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