Vale's POV
"The real test was whether you could make the unforgivable choice."
Ryker's words stopped me cold as silver fire blazed in my hands.
"Even now you're testing me?" I asked in disbelief.
The dimensional rift cracked wider behind us. Shadow creatures poured through like a black waterfall. Time was running out.
"Not testing," Ryker said calmly. "Teaching you the hardest lesson of leadership."
"I don't want your lessons!" I screamed. "I want to save everyone!"
"Then you must choose," Ryker replied. "Save me and lose the world. Or cut the bond between us and live with that choice forever."
"What bond?"
"The connection you've been building by trying to forgive me," Ryker explained. "You can sever it completely. Reject me so thoroughly that I cannot poison your power anymore."
Through the chaos in my mind, the five kings spoke urgently.
"It would work," the Dragon King said. "A severed bond is still technically a bond."
