Her lips parted, her face turned furious.
“Not again,”
He reached for her hand, voice rough.
“Maris. Listen. You don’t have time,”
But her eyes were already wide with recognition. Her dream had begun before he entered it and he was no longer a stranger in her mind.
“You’re real,” she whispered.
He nodded —jaw tight.
Alarik stepped closer, their dreamscape shifting into a swirl of stars and wind. His expression was grave.
“If you stay here, you’ll be bound to him by more than choice. You’ll become a part of him. And you will never be free to choose again. Tofulfill…”
“I already chose,” she said, voice soft.
“No,” he said, sharper than he meant to. “You were manipulated. You don’t even know what you are.”
She blinked.
“I’m the Veilbreaker,” she said.
Alarik froze.
“And do you even know what that fully means?”
”She blinked, uncertainty twisted her face.”
An answer —no she didn’t.
He could feel his anger blazing, the urge to cut Kael down in his sleep growing with each glance at her confusion.
And now… now he had to make a choice.
He moved closer to her with lethal grace.
She hesitated —stepping back.
“What are you doing?”
Alarik closed the distance. He touched her face like she might shatter.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “But I cannot leave you here.”
He pressed a small vial of the potion — only enough for the journey to Nerium. He pressed it to her lips forcing her to drink.
She fought him but it was too late the stars behind them cracked and the dream began to shatter.
Wind roared. Light flashed. The world fell inward once more.
When the world around them reformed — they were no longer in Nythra. The air was warmer, thick with sea salt and hum of Calanthe's coast. The walls before him were stone veined with silver.
Alarik's arms tightened around her as her body slumped fully into his —still breathing and whole.
His knees buckled, not from weaknesses, but from sheer relief that it had worked. Against all odds. The potion's final trace still sparked faintly in his veins, burning like starlight laced with pain. He'd mixed a numbing agent and sleeping formula into Maris dose to ensure she wouldn't suffer the same burn as him.
