Lady Virath’s hollow eyes gleam with victory.
And yet—
Something is wrong.
I feel the alignment pulling in a direction Alekir doesn’t expect. The magic isn’t twisted. Isn’t corrupted. It’s flowingclean— smoother and purer than anything I’ve ever felt.
Too smooth.
Too clean.
Toocorrect.
Kieran’s voice cuts through the noise — soft, horrified.
“Kaia… this isn’t corrupted magic.”
I know.
I’ve known since the moment I stepped into the circle.
“This is true alignment,” he breathes.
Alekir freezes.
Just slightly. Just enough for me to see the first flicker of doubt cross whatever passes for his expression beneath that hood.
“No.” Lady Virath’s voice goes sharp. Panicked. “This is wrong. The corruption should be—”
She whirls toward Alekir.
“STOP HER.”
Light erupts from her hands — golden and wrong and aimed directly at my chest.
The bonds respond before I can think.
Torric’s fire intercepts, a wall of flame that swallows her attack whole.
Aspen’s frost seals the ground around my feet, anchoring me.
Finn’s chaos jumps and explodes her blast into a shower of harmless sparks.
Darian’s light flares like a shield, pure gold meeting corrupted gold.
Malrik’s shadows wrap around my waist, steadying me, protecting me.
And Kieran—
Kieranshifts.
The sound is thunder and breaking stone. One moment he’s a man — the next he’s a dragon, massive and ancient, scales gleaming like black gold in the Gate’s light. His wings spread wide, blocking out the sky, and he positions himself over all of us.
A living shield.
Lady Virath screams in fury, launching blast after blast — but they break against his scales like waves against a cliff.
The Nightwraiths dive toward us, shrieking — and Kieran’s roar shatters them. Justshattersthem. Dozens of them dissolving into nothing.
