The battlefield trembled, torches flickering under Marlic's storm. His voice thundered, cruel and certain. "The crown is mine as much as yours. It was born from betrayal, and betrayal cannot be undone."
Elira's chest burned, the crown pulsing violently. She felt the fire surging, but beneath it, shadow whispered—Marlic's grief, his memory, his pain. For a heartbeat, she saw herself consumed, Kael falling, the Ashbound scattered.
She clenched her fist. If flame alone cannot win… then I will bind shadow too.
Her voice rang out, steady despite the storm. "You say shadow endures. Then I will endure it. I will bind flame and shadow together."
The crown blazed, its light fracturing. Fire surged from her palm, but this time it did not burn alone. Threads of shadow wove into the blaze, dark and bright, grief and loyalty entwined.
The Ashbound gasped, torches flickering with both flame and smoke. Kael's blade gleamed, half fire, half shadow, his eyes wide. "Elira… what have you done?"
Marlic's roar shook the ground. "You dare! You dare bind what was broken? You dare wield both?" His storm lashed forward, but for the first time, it faltered—shadow recoiling against itself.
Elira's fire burned brighter, shadow weaving into its core. The crown pulsed in harmony with her heartbeat, no longer whispering betrayal but balance. "I will not let origin define me. I will not let grief consume me. Flame and shadow will endure together."
The battlefield shifted. The Ashbound's torches blazed with dual light, their voices rising in defiance. Marlic staggered, his storm breaking against the forbidden binding.
But the crown burned hotter, heavier. Elira gasped, her chest tightening. The risk was clear—binding flame and shadow was not salvation, but peril. If she faltered, both would consume her.
Kael pressed to her side, his blade steady. "Hold, Elira. Do not let it break you."
Marlic's ember eyes blazed, his voice sharp. "You think balance will save you? Balance is weakness. And weakness will destroy you."
The duel was no longer just flame against shadow—it was the forbidden binding itself, threatening to consume them all.