with the phoenix.
11:42I frowned.
11:43I wasn't in the phoenix's way anymore.
11:45Why were they sneaking off to the forest?
11:48We found them mid-argument.
11:49Or rather, Evelyn was arguing and the phoenix, who still hadn't taken human form, was responding in
11:56and scratched letters on the ground.
11:58Don't look at me like that.
11:59I've done nothing wrong.
12:01I didn't force you to come to the Spirit Pacht Academy.
12:04You said this place would help you grow.
12:06I've given you every elixir I had and you're still not satisfied?
12:10You want me to go out hunting rare ingredients?
12:13I just started training!
12:15You'd be sending me to die!
12:17I almost felt something.
12:19In my past life, he'd given me nothing for ten years.
12:23Not a glance.
12:24Not a word.
12:25Not a gesture.
12:26Now he was writing letters in the dirt.
12:28The contrast was something.
12:30Evelyn, I've been looking for you.
12:32The phoenix scrambles to erase the letters when he heard us.
12:36Evelyn pulled herself together fast, though not fast enough.
12:40What do you need, Lyra?
12:52I patted Kieran's arm.
12:54He gave me a long-suffering look, then dropped to one knee and let me settle onto it like a
12:59chair.
12:59His hands locked around my waist, steadying me.
13:02Evelyn's gaze locked onto Kieran and didn't move.
13:05I'm not here about anything in particular.
13:08Just wondering why you paid my companion a visit.
13:10The phoenix's feathers flared, angry.
13:13Evelyn hadn't expected me to know so fast.
13:15No, no, you've got it wrong.
13:17I was just coming to find you.
13:19He rested his chin on my shoulder.
13:21She lied to me.
13:22She said you stole me from her.
13:23That I was supposed to be hers.
13:25And what did you do?
13:26She came into your territory without permission.
13:29She was weak.
13:30I didn't even use my power.
13:31Just pushed until she left.
13:33I patted his cheek.
13:34I stood and faced Evelyn directly.
13:37If I remember correctly, you didn't want Kieran in the first place.
13:40He was badly injured.
13:42If he'd ended up with you, he probably wouldn't have survived his second year.
13:45That's not true!
13:47I would have taken care of him.
13:49The phoenix's crest was fully raised now.
13:51She caught herself.
13:53You're trying to drive a wedge between me and the phoenix.
13:56I stepped forward and put my hand on her shoulder.
13:59You played your game, little sister.
14:01Don't act surprised when I play mine.
14:04Next time you pull something like this, you will get my punishment.
14:08She blanched.
14:09The council didn't forgive moves against another member's bonded creature.
14:12She couldn't risk it.
14:14On the way back, I was in a good mood.
14:17Kieran was quiet, though.
14:18Wouldn't transform and carry me even when I asked.
14:21Once we were back in the courtyard, he grabbed my arm.
14:24You seem familiar with the phoenix.
14:37I didn't hide it.
14:39We have a history.
14:40It ended badly for me.
14:41Wanna hear it?
14:43He turned away, shifted into serpent form, and wound himself around my neck.
14:47No.
14:48I'm better than that bird by every measure.
14:51You're not going back to him.
14:53I won't have another mate.
14:55I promise.
14:56I promise.
14:57Days later.
14:59Laya, your growth rate is pathetic.
15:02Sharing energy with you is a form of suffering.
15:07My Archmaster said, I'm one of the most talented young members in a generation.
15:12All those rare materials and elixirs I found went into me this time, not into the phoenix.
15:17Ten years passed.
15:19I moved steadily from fourth circle to sixth circle.
15:22Even the most mean Elder Celia praised me.
15:25You are really a genius, Lyra.
15:27We all expected the phoenix to elevate the whole Spirit Panned Academy.
15:32But ten years in, there's still no sign of him breaking through.
15:36I'd expected this.
15:38Sustaining creatures took enormous resources, and the Spirit Panned Academy never had reserves.
15:43The phoenix couldn't break through.
15:45And in my past life, I'd seen exactly what happened when his patience ran out.
15:49I'd thought about removing him.
15:51Every time I tried to bring it up with my Archmaster or Kirin, it was like the words hit a
15:55wall.
15:56And acting unilaterally, killing the phoenix before anyone understood why,
16:01would have destroyed the Spirit Panned Academy from the inside.
16:04All I could do was watch him and contain him.
16:07Past that, I had no choice but to wait.
16:10My past life hadn't survived this year.
16:12I didn't know if this one would go differently.
16:21He stood there staring at Kirin, who was lazily floating in the spring in human form,
16:26making absolutely no effort to be welcoming.
16:28You have a bonded partner.
16:30Why are you at my gate?
16:33Right.
16:34What possible reason could you have for neglecting your own bonded partner
16:38to come stand outside someone else's home?
16:41Kirin climbed out and immediately tried to lean against me.
16:44I don't worry you're near. I'll have to know this.
16:47I just want that bird to know there's no space for him here.
16:52What exactly is here between us?
16:54That's entirely your call.
16:56The phoenix flew away.
16:58Kirin grabbed my face with both hands.
17:00He left. Can you stop worrying about him for five minutes?
17:03I have to know what he's doing.
17:04That bird has a dark heart. I don't trust him idle.
17:09He regrets it. Doesn't want to stay with your little sister anymore.
17:13I turned toward the gate. Empty. But something in my gut told me the phoenix was off.
17:19There was no logical reason for him to come to me specifically. Unless the phoenix had also been reborn.
17:29That was true. Then he knew about the back forest. He knew what was sealed there.
17:34He knew my parents had died there. Which I'd only ever told him directly. In my previous life.
17:39I didn't stop to explain to Kirin. I pulled out a slip and went straight to the forest wards.
17:44The wards were intact. I exhaled. Then I turned around and my stomach dropped. A handful of golden feathers
17:50lay near the edge of the barrier line. He'd been here. The phoenix had come back with knowledge
17:54he shouldn't have. The friction between Evelyn and the phoenix had gone public.
17:58He'd refused her commands in training sessions. Ignored her in front of others.
18:02Made her look incompetent in front of the whole yard more than once in recent weeks.
18:06The reason I kept getting dragged in was simpler and more aggravating.
18:09Every time I appeared, the phoenix drifted toward me.
18:12If looks could kill, Evelyn would have had me buried weeks ago.
18:15Elder Celia found the whole thing delightful. Her bird appeared at my shoulder one afternoon.
18:20You know what this reminds me of? One of those stories where the man realizes too late what he had.
18:26He freezes her out at the start and then spends the rest of the book chasing her.
18:31Oh dear.
18:42You could talk to the girl. Offer her a different creature. Something she could actually manage.
18:47And transfer the phoenix over to you. Quietly.
18:50No. I'm not going near the disciplinary council over this. Besides, I have Ciaran. That's enough.
18:57Celia looked genuinely mournful. Then she shifted to her real point.
19:01A creature pulling against its bonded partner is a problem for everyone.
19:05And Evelyn hasn't advanced the first stage in ten years. The elders have discussed sending her
19:10out on a field assignment a year or two away from the Spirit Pact Academy. Practical experience away
19:15from all of this. I understood what she wasn't saying. They'd given up on the phoenix as a resource
19:20for the Spirit Pact Academy. In the council hall, Evelyn made the whole thing into a production.
19:25She cried. She accused me of engineering her removal to take the phoenix. In front of all the Senior
19:31elders, she made her counteroffer. If Senior wants the phoenix, she should just say so.
19:37I won't stand in the way. But if she takes him, she gives me Ciaran, a mixed lineage serpent for
19:44a
19:44pure-blooded phoenix. Honestly, Lyra comes out a laugh.
19:53Which one, Evelyn? You focus on your phoenix and stop coming up with terrible ideas.
19:59While the elders dealt with Evelyn, I was at the creature registry with the head keeper,
20:04investigating a disappearance. Three had vanished overnight. Two small rabbits and a unicorn.
20:10I reinforced the gate myself before I left. Any disturbance at all and I would have felt it.
20:17There was nothing. Not a sound. Not a rogue creature. No trace of that energy anywhere. Right?
20:26I looked around. The registry was built into the mountainside. The rock face itself was warded.
20:32No slipping through the earth. No passing through walls. I was still thinking when the keeper started
20:37cooing at one of the deer. Don't be scared. Big Brother Serpent just looks mean. He won't eat you.
20:44That pulled something loose in my mind. I hesitated.
20:49Do creatures ever turn on each other? What a horrifying thing to say.
20:54They... They have awareness. They would never...
20:58Kieran slipped an arm around me and spoke low into my ear.
21:01People do terrible things to each other. Creatures aren't different.
21:05I've heard of a practice. A dark technique used by creatures who want to advance without resources.
21:11My skin had gone cold.
21:18Wild creatures had no access to elixirs or rare materials. If they wanted to grow in power fast,
21:24the most efficient shortcut was this. Consume the core of another creature. The higher the level of the
21:31creature they took from, the faster the gain. Kieran had nearly died at the hands of one practicing
21:36exactly that method ten years ago. Once it works, it will come back for more.
21:42We staked out the registry that night. Nothing happened. Quiet all the way until dawn. I reassured
21:48the keeper and headed out.
21:53Hallmaster, there's an incident at the residences.
21:55Kieran shifted, wrapped around me, and moved. When we landed, I didn't need to go inside to know it
22:01was bad. I could hear the crying from the courtyard. It was one of my newest students. A girl who'd
22:05come
22:06to the spirit-packed academy with his own creature. Fox. Soft and round and always sprawled in patches of
22:11sunlight. Kind of creature that made people smile just looking at it. She was sitting on the ground,
22:15holding what remained of her. Not much left. Your guess was right. The core was removed.
22:20One strike. Clean. It happened before she could make a sound. She only noticed when she felt the
22:25bond break. I felt the cold settle in my chest.
22:40Without thinking, I looked around for the phoenix. She was standing beside Evelyn, still as a statue.
22:45The picture. Don't look. It's him.
22:49You're certain? I went to the Archmaster. Don't move yet.
22:53You need proof. Catch him in the act. He said it with total gravity. Meanwhile,
22:58behind him, his courtyard had become a small zoo. Several of them had taken human form and were
23:03crowding around Kieran to ask about his parents' bloodlines. I keep all my creatures close.
23:08Your new firehound relieved himself on the floor. You could clean it up for your teacher.
23:13Absolutely not. The senior elders started watching the phoenix. Their eyes went to him more carefully
23:18during training. They noted that his power had grown noticeably in ways that weren't explained by his
23:24circumstances. Then, nothing. Weeks passed. No more disappearances. No incidents.
23:36Two weeks went by. The girl never quite recovered from losing his fox. The other students spoke about
23:41the disappearances less and less until the whole thing drifted into the category of
23:45strange spirit-packed academy legend. Something that had happened, maybe. Possibly. Nobody quite
23:50remembered the details. But I couldn't let it go. Kieran's certainty sat with me every day. I went to
23:56the Archmaster and asked to have the phoenix formally restricted. You think we don't see it?
24:01But without evidence, what do I tell the students? If I punish someone without proof, I lose the trust
24:07of the whole spirit-packed academy. And without that trust, the spirit-packed academy dissolves. Then,
24:13one night, while I was deep in meditation, something flashed past my window. A pair of red eyes,
24:19bright, gone in an instant. Where was Kieran? I moved to the water's edge, floating on the surface,
24:24a single golden feather, an invitation, or a taunt. Find me and I'll give him back. I reached out
24:30through the bond and found Kieran's location, the back forest. I hit the ground running.
24:38I arrived through the wards in a flash of light, and walked straight into a shockwave from two powers
24:44colliding. Kieran and the phoenix were already fighting, fully committed. I went rigid. When
24:50had the phoenix broken through? He moved through the trees in a golden coat, fast and precise,
24:56ducking and redirecting Kieran's strikes, with the ease of someone who'd had longer to prepare for
25:01this moment. Beside the ward barrier, Evelyn sat perfectly still, like a doll that someone had set
25:08down and forgotten. When I got close enough to see her clearly, my stomach turned over. Evelyn was
25:14dead. Her eyes were still open, fixed in an expression of complete disbelief. Her abdomen had
25:20been cut open. Her core, the source of her power, the root she'd spent years building, was gone. I hadn't
25:28even had time to process it, before the sky above the forest went dark, clouds banking hard and fast,
25:35thunder starting low and rolling. The bond close. Harm your bonded partner, and the consequence comes
25:42down from the sky itself. He'd killed his own bonded partner. He'd lost his mind. A lightning judgment of
25:49this scale would leave nothing of him. All that power. All that scheming. And he'd thrown it away for this
25:56moment. I didn't bother playing it soft.
26:04Spent 10 years plotting with Evelyn against the Spirit Pact Academy. You used every person here as a
26:10platform. And this life you had the chance to change, and instead you gutted her for her core.
26:15The god is watching. Today it ends. Nick smiled, cold and strange.
26:21Almost. One more step. His hands were already moving behind his back, breaking the wards. The
26:29creatures locked in the forest felt the loosening. The ground shook. Thunder gathered directly above him.
26:35The Archmaster arrived in a streak of light from the peak. Lyra, hold the creatures back.
26:42I'll work on resealing from out here. Lightning above. The forest breaking open below. The phoenix
26:49stood in the middle of it all, with a look of pure madness. And he turned it on me. Lyra,
26:55you can't stop this. Come die with me. I'll do better by you this time, I swear it. In my
27:03past life,
27:03I had died in this exact forest. In this exact way. With no one at my back. I felt fear.
27:10That was
27:11honest. Old fear. The kind that lived in the body. Then a hand landed on my shoulder. Kieran. Eyes lit
27:19with the cold fire of someone who had never once considered losing. You want to take her down with
27:24you? He laughed once, short and sharp. Ask me first. You're nobody. Right. I had Kieran. This time,
27:35I wasn't fighting alone.
27:46Kieran pressed forward and I covered him. He trusted me at his back without checking. I trusted him to end
27:52what he started. Kieran wasn't breaking and the phoenix couldn't find a way past him. Then he
27:58understood. I wasn't going to die here. The plan had failed. He broke. This isn't right. You're
28:06supposed to die. We're supposed to die together. I raised one finger and pointed at the sky. Goodbye.
28:12The lightning came down in a column as wide as it was. The phoenix didn't scream. No rebirth for those
28:19taken by judgment. Final and total.
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