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📖 Chapter Ten – Part Two
The runes above flared, their ash falling thicker now. Each flake burned like a brand where it touched Alexander's skin. His veins glowed faintly silver-black.
"You can't escape me," the Shade said. "We're bound. Every time you deny me, you grow weaker."
Alexander dropped his blade. "Then maybe I don't need a weapon."
He closed his eyes, feeling the Ashborn Heart's beat. Instead of pushing it away, he reached inward, touching the raw core of its power. Heat flooded his mind — memories, rage, loneliness. But underneath, a spark of something else: choice.
He exhaled. "I accept the power. But on my terms."
The Shade paused mid-strike. "On your terms?"
Alexander opened his eyes. Silver fire rimmed his pupils. "I'm done running."
He let the Heart surge fully. Instead of resisting, he guided it, shaping it into a single point. The wings at his back reshaped, turning into a cloak of living ash. His blade dissolved into light.
The Shade lunged — and Alexander caught its wrist barehanded.
"You're part of me," Alexander said, "but you're not all of me."
The Shade snarled and tried to break free, but Alexander pulled it close, pressing his forehead against its. "We're done fighting."
Light engulfed them both. The Shade screamed — not in pain but in fury and then, strangely, in relief. Its body dissolved into cinders that swirled around Alexander and sank into his skin.
The plain of black glass shattered. The runes above flickered and dimmed. Silence fell.
When the light faded, Alexander stood alone, breathing hard. His body felt lighter, stronger. The Heart inside him pulsed steadily now, no longer whispering — simply beating.
"You passed," a soft voice said.
He turned. A woman stood on the edge of the broken plain, her hair a cascade of pale gold, her hands glowing faintly green with healing runes. She wore the candidate's sigil on her cloak.
"I'm Sera Valen," she said. "They sent me to stabilize you when it was over."
Alexander blinked. "Over?"
Sera smiled faintly. "For now. You've bound the Heart instead of letting it bind you. Not many do."
He stepped toward her. The plain dissolved beneath his feet, and the Citadel's amphitheater rushed back in a whirl of mist and sound.
He was back on the arena floor. Nyx, Lira, and Eryndor were there. Zeryn stood above, silent but watching. Jareth scowled in the distance.
Alexander straightened. The Ashborn Heart pulsed quietly in his chest. His hands no longer trembled.
"I did it," he murmured.
Cael's voice drifted from somewhere unseen. "Did you? Or did it just let you think you did?"
Alexander clenched his fists. The Trial of Control was over — but a new chapter of the Ashborn Trials had begun.
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