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