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Rejecting The Phoenix, Taming The Dragon - Ep
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00:01I finally got the rarest magic core for you!
00:05You've worked hard.
00:19After rebirth, I abandoned the mighty Phoenix as my magical pet.
00:23Instead, chose an almost dead little black snake in my past life.
00:27I'd hunted rare ingredients for Phoenix, pouring every resource I had into his growth.
00:32He cheated with my sister behind my back.
00:34Finally, to make their little love story easier, they killed me together.
00:37This time around, I wanted to see how that perfect couple managed without me as their stepping stone.
00:41The same packed ceremony, the same standout, undeniably that golden Phoenix.
00:46Even caged with a suppression collar, he held his head high, like the rest of us were beneath him.
00:51As expected, the ceremony elder assigned him to me.
00:53The Phoenix tilted its head back and rolled its eyes, just like in its previous life, its face full of
00:59disdain.
00:59That was when my sister Evelyn walked in, cradling a limp little black snake in her palms, tears rolling down
01:05her cheeks.
01:06My sister was too weak. Phoenix fell in love with her pitiful appearance immediately, which made me look like the
01:11villains standing between them.
01:12The ceremony elder shifted awkwardly and turned on Evelyn.
01:15Your power isn't strong enough. Even if the Phoenix is drawn to you now, you won't be able to handle
01:21him.
01:21She didn't react. Instead, pretended to be scared by my gaze. Bit her lip with tears down.
01:26Lila, I know I have no right to compete with you. It's just, I've never seen a golden Phoenix before.
01:32I didn't have the patience to listen to her feign weakness. I reached out and lifted the limp black snake
01:36from her hands. Smiled at the ceremony elder.
01:39I've taken a liking to this one. The Phoenix clearly doesn't want me. Why not let her have him? I'll
01:45take the snake.
01:45The others thought I'd lost my mind. They pulled me aside.
01:48You're the strongest here. This black snake has a mixed bloodline. He's basically worthless.
01:53But I knew the truth about that Phoenix. He was no prize.
01:56In my last life, in my past life, the scene had played out exactly the same way. The Phoenix ignored
02:02me.
02:02I felt the sting of being rejected for the first time in my life. And instead of thinking clearly, I
02:07thought, he's so hard to get. I'm obsessed.
02:10As the Archmaster's student, I was supposed to be an example to the others. I told myself I had to
02:15tame the Phoenix. Strengthen the Spirit Pact Academy.
02:18So I threw everything I had at him. Every student got a limited ration of elixirs. So I took assassin
02:23missions.
02:24Hunting rogue creatures. The kind that had lost their minds and turned feral. To earn extra elixirs.
02:29I came back bleeding every time. The Phoenix pretended not to notice. He only came near me when I pulled
02:35out elixirs. Took what he wanted. And walked away.
02:38Ten years. I spent ten years helping him break through his limits and take human form. When he finally did,
02:44he was stunning. Tall. Sharp featured. But the warmth stopped there.
02:48He always treated me like I was his errand girl. I told myself it was fine. Creatures with strong bloodlines
02:53had pride. One day he'd recognize what I'd given him.
02:56One day we'd fight side by side and I wouldn't have to face those feral creatures alone.
03:00Then one day, I saw him kiss my sister passionately. She was laughing, dancing around him.
03:05A fellow student rode past on her white tiger, saw them in the distance, and shook her head at me.
03:11Liar. You really need to stop asking Evelyn to look after the Phoenix when you go on contracts.
03:16When did I ever ask her that?
03:18She says it every time you leave.
03:20I saw stars. I'd been out there risking my life. And she was back here cheating with me.
03:25Doesn't she have her own creature?
03:27That little black snake died in its second year.
03:30Then it clicked. I'd spent ten years sewing a wedding dress for someone else.
03:34I wasn't some gentle, forgiving heroine. Turned on Evelyn. It enraged the Phoenix.
03:38As punishment, he lured me to the back forest under false pretenses, then broke open the wards keeping it sealed.
03:44The creatures trapped inside started pouring out. And among them was one that had fallen into complete madness.
03:50A Leviathan. The Phoenix joined forces with my sister to shoot me down the cliff.
03:54In the end, I died in the beast house. And I could only watch Evelyn snuggle up beside it.
03:59So this time around, I wasn't going to be anyone's sacrifice. I just wanted to see what this couple would
04:03do next.
04:04The Phoenix held onto Evelyn tightly, refusing to let go. The Elder sighed and Spirit Pact Academy'd the Pact Circle
04:10drawn.
04:11Once a creature bonded with someone, they were bound to that person's commands.
04:15Harm the bonded partner, and the creature suffered for it.
04:18The bonding ritual's energy agitated the black snake. He wound himself around my arm with everything he had.
04:24Evelyn got the Phoenix and was clearly thrilled. Then she looked at the snake clinging to me.
04:28You and that serpent really do seem meant for each other, Lyra.
04:30She was very smug. Had she also been reborn?
04:33Watch your tongue, Evelyn. If Lyra hadn't stepped in for you, you'd never have gotten the Phoenix.
04:38If I were you, I'd be on my knees thanking her.
04:40Oh, stop. She's crying again. Always crying. You'd think she was the tragic one.
04:45The Phoenix paced anxiously while Evelyn sniffled. Anxious didn't help him.
04:49Evelyn had almost no power at this stage. The creatures shared energy with their bonded partners, but Evelyn's reserves were
04:56basically empty.
04:57Probably the first time in either life that the Phoenix had been on the losing side of the situation.
05:03Good. He'd adjust. This was the consequence of choosing weakness and cheating.
05:08The black snake, finally convinced I wasn't abandoning him, went limp and passed out in my arms.
05:15Back home, I finally got a good look at the snake. He was tiny. Couldn't have been more than a
05:20few decades old. Barely past the threshold of maturity.
05:24But he was strange. Different from the serpents I knew. Water serpents had snake-like tails. This one had a
05:31tail more like a fish, with a fin. Mixed bloodline. Serpent and something older. Seafolk, maybe.
05:37I had a natural spring in the courtyard. The moment he hit the water, he came alive. Diving and surfacing.
05:44Pulling in energy from the current. I laughed.
05:48Relax. I fed a golden phoenix for ten years. I think I can manage one little snake.
05:53He froze, and stared at me with those tiny green eyes. Then he spat water at my face. I flicked
05:59him on the head.
06:00Heal up. You're not going anywhere.
06:03The next morning I woke up wrong. I turned my head and found a face three inches from mine. Dark
06:09lashes. Warm skin. The kind of face that belonged in a painting. Long lashes that trembled slightly. Objectively gorgeous.
06:17Didn't stop me from nearly jumping out of my skin. He'd gotten into bed without waking me. Whoever this was,
06:24his power was well above mine. He stirred, opened gold-slit eyes, and looked at me.
06:29I scrambled to the corner. Who are you? This is Spirit Packed Academy Grounds. Don't try anything.
06:36He sat up. I 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. He wore it well. He was tall. He'd had to curl up
06:47to fit in my bed. Under those long lashes were a pair of gold vertical pupil eyes. The answer was
06:53obvious.
06:54Snake? He smirked, reached out, and flicked me on the forehead.
06:58Rude. I have a name. It's Kieran.
07:01Kieran, it turned out, had been fleeing an enemy when he crossed paths with my tutor. He'd taken the form
07:07of a small, injured serpent. My tutor, true to form, had taken him in. Kieran clearly hadn't been injured because
07:13he was weak.
07:13Please tell me your enemies aren't about to show up here.
07:17We're bonded now. You're the master. I'm your mate. So I suggest you train hard and try not to slow
07:24me down.
07:24He taught me a breathing and absorption technique developed for serpentkind. Most days I sat in the spring practicing, while
07:30Kieran sprawled in the tree above me, watching with half-closed eyes. The breeze moved his hair and caught the
07:36light on his skin. Evelyn appeared at my gate, peering in. I sighed and got out of the spring. Kieran
07:41dropped from the tree and draped a dry robe over my shoulders without being asked.
07:46Who is this? You remember him? The little black snake from the bonding ceremony? You said yourself we seemed meant
07:52for each other.
07:53A flicker of something crossed her face. What do you want? This is training time. I was hoping we could
07:59raise the phoenix together.
08:01Kieran's hand tightened on mine. I glanced at him. He was watching me, clearly unhappy.
08:06I'm not your backup plan. Figure it out yourself.
08:09How is it not your responsibility? You took the black snake and left me with the phoenix. You don't get
08:14to just walk away. Half a year's gone by and I've given him every elixir I had. There's nothing left
08:20for my own training. And I was in the lower ranks. I can't go hunting rare ingredients. I'd die out
08:25there.
08:25You bonded with the phoenix first. You should be helping. I cut her off mid-sentence, sent a gust of
08:30air to push her back through the gate, and led Kieran inside.
08:34Little sister, don't mistake everyone for a fool. I'm not spending my resources raising your creature for you. If you
08:40can't afford to keep him, dissolve the bond. Let someone else take him. I'm sure the elders would be happy
08:45to. She wouldn't do that. Her ambitions were too big.
08:48Weeks passed. I broke through to a new level of power, what those in the Spirit Pact Academy called Fourth
08:55Circle Stage.
08:56At the same time, the Archmaster arranged for me to escort a rare spirit fox to the Spirit Pact Academy,
09:03alongside 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. Before she left, she
09:16pressed her hand over her mouth to hide a smile.
09:18Your little serpent is very clingy, you know.
09:21I didn't understand until I started up the mountain path and saw a silhouette leaning against a tree in the
09:27distance.
09:28He didn't move. When I got closer, he reached out and grabbed the back of my neck.
09:33Lyra, am I not good to you? Why are you trying to give me away?
09:36What are you talking about?
09:38That girl came to the courtyard today, said you sent her to check on me. Did you change your mind
09:43about bonding with me?
09:44You hit Fourth Circle and now you're done with me?
09:46...again. Same playbook, different life.
09:49Before I could explain, Kieran's pupils contracted to thin lines.
09:53He bent his head and pressed his face into my neck. His tongue brushed the skin there. Light, quick. I
10:00shivered hard.
10:01Smells like fox.
10:03Lyra, did you already find yourself a replacement?
10:06Doesn't matter. Once I eat that fox, I'll be your only option.
10:10You hit me for her?
10:12That fox belongs to my Archmaster. You touch her and I will end you.
10:16Kieran stopped fighting me and let himself be pulled along.
10:19Most students weren't training, so the residences were quiet.
10:23A few people raised their eyebrows when they saw me coming.
10:26Short greetings, and then they told me.
10:28Evelyn had gone to the back forest with the Phoenix.
10:31I frowned.
10:32I wasn't in the Phoenix's way anymore.
10:34Why were they sneaking off to the forest?
10:36We found them mid-argument.
10:38Or rather, Evelyn was arguing and the Phoenix, who still hadn't taken human form, was responding in scratched letters on
10:46the ground.
10:46Don't look at me like that. I've done nothing wrong.
10:50I didn't force you to come to the Spirit Pact Academy. You said this place would help you grow.
10:55I've given you every elixir I had and you're still not satisfied?
10:59You want me to go out hunting rare ingredients? I just started training. You'd be sending me to die.
11:05I almost felt something. In my past life, he'd given me nothing for ten years.
11:11Not a glance, not a word, not a gesture.
11:15Now he was writing letters in the dirt. The contrast was something.
11:19Evelyn, I've been looking for you.
11:21The Phoenix scrambles to erase the letters when he heard us.
11:25Evelyn pulled herself together fast, though not fast enough.
11:28What do you need, Lyra?
11:34I patted Kieran's arm. He gave me a long-suffering look, then dropped to one knee and let me settle
11:40onto it like a chair.
11:41His hands locked around my waist, steadying me.
11:44Evelyn's gaze locked onto Kieran and didn't move.
11:47I'm not here about anything in particular.
11:50Just wondering why you paid my companion a visit.
11:52The Phoenix's feathers flared, angry.
11:55Evelyn hadn't expected me to know so fast.
11:57No, you've got it wrong. I was just coming to find you.
12:01He rested his chin on my shoulder.
12:03She lied to me. She said you stole me from her.
12:05But I was supposed to be hers.
12:07And what did you do?
12:08She came into your territory without permission.
12:10She was weak. I didn't even use my power.
12:13Just pushed until she left.
12:15I patted his cheek.
12:16I stood and faced Evelyn directly.
12:19If I remember correctly, you didn't want Kieran in the first place.
12:22He was badly injured.
12:24If he'd ended up with you, he probably wouldn't have survived his second year.
12:27That's not true!
12:29I would have taken care of him.
12:31The Phoenix's crest was fully raised now.
12:33She caught herself.
12:35You're trying to drive a wedge between me and the Phoenix.
12:38I stepped forward and put my hand on her shoulder.
12:41You played your game, little sister.
12:43Don't act surprised when I play mine.
12:46Next time you pull something like this, you will get my punishment.
12:49She blanched.
12:51The council didn't forgive moves against another member's bonded creature.
12:54She couldn't risk it.
12:56On the way back, I was in a good mood.
12:59Kieran was quiet, though.
13:00Wouldn't transform and carry me even when I asked.
13:03Once we were back in the courtyard, he grabbed my arm.
13:06You seem familiar with the Phoenix.
13:08I didn't hide it.
13:09We have a history.
13:10It ended badly for me.
13:12Want to hear it?
13:13He turned away, shifted into serpent form, and wound himself around my neck.
13:18No.
13:19I'm better than that bird by every measure.
13:21You're not going back to him.
13:23I won't have another mate.
13:26I promise.
13:28Days later.
13:29Lyia, your growth rate is pathetic.
13:33Sharing energy with you is a form of suffering.
13:37My Archmaster 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.
13:48Ten years passed.
13:50I moved steadily from fourth circle to sixth circle.
13:53Even the most mean Elder Celia praised me.
13:55You are really a genius, Lyra.
13:58We 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.
14:07I'd expected this.
14:08Sustaining creatures took enormous resources.
14:11And the Spirit Panned Academy never had reserves.
14:13The Phoenix couldn't break through.
14:16And in my past life, I'd seen exactly what happened when his patients ran out.
14:20I'd thought about removing him.
14:21Every time I tried to bring it up with my Archmaster or Kiran,
14:25it was like the words hit a wall.
14:26And acting unilaterally,
14:28killing the Phoenix before anyone understood why,
14:31would have destroyed the Spirit Panned 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.
14:43I didn't know if this one would go differently.
14:45He stood there staring at Kiran,
14:47who was lazily floating in the spring in human form,
14:49making absolutely no effort to be welcoming.
14:52You have a bonded partner.
14:54Why are you at my gate?
14:57Right.
14:58What possible reason could you have for neglecting your own bonded partner
15:02to come stand outside someone else's home?
15:04Kiran climbed out and immediately tried to lean against me.
15:08I don't know why you're near, I'd have to know this.
15:11I just want that bird to know.
15:13There's no space for him here.
15:15What exactly is here between us?
15:18That's entirely your call.
15:20The Phoenix flew away.
15:21Kiran grabbed my face with both hands.
15:24He left.
15:24Can you stop worrying about him for five minutes?
15:26I have to know what he's doing.
15:28That bird has a dark heart.
15:30I don't trust him idle.
15:33He 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.
15:43There was no logical reason for him to come to me specifically.
15:47Unless the Phoenix had also been reborn.
15:50If that was true, then he knew about the back forest.
15:53He knew what was sealed there.
15:55He knew my parents had died there.
15:57Which I'd only ever told him directly.
15:59In my previous life.
16:00I 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.
16:06I exhaled.
16:07Then I turned around and my stomach dropped.
16:09A handful of golden feathers lay near the edge of the barrier line.
16:12He'd been here.
16:13The Phoenix had come back with knowledge he shouldn't have.
16:16The friction between Evelyn and the Phoenix had gone public.
16:19He'd refused her commands in training sessions.
16:21Ignored her in front of others.
16:23Made her look incompetent in front of the whole yard more than once in recent weeks.
16:27The reason I kept getting dragged in was simpler and more aggravating.
16:30Every time I appeared, the Phoenix drifted toward me.
16:33If looks could kill, Evelyn would have had me buried weeks ago.
16:36Elder Celia found the whole thing delightful.
16:38Her bird appeared at my shoulder one afternoon.
16:41You know what this reminds me of?
16:43One of those stories where the man realizes too late what he had.
16:47He freezes her out at the start and then spends the rest of the book chasing her.
16:52Oh dear.
16:53I could talk to the girl.
16:55Offer her a different creature.
16:56Something she could actually manage.
16:58And transfer the Phoenix over to you.
17:00Quietly.
17:01No.
17:02I'm not going near the disciplinary council over this.
17:04Besides, I have Kieran.
17:06That's enough.
17:08Celia looked genuinely mournful.
17:10Then she shifted to her real point.
17:12A creature pulling against its bonded partner is a problem for everyone.
17:16And Evelyn hasn't advanced the first stage in ten years.
17:19The elders have discussed sending her out on a field assignment.
17:22A year or two away from the Spirit Pact Academy.
17:25Practical experience.
17:26Away from all of this.
17:27I understood what she wasn't saying.
17:29They'd given up on the Phoenix as a resource for the Spirit Pact Academy.
17:33In the council hall, Evelyn made the whole thing into a production.
17:36She cried.
17:37She accused me of engineering her removal to take the Phoenix.
17:41In front of all the senior elders, she made her counteroffer.
17:44If Senior wants the Phoenix, she should just say so.
17:48I won't stand in the way.
17:50But if she takes him, she gives me Kieran.
17:53A mixed lineage serpent for a pure-blooded Phoenix.
17:56Honestly, Lyra comes out a laugh.
17:58Which one, Evelyn?
18:00You focus on your Phoenix and stop coming up with terrible ideas.
18:04While the elders dealt with Evelyn,
18:06I was at the creature registry with the headkeeper,
18:09investigating a disappearance.
18:11Three had vanished overnight.
18:12Two small rabbits and a unicorn.
18:16I reinforced the gate myself before I left.
18:19Any disturbance at all, and I would have felt it.
18:22There was nothing.
18:24Not a sound.
18:25Not a rogue creature.
18:27No trace of that energy anywhere.
18:30Right?
18:31I looked around.
18:32The registry was built into the mountainside.
18:35The rock face itself was warded.
18:37No slipping through the earth.
18:39No passing through walls.
18:40I was still thinking when the keeper started cooing at one of the deer.
18:44Don't be scared.
18:45Big Brother Serpent just looks mean.
18:47He won't eat you.
18:49That pulled something loose in my mind.
18:51I hesitated.
18:54Do creatures ever turn on each other?
18:57What a horrifying thing to say.
19:00They have awareness.
19:01They would never...
19:03Kieran 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.
19:12A dark technique used by creatures who want to advance without resources.
19:16My skin had gone cold.
19:18Wild creatures had no access to elixirs or rare materials.
19:22If they wanted to grow in power fast, the most efficient shortcut was this.
19:27Consume the core of another creature.
19:29The higher the level of the creature they took from, the faster the gain.
19:34Kieran had nearly died at the hands of one practicing exactly that method ten years ago.
19:38Once it works, it will come back for more.
19:42We staked out the registry that night.
19:44Nothing happened.
19:45Quiet all the way until dawn.
19:47I reassured the keeper and headed out.
19:52Hallmaster, there's an incident at the residences.
19:55Kieran shifted, wrapped around me, and moved.
19:57When we landed, I didn't need to go inside to know it was bad.
20:01I could hear the crying from the courtyard.
20:03It was one of my newest students.
20:04A girl who'd come to the Spirit Pact Academy with his own creature.
20:07Fox, soft and round, and always sprawled in patches of sunlight.
20:12Kind of creature that made people smile just looking at it.
20:14She was sitting on the ground, holding what remained of her.
20:17Not much left.
20:17Your guess was right.
20:19The core was removed.
20:20One strike, clean.
20:22It happened before she could make a sound.
20:23She only noticed when she felt the bond break.
20:26I felt the cold settle in my chest.
20:29Without thinking, I looked around for the phoenix.
20:31He was standing beside Evelyn, still as a statue.
20:34The picture.
20:35Don't look.
20:36It's him.
20:38You're certain.
20:39I went to the archmaster.
20:41Don't move yet.
20:42You need proof.
20:43Catch him in the act.
20:45He said it with total gravity.
20:47Meanwhile, behind him, his courtyard had become a small zoo.
20:50Several of them had taken human form and were crowding around Kieran to ask about his parents' bloodlines.
20:56I keep all my creatures close.
20:58Your new firehound relieved himself on the floor.
21:01You could clean it up for your teacher.
21:02Absolutely not.
21:03The senior elders started watching the phoenix.
21:06Their eyes went to him more carefully during training.
21:09They noted that his power had grown noticeably in ways that weren't explained by his circumstances.
21:14Then, nothing.
21:15Weeks passed.
21:16No more disappearances.
21:18No incidents.
21:19Two weeks went by.
21:20The girl never quite recovered from losing his fox.
21:22The other students spoke about the disappearances less and less until the whole thing drifted into the category of strange
21:28spirit-packed academy legend.
21:30Something that had happened, maybe, possibly.
21:32Nobody quite remembered the details.
21:34But I couldn't let it go.
21:36Kieran's certainty sat with me every day.
21:38I went to the archmaster and asked to have the phoenix formally restricted.
21:42You think we don't see it?
21:44But without evidence, what do I tell the students?
21:47If I punish someone without proof, I lose the trust of the whole spirit-packed academy.
21:52And without that trust, the spirit-packed academy dissolves.
21:55Then one night, while I was deep in meditation, something flashed past my window.
22:00A pair of red eyes.
22:01Bright.
22:02Gone in an instant.
22:03Where was Kieran?
22:04I moved to the water's edge.
22:06Floating on the surface.
22:07A single golden feather.
22:09An invitation.
22:10Or a taunt.
22:10Find me and I'll give him back.
22:12I reached out through the bond and found Kieran's location.
22:15The back forest.
22:16I hit the ground running.
22:17I arrived through the wards in a flash of light.
22:20And walked straight into a shockwave from two powers colliding.
22:23Kieran and the phoenix were already fighting.
22:26Fully committing.
22:27I went rigid.
22:28When had the phoenix broken through?
22:30He moved through the trees in a golden coat.
22:33Fast and precise.
22:35Ducking and redirecting Kieran's strikes.
22:37With the ease of someone who'd had longer to prepare for this moment.
22:41Beside the ward barrier, Evelyn sat perfectly still.
22:44Like a doll that someone had set down and forgotten.
22:47When I got close enough to see her clearly, my stomach turned over.
22:52Evelyn was dead.
22:53Her eyes were still open.
22:55Fixed in an expression of complete disbelief.
22:58Her abdomen had been cut open.
23:00Her core.
23:01The source of her power.
23:03The root she'd spent years building.
23:05Was gone.
23:06I hadn't even had time to process it.
23:08Before the sky above the forest went dark.
23:11Clouds banking hard and fast.
23:14Thunder starting low and rolling.
23:16Bond falls.
23:17Harm your bonded partner.
23:19And the consequence comes down from the sky itself.
23:22He'd killed his own bonded partner.
23:25He'd lost his mind.
23:26A lightning judgment of this scale would leave nothing of him.
23:30All that power.
23:31All that scheming.
23:33And he'd thrown it away for this moment.
23:35I didn't bother playing it soft.
23:37You spent ten years plotting with Evelyn against the Spirit Pact 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.
23:51Today it ends.
23:52Nick smiled.
23:53Cold and strange.
23:55Almost.
23:56One more step.
23:58His hands were already moving behind his back.
24:01Breaking the wards.
24:02The creatures locked in the forest felt the loosening.
24:05The ground shook.
24:06Thunder gathered directly above him.
24:08The Archmaster arrived in a streak of light from the peak.
24:12Lyra!
24:12Hold the creatures back!
24:16I'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.
24:24With a look of pure madness.
24:26And he turned it on me.
24:28Lyra!
24:29You can't stop this!
24:31Come die with me!
24:33I'll do better by you this time, I swear it!
24:36In my past life I had died in this exact forest.
24:39In this exact way.
24:41With no one at my back.
24:42I felt fear.
24:44That was honest.
24:45Old fear.
24:46The kind that lived in the body.
24:48Then a hand landed on my shoulder.
24:50Kieran.
24:51Eyes lit with the cold fire of someone who had never once considered losing.
24:56You want to take her down with you?
24:58He laughed once.
24:59Short and sharp.
25:01Ask me first.
25:03You're nobody.
25:05Right.
25:06I had Kieran.
25:07This time, I wasn't fighting alone.
25:10Kieran pressed forward and I covered him.
25:12He trusted me at his back without checking.
25:15I trusted him to end what he started.
25:18Kieran wasn't breaking.
25:19And the phoenix couldn't find a way past him.
25:22Then he understood.
25:23I wasn't going to die here.
25:25The plan had failed.
25:27He broke.
25:28This isn't right!
25:29You're supposed to die!
25:31We're supposed to die together!
25:32I raised one finger and pointed at the sky.
25:35Goodbye.
25:36The lightning came down in a column as wide as well.
25:40The phoenix didn't scream.
25:42No rebirth for those taken by judgment.
25:45Final.
25:46And total.
25:47I finally got the rarest magic core for you!
25:51You've worked hard.
26:05After rebirth, I abandoned the mighty phoenix as my magical pet.
26:10Instead, chose an almost dead little black snake in my past life.
26:14I'd hunted rare ingredients for phoenix.
26:16Pouring every resource I had into his growth, he cheated with my sister behind my back.
26:20Finally, to make their little love story easier, they killed me together.
26:23This time around, I wanted to see how that perfect couple managed without me as their stepping stone.
26:28The same packed ceremony.
26:29The same standout.
26:30Undeniably that golden phoenix.
26:32Even caged with a suppression collar, he held his head high, like the rest of us were beneath him.
26:37As expected, the ceremony elder assigned him to me.
26:40The phoenix tilted its head back and rolled its eyes.
26:42Just like in its previous life.
26:44Its face full of disdain.
26:45That was when my sister Evelyn walked in.
26:47Cradling a limp little black snake in her palms.
26:50Tears rolling down her cheeks.
26:52My sister was too weak.
26:53Phoenix fell in love with her pitiful appearance immediately.
26:56Which 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.
27:11Bit her lip with tears down.
27:12Lila, I know I have no right to compete with you.
27:15It's just, I've never seen a golden phoenix before.
27:18I didn't have the patience to listen to her feigned weakness.
27:21I reached out and lifted the limp black snake from her hands.
27:24Smiled at the ceremony elder.
27:25I've taken a liking to this one.
27:27The phoenix clearly doesn't want me.
27:29Why not let her have him?
27:31I'll take the snake.
27:32The others thought I'd lost my mind.
27:33They pulled me aside.
27:35You'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.
27:43In 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.
27:52And instead of thinking clearly, I thought, he'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.
28:00I 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, the kind that had lost their minds
28:13and turned feral, to earn extra elixirs.
28:16I came back bleeding every time.
28:18The phoenix pretended not to notice.
28:20He only came near me when I pulled out elixirs, took what he wanted, and walked away.
28:2410 years.
28:25I spent 10 years helping him break through his limits and take human form.
28:29When he finally did, he was stunning.
28:31Tall, sharp-featured.
28:32But the warmth stopped there.
28:34He always treated me like I was his errand girl.
28:36I told myself it was fine.
28:38Creatures with strong bloodlines had pride.
28:40One 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.
28:52A fellow student rode past on her white tiger, saw them in the distance, and shook her head at me.
28:57Liar, 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?
29:04She says it every time you leave.
29:06I saw stars.
29:07I'd been out there risking my life, and she was back here cheating with her legs.
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 10 years sewing a wedding dress for someone else.
29:20I wasn't some gentle, forgiving heroine.
29:23Turned on Evelyn.
29:23It enraged the phoenix.
29:25As punishment, he lured me to the back forest under false pretenses, then broke open the
29:29wards keeping it sealed.
29:30The creatures trapped inside started pouring out, and among them was one that had fallen
29:35into complete madness.
29:36A leviathan.
29:37The phoenix joined forces with my sister to shoot me down the cliff.
29:40In the end, I died in the beast home, and I could only watch Evelyn snuggle up beside
29:44it.
29:45So this time around, I wasn't going to be anyone's sacrifice.
29:48I 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.
30:01Harm the bonded partner, and the creature suffered for it.
30:04The bonding ritual's energy agitated the black snake.
30:07He wound himself around my arm with everything he had.
30:10Evelyn got the phoenix, and was clearly thrilled.
30:12Then she looked at the snake clinging to me.
30:14You and that serpent really do seem meant for each other, Lyra.
30:17She was very smug.
30:18Had she also been reborn?
30:19Watch your tongue, Evelyn!
30:21If 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.
30:29Always crying.
30:30You'd think she was the tragic one.
30:31The phoenix paced anxiously while Evelyn sniffled.
30:34Anxious didn't help him.
30:35Evelyn had almost no power at this stage.
30:38The creatures shared energy with their bonded partners, but Evelyn's reserves were basically
30:43empty, probably the first time in either life, that the phoenix had been on the losing side
30:48of a situation.
30:49Good.
30:50He'd adjust.
30:51This was the consequence of choosing weakness and cheating.
30:54The black snake, finally convinced I wasn't abandoning him, went limp and passed out in
31:00my arms.
31:01Back home, I finally got a good look at the snake.
31:04He was tiny.
31:05Couldn't have been more than a few decades old.
31:08Barely passed the threshold of maturity.
31:10But he was strange, different from the serpents I knew.
31:14Water serpents had snake-like tails.
31:16This one had a tail more like a fish, with a fin.
31:19Mixed bloodline.
31:21Serpent and something older.
31:23Seafolk, maybe.
31:24I had a natural spring in the courtyard.
31:26The moment he hit the water, he came alive, diving and surfacing, pulling in energy from
31:32the current.
31:33I laughed.
31:34Relax.
31:35I fed a golden phoenix for ten years.
31:37I think I can manage one little snake.
31:39He froze, and stared at me with those tiny green eyes.
31:43Then he spat water at my face.
31:45I flicked him on the head.
31:47Heel up.
31:48You're not going anywhere.
31:49The next morning, I woke up wrong.
31:51I turned my head and found a face three inches from mine.
31:55Dark lashes.
31:56Warm skin.
31:57The kind of face that belonged in a painting.
32:00Long lashes that trembled slightly.
32:02Objectively gorgeous.
32:04Didn't stop me from nearly jumping out of my skin.
32:06He'd gotten into bed without waking me.
32:09Whoever this was, his power was well above mine.
32:12He stirred, opened gold-slit eyes, and looked at me.
32:16I scrambled to the corner.
32:18Who are you?
32:19This is Spirit-Packed Academy grounds.
32:21Don't try anything.
32:22He sat up.
32:23I noticed he was wearing the clothes I'd set aside for when a creature took human form.
32:28A dark-fitted robe with a subtle pattern.
32:30He wore it well.
32:31He was tall.
32:33He'd had to curl up to fit in my bed.
32:35Under those long lashes were a pair of gold, vertical pupil eyes.
32:39The answer was obvious.
32:40Snake?
32:41He smirked.
32:42Reached out.
32:43And flicked me on the forehead.
32:44Rude.
32:45I have a name.
32:47It's Kieran.
32:47Kieran, it turned out, had been fleeing an enemy when he crossed paths with my tutor.
32:52He'd taken the form of a small, injured serpent.
32:55My tutor, true to form, had taken him in.
32:57Kieran clearly hadn't been injured because he was weak.
33:00Please tell me your enemies aren't about to show up here.
33:03We're bonded now.
33:05You're the master.
33:05I'm your mate.
33:07So I suggest you train hard and try not to slow me down.
33:10He taught me a breathing and absorption technique developed for serpentkind.
33:14Most days I sat in the spring practicing, while Kieran sprawled in the tree above me,
33:19watching with half-closed eyes.
33:20The breeze moved his hair and caught the light on his skin.
33:23Evelyn appeared at my gate, peering in.
33:25I sighed and got out of the spring.
33:27Kieran dropped from the tree and draped a dry robe over my shoulders without being asked.
33:32Who is this?
33:33You remember him?
33:34The little black snake from the bonding ceremony?
33:37You said yourself we seem meant for each other.
33:39A flicker of something crossed her face.
33:41What do you want?
33:42This is training time.
33:44I was hoping we could raise the phoenix together.
33:47Kieran's hand tightened on mine.
33:49I glanced at him.
33:50He was watching me, clearly unhappy.
33:52I'm not your backup plan.
33:54Figure it out yourself.
33:55How is it not your responsibility?
33:57You took the black snake and left me with the phoenix.
34:00You don't get to just walk away.
34:02Half a year's gone by and I've given him every elixir I had.
34:05There's nothing left for my own training.
34:07And I was in the lower ranks.
34:09I can't go hunting rare ingredients.
34:10I'd die out there.
34:12You bonded with the phoenix first.
34:13You should be helping.
34:14I cut her off mid-sentence.
34:16Sent a gust of air to push her back through the gate.
34:18And led Kieran inside.
34:20Little sister.
34:21Don't mistake everyone for a fool.
34:22I'm not spending my resources raising your creature for you.
34:26If you can't afford to keep him.
34:27Dissolve the bond.
34:29Let someone else take him.
34:30I'm sure the elders would be happy to.
34:32She wouldn't do that.
34:33Her ambitions were too big.
34:34Weeks passed.
34:35I broke through to a new level of power.
34:38What those in the Spirit Pact Academy called Fourth Circle Stage.
34:42At the same time, the Archmaster arranged for me to escort a rare spirit fox to the Spirit Pact Academy.
34:49Alongside Elder Celia, who was about three centuries older than me, and acted like a kid half the time.
34:56I sweet-talked her through the handover to the creature registry.
34:59And she settled for it.
35:00Before she left, she pressed her hand over her mouth to hide a smile.
35:04Your little serpent is very clingy, you know.
35:07I didn't understand until I started up the mountain path and saw a silhouette leaning against a tree in the
35:13distance.
35:14He didn't move.
35:16When I got closer, he reached out and grabbed the back of my neck.
35:19Lyra, am I not good to you?
35:21Why are you trying to give me away?
35:23What are you talking about?
35:24That girl came to the courtyard today.
35:26Said you sent her to check on it.
35:28Did you change your mind about bonding with me?
35:30You hit Fourth Circle and now you're done with me?
35:33Same playbook, different life.
35:35Before I could explain, Kieran's pupils contracted to thin lines.
35:39He bent his head and pressed his face into my neck.
35:42His tongue brushed the skin there.
35:44Light, quick.
35:45I shivered hard.
35:47Smells like fox.
35:49Lyra, did you already find yourself a replacement?
35:52Doesn't matter.
35:53Once I eat that fox, I'll be your only option.
35:56You hit me for her?
35:58That fox belongs to my Archmaster.
36:00You touch her and I will end you.
36:02Kieran stopped fighting me and let himself be pulled along.
36:05Most students weren't training, so the residences were quiet.
36:09A few people raised their eyebrows when they saw me coming.
36:12Short greetings, and then they told me.
36:15Evelyn had gone to the back forest with the phoenix.
36:17I frowned.
36:18I wasn't in the phoenix's way anymore.
36:20Why were they sneaking off to the forest?
36:23We found them mid-argument.
36:25Or rather, Evelyn was arguing in the phoenix,
36:28who still hadn't taken human form.
36:30Was responding in scratched letters on the ground.
36:33Don't look at me like that.
36:34I've done nothing wrong.
36:36I didn't force you to come to the Spirit Pocked Academy.
36:39You said this place would help you grow.
36:41I've given you every elixir I had, and you're still not satisfied?
36:45You want me to go out hunting rare ingredients?
36:48I just started training.
36:50You'd be sending me to die.
36:52I almost felt something.
36:54In my past life, he'd given me nothing for ten years.
36:58Not a glance.
36:59Not a word.
37:00Not a gesture.
37:01Now he was writing letters in the dirt.
37:03The contrast was something.
37:05Evelyn.
37:06I've been looking for you.
37:08The phoenix scrambles to erase the letters when he heard us.
37:11Evelyn pulled herself together fast, though not fast enough.
37:15What do you need, Lyra?
37:20I patted Kieran's arm.
37:22He gave me a long-suffering look,
37:24then dropped to one knee and let me settle onto it like a chair.
37:27His hands locked around my waist, steadying me.
37:31Evelyn's gaze locked onto Kieran and didn't move.
37:33I'm not here about anything in particular.
37:36Just wondering why you paid my companion a visit.
37:38The phoenix's feathers flared, angry.
37:41Evelyn hadn't expected me to know so fast.
37:43No, you've got it wrong.
37:45I was just coming to find you.
37:47He rested his chin on my shoulder.
37:49She lied to me.
37:50She said you stole me from her,
37:52that I was supposed to be hers.
37:53And what did you do?
37:54She came into your territory without permission.
37:57She was weak.
37:58I didn't even use my power.
38:00Just pushed until she left.
38:01I patted his cheek.
38:02I stood and faced Evelyn directly.
38:05If I remember correctly,
38:06you didn't want Kieran in the first place.
38:08He was badly injured.
38:10If he'd ended up with you,
38:11he probably wouldn't have survived his second year.
38:14That's not true!
38:15I would have taken care of him.
38:17The phoenix's crest was fully raised now.
38:19She caught herself.
38:22You're trying to drive a wedge between me and the phoenix.
38:25I stepped forward and put my hand on her shoulder.
38:27You played your game, little sister.
38:29Don't act surprised when I play mine.
38:32Next time you pull something like this,
38:34you will get my punishment.
38:36She blanched.
38:37The council didn't forgive moves against another member's bonded creature.
38:40She couldn't risk it.
38:42On the way back, I was in a good mood.
38:45Kieran was quiet, though.
38:47Wouldn't transform and carry me even when I asked.
38:49Once we were back in the courtyard, he grabbed my arm.
38:52You seem familiar with the phoenix.
38:54I didn't hide it.
38:55We have a history.
38:56It ended badly for me.
38:58Want to hear it?
38:59He turned away, shifted into serpent form, and wound himself around my neck.
39:04No.
39:05I'm better than that bird by every measure.
39:08You're not going back to him.
39:09I won't have another mate.
39:12I promise.
39:14Days later.
39:16Lyia, your growth rate is pathetic.
39:19Sharing energy with you is a form of suffering.
39:23My arch master said,
39:25I'm one of the most talented young members in a generation.
39:28All those rare materials and elixirs I found went into me this time.
39:32Not into the phoenix.
39:34Ten years passed.
39:36I moved steadily from fourth circle to sixth circle.
39:39Even the most mean elder Celia praised me.
39:41You are really a genius, Lyra.
39:44We all expected the phoenix to elevate the whole spirit panda academy.
39:48But ten years in, there's still no sign of him breaking through.
39:53I'd expected this.
39:54Sustaining creatures took enormous resources.
39:57And the spirit-packed academy never had reserves.
40:00The phoenix couldn't break through.
40:02And in my past life, I'd seen exactly what happened when his patients ran out.
40:06I'd thought about removing him.
40:07Every time I tried to bring it up with my arch master or Kiran,
40:11it was like the words hit a wall.
40:12And acting unilaterally, killing the phoenix before anyone understood why,
40:17would have destroyed the spirit-packed academy from the inside.
40:21All I could do was watch him and contain him.
40:24Past that, I had no choice but to wait.
40:26My past life hadn't survived this year.
40:29I didn't know if this one would go differently.
40:31He stood there staring at Kiran,
40:33who was lazily floating in the spring in human form,
40:36making absolutely no effort to be welcoming.
40:38You have a bonded partner.
40:40Why are you at my gate?
40:43Right.
40:44What possible reason could you have for neglecting your own bonded partner
40:48to come stand outside someone else's home?
40:51Kiran climbed out and immediately tried to lean against me.
40:54I don't worry you're near. I'll have to know this.
40:57I just want that bird to know there's no space for him here.
41:02What exactly is here between us?
41:04That's entirely your call.
41:06The phoenix flew away.
41:08Kiran grabbed my face with both hands.
41:10He left.
41:11Can you stop worrying about him for five minutes?
41:13I have to know what he's doing.
41:14That bird has a dark heart.
41:16I don't trust him, idol.
41:19He regrets it.
41:21Doesn't want to stay with your little sister anymore.
41:23I turned toward the gate.
41:25Empty.
41:25But something in my gut told me the phoenix was off.
41:29There was no logical reason for him to come to me specifically.
41:33Unless the phoenix had also been reborn.
41:36If that was true, then he knew about the back forest.
41:39He knew what was sealed there.
41:41He knew my parents had died there, which I'd only ever told him directly.
41:45In my previous life, I didn't stop to explain to Kiran.
41:48I pulled out a slip and went straight to the forest wards.
41:51The wards were intact.
41:52I exhaled.
41:53Then I turned around and my stomach dropped.
41:55A handful of golden feathers lay near the edge of the barrier line.
41:59He'd been here.
42:00The phoenix had come back with knowledge he shouldn't have.
42:02The friction between Evelyn and the phoenix had gone public.
42:05He'd refused her commands in training sessions.
42:08Ignored her in front of others.
42:09Made her look incompetent in front of the whole yard more than once in recent weeks.
42:13The reason I kept getting dragged in was simpler and more aggravating.
42:16Every time I appeared, the phoenix drifted toward me.
42:19If looks could kill, Evelyn would have had me buried weeks ago.
42:22Elder Celia found the whole thing delightful.
42:25Her bird appeared at my shoulder one afternoon.
42:27You know what this reminds me of?
42:29One of those stories where the man realizes too late what he had.
42:33He freezes her out at the start and then spends the rest of the book chasing her.
42:38Oh dear.
42:39I could talk to the girl, offer her a different creature, something she could actually manage,
42:44and transfer the phoenix over to you, quietly.
42:47No.
42:48I'm not going near the disciplinary council over this.
42:50Besides, I have Kieran.
42:53That's enough.
42:54Celia looked genuinely mournful.
42:56Then she shifted to her real point.
42:58A creature pulling against its bonded partner is a problem for everyone.
43:02And Evelyn hasn't advanced the first stage in ten years.
43:05The elders have discussed sending her out on a field assignment,
43:08a year or two away from the Spirit Pact Academy.
43:11Practical experience, away from all of this.
43:13I understood what she wasn't saying.
43:15They'd given up on the phoenix as a resource for the Spirit Pact Academy.
43:19In the council hall, Evelyn made the whole thing into a production.
43:23She cried.
43:24She accused me of engineering her removal to take the phoenix.
43:27In front of all the senior elders, she made her counteroffer.
43:30If senior wants the phoenix, she should just say so.
43:33I won't stand in the way.
43:36But if she takes him, she gives me Kieran.
43:39A mixed lineage serpent for a pure-blooded phoenix.
43:42Honestly, Lyra comes out a laugh.
43:45Which one, Evelyn?
43:46You focus on your phoenix and stop coming up with terrible ideas.
43:50While the elders dealt with Evelyn,
43:52I was at the creature registry with the headkeeper,
43:55investigating a disappearance.
43:57Three had vanished overnight.
43:59Two small rabbits and a unicorn.
44:01I reinforced the gate myself before I left.
44:05Any disturbance at all, and I would have felt it.
44:09There was nothing.
44:10Not a sound.
44:12Not a rogue creature.
44:13No trace of that energy anywhere.
44:16Right?
44:17I looked around.
44:18The registry was built into the mountainside.
44:21The rock face itself was warded.
44:23No slipping through the earth.
44:25No passing through walls.
44:26I was still thinking when the keeper started cooing at one of the deer.
44:30Don't be scared.
44:31Big Brother Serpent just looks mean.
44:34He won't eat you.
44:35That pulled something loose in my mind.
44:38I hesitated.
44:41Do creatures ever turn on each other?
44:43What a horrifying thing to say.
44:46They have awareness.
44:48They would never...
44:49Kieran slipped an arm around me and spoke low into my ear.
44:52People do terrible things to each other.
44:55Creatures aren't different.
44:56I've heard of a practice.
44:58A dark technique.
44:59Used by creatures who want to advance without resources.
45:02My skin had gone cold.
45:04Wild creatures had no access to elixirs or rare materials.
45:08If they wanted to grow in power fast, the most efficient shortcut was this.
45:13Consume the core of another creature.
45:16The higher the level of the creature they took from, the faster the gain.
45:20Kira had nearly died at the hands of one practicing exactly that method ten years ago.
45:24Once it works, it will come back for more.
45:28We staked out the registry that night.
45:30Nothing happened.
45:31Quiet all the way until dawn.
45:33I reassured the keeper and headed out.
45:39Hallmaster, there's an incident at the residences.
45:41Kieran shifted, wrapped around me, and moved.
45:44When we landed, I didn't need to go inside to know it was bad.
45:47I could hear the crying from the courtyard.
45:49It was one of my newest students.
45:51A girl who'd come to the spirit-packed academy with his own creature.
45:54Fox.
45:54Soft and round and always sprawled in patches of sunlight.
45:58Kind of creature that made people smile just looking at it.
46:00She was sitting on the ground, holding what remained of her.
46:03Not much left.
46:04Your guess was right.
46:05The core was removed.
46:06One strike, clean.
46:08It happened before she could make a sound.
46:10She only noticed when she felt the bond break.
46:12I felt the cold settle in my chest.
46:15Without thinking, I looked around for the phoenix.
46:18He was standing beside Evelyn, still as a statue.
46:20The picture.
46:21Don't look.
46:22It's him.
46:25You're certain.
46:26I went to the Archmaster.
46:27Don't move yet.
46:28You need proof.
46:30Catch him in the act.
46:31He said it with total gravity.
46:33Meanwhile, behind him, his courtyard had become a small zoo.
46:36Several of them had taken human form and were crowding around Kieran to ask about his parents' bloodlines.
46:42I keep all my creatures close.
46:44Your new firehound relieved himself on the floor.
46:47You could clean it up for your teacher.
46:49Absolutely not.
46:50The senior elders started watching the phoenix.
46:52Their eyes went to him more carefully during training.
46:55They noted that his power had grown noticeably in ways that weren't explained by his circumstances.
47:00Then, nothing.
47:01Weeks passed.
47:02No more disappearances.
47:04No incidents.
47:05Two weeks went by.
47:06The girl never quite recovered from losing his fox.
47:09The other students spoke about the disappearances less and less until the whole thing drifted
47:13into the category of strange spirit-packed academy legend.
47:17Something that had happened, maybe, possibly.
47:19Nobody quite remembered the details.
47:20But I couldn't let it go.
47:22Kieran's certainty sat with me every day.
47:25I went to the Archmaster and asked to have the phoenix formally restricted.
47:29You think we don't see it?
47:30But without evidence, what do I tell the students?
47:32If I punish someone without proof, I lose the trust of the whole spirit-packed academy.
47:38And without that trust, the spirit-packed academy dissolves.
47:42Then one night, while I was deep in meditation, something flashed past my window.
47:46A pair of red eyes.
47:48Bright.
47:48Gone in an instant.
47:49Where was Kieran?
47:50I moved to the water's edge.
47:52Floating on the surface.
47:53A single golden feather.
47:55An invitation.
47:56Or a taunt.
47:57Find me and I'll give him back.
47:58I reached out through the bond and found Kieran's location.
48:01The back forest.
48:02I hit the ground running.
48:03I arrived through the wards in a flash of light.
48:06And walked straight into a shockwave from two powers colliding.
48:10Kieran and the phoenix were already fighting.
48:12Fully committed.
48:13I went rigid.
48:15When had the phoenix broken through?
48:16He moved through the trees in a golden coat.
48:19Fast and precise.
48:21Ducking and redirecting Kieran's strikes.
48:23With the ease of someone who'd had longer to prepare for this moment.
48:26Beside the ward barrier, Evelyn sat perfectly still.
48:31Like a doll that someone had set down and forgotten.
48:34When I got close enough to see her clearly, my stomach turned over.
48:38Evelyn was dead.
48:39Her eyes were still open.
48:41Fixed in an expression of 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.
48:52I hadn't even had time to process it.
48:55Before the sky above the forest went dark.
48:57Clouds banking hard and fast.
49:00Thunder starting low and rolling.
49:02Bond lies.
49:04Harm your bonded partner.
49:05And the consequence comes down from the sky itself.
49:08He'd killed his own bonded partner.
49:11He'd lost his mind.
49:13A lightning judgment of this scale would leave nothing of him.
49:16All that power.
49:17All that scheming.
49:19And he'd thrown it away for this moment.
49:21I didn't bother playing it soft.
49:23You spent ten years plotting with Evelyn against the Spirit Pact Academy.
49:27You used every person here as a platform.
49:30And this life you had the chance to change and instead you gutted her for her core.
49:35The god is watching.
49:37Today it ends.
49:39Nick smiled.
49:40Cold and strange.
49:41Almost.
49:43One more step.
49:44His hands were already moving behind his back.
49:47Breaking the ward scene.
49:48The creatures locked in the forest felt the loosening.
49:51The ground shook.
49:53Thunder gathered directly above him.
49:55The Archmaster arrived in a streak of light from the peak.
49:58Lyra!
49:58Hold the creatures back!
50:02I'll work on resealing from out here.
50:04Lightning above.
50:06The forest breaking open below.
50:08The phoenix stood in the middle of it all.
50:10With a look of pure madness.
50:12And 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.
50:21I swear it.
50:22In my past life I had died in this exact forest.
50:25In this exact way.
50:27With no one at my back.
50:28I felt fear.
50:30That was honest.
50:31Old fear.
50:32The kind that lived in the body.
50:34Then a hand landed on my shoulder.
50:37Kieran.
50:37Eyes lit with the cold fire of someone who had never once considered losing.
50:42You want to take her down with you?
50:44He laughed once.
50:46Short and sharp.
50:47Ask me first.
50:49You're nobody.
50:51Right.
50:52I had Kieran.
50:53This time.
50:54I wasn't fighting alone.
50:56Kieran pressed forward and I covered him.
50:59He trusted me at his back without checking.
51:01I trusted him to end what he started.
51:04Kieran wasn't breaking.
51:06And the phoenix couldn't find a way past him.
51:08Then he understood.
51:10I wasn't going to die here.
51:12The plan had failed.
51:13He broke.
51:15This isn't right.
51:16You're supposed to die.
51:17We're supposed to die together.
51:19I raised one finger and pointed at the sky.
51:22Goodbye.
51:22The lightning came down in a column as wide as it was.
51:26The phoenix didn't scream.
51:28No rebirth for those taken by judgment.
51:31Final and total.
51:33No rebirth for those taken by judgment.
51:33No rebirth for those taken by judgment.
51:33No rebirth for those taken by judgment.
51:33No rebirth for those taken by judgment.
51:33No rebirth for those taken by judgment.
51:33No rebirth for those taken by judgment.
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