KAEL'S POV
The abyss's words coiled around me like smoke, filling my lungs until I nearly choked.
Give yourself to me, and she will live. Fight me, and she dies screaming.
The last chain pulsed around my heart, dark and glistening, its claws digging in deeper with every throb. I could feel it—its hunger, its certainty. This wasn't a bluff. If I faltered, if I chose wrong, Ayla would pay the price.
I staggered, knees slamming against the stone beneath me. Silver light flickered weakly now, guttering like a dying flame. I wanted to rage, to tear, to howl until the world broke apart—but the abyss was clever. It didn't need my fury. It needed my love.
And gods help me, it was using her against me.
Through the haze, I felt her. Ayla's magic brushed mine again, trembling but steady, her fire like a beacon in the dark. She was still fighting. Still burning for me, with me.
