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