When it stopped, I couldn't catch my breath. Couldn't think. Couldn't do anything but hang in the restraints and shake.
Blood dripped from my nose. I could taste copper in my mouth.
I felt Serna's anguish—the helpless horror of watching someone you love being tortured. But beneath it, I felt something else: determination. Fury. Unbreakable will.
Through the haze of pain, a strange clarity settled over me. If I died here, now, it wouldn't be meaningless. It wouldn't be some random casualty in a war I didn't understand. I'd be dying for something that mattered—for someone who mattered.
For a true leader.
Not a pretender like Riuondo, who thought power could be seized through violence and intimidation. But Serna. A Prime who'd chosen duty over comfort, who'd risked everything to protect her people—even the humans she'd barely known. Who stood here now, refusing to break even as she watched me suffer.
This was a soldier's death. An honorable death.
If my death bought her time—if it gave her allies a chance to reach us, if it proved to the Council that she wouldn't be broken—then it was worth it.
"Stop this," she said, and her voice was different now—not pleading, but commanding. "This accomplishes nothing. You want the Alliance? Fine. Let's negotiate terms."
Riuondo turned to her, his expression calculating. "Terms?"
"I'll abdicate publicly. I'll endorse your claim to the Council. I'll even help you consolidate power among the noble families." She was speaking quickly now, her tactical mind working. "But in exchange, you leave Earth alone. You guarantee human rights within the Alliance. You—"
"No." Riuondo's voice was flat. "You don't get to negotiate. You don't get to set terms. You're going to abdicate unconditionally, or I'm going to keep hurting him until there's nothing left."
He picked up something from the table beside the chair—a long, thin implement that looked like a surgical tool. "This is a neural disruptor. It targets specific nerve clusters. Very precise. Very painful."
He pressed it against my arm.
It burned. Not with heat, but with something chemical—something that felt like it was eating through skin and muscle down to the bone. I bit down hard, trying not to scream, but the moan escaped anyway.
"Stop it!" Serna's composure was cracking now, her voice rising. "Riuondo, stop!"
He moved the implement to my other arm.
More burning. More pain.
"You can make this stop," Riuondo said calmly. "Just say the words. Tell me you accept your defeat. Tell me you'll abdicate without conditions, without reservations. Tell me you surrender."
Through the haze of pain, I felt Serna's internal struggle via our synchronized heartbeat. The desperate need to make it stop warring with her pride, her duty, her refusal to give this monster what he wanted.
"I..." Her voice wavered. "I can't—"
"Can't?" Riuondo pressed the disruptor harder against my arm. "Or won't?"
"Both." The word came out strangled. "You're asking me to betray everything I've built. Everything I've fought for. The Alliance needs—"
"The Alliance needs a leader who isn't weak." Riuondo activated the chair again.
Level six.
I didn't know the pain could get worse. I was wrong.
This wasn't just physical agony—it was something deeper, something that felt like it was unraveling the very fabric of my being. My vision went dark. My hearing cut out. All that existed was pain and the distant, desperate pull of Serna's presence down the bond.
When it stopped, I was barely conscious. Couldn't lift my head. Couldn't speak.
"Cullen." Serna's voice cut through the fog. "Cullen, stay with me."
I forced my eyes open. Found her face across the chamber.
