The Throne's light spins behind May like a rising sun—
gold and violet, ancient and alive.
The Champion waits, towering and silent.
Zara steadies Nathel, who is barely standing, blood on his lip, fear in his eyes.
But he doesn't look at the Champion.
He looks only at her.
"May…" he rasps.
"Choose me. Choose us."
The ground trembles.
The Veil hums around them.
May lifts her chin.
And for the first time—
she isn't afraid.
She walks forward, the Throne illuminating each step.
Zara tenses.
Nathel reaches out, voice breaking.
"May—don't sacrifice yourself. Don't you dare."
She turns to him, her heart twisting.
"I'm not."
The Champion's voice rumbles like thunder cracking the sky.
"THRONE-BEARER. THE VEIL IS COLLAPSING. YOU MUST RESTORE IT, OR BOTH WORLDS WILL FALL."
May closes her eyes.
She feels the Throne—
its power,
its rage,
its ancient pull.
It wants her to obey.
To choose tradition.
To surrender herself.
But she also feels something else—
something warm,
steady,
human.
Nathel's bond.
His heartbeat.
His love.
His belief in her.
And that changes everything.
She opens her eyes.
Steps directly toward the Champion.
"No," she says.
The Champion jolts.
"YOU DEFY YOUR PURPOSE."
"No," she repeats.
"I rewrite it."
The Throne pulses violently—
almost as if in shock.
Nathel's breath catches.
Zara stares like she's witnessing a miracle she never imagined possible.
The Champion lowers its massive head.
"YOU CANNOT BREAK WHAT IS OLDER THAN YOUR WORLD."
May lifts her glowing hand.
"I'm not breaking anything."
She steps even closer.
"I'm choosing."
The Throne behind her roars to life—
light exploding outward, shaking the trees, the sky, the earth.
Nathel shields his eyes.
Zara grabs his arm.
The Champion leans back, shadows rippling.
"WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE?"
May looks it dead in the face.
"I choose both worlds."
The air freezes.
Even the wind stops.
"I won't restore the Veil if restoring it means losing the people I love," she says.
"And I won't destroy it if destroying it hurts innocent lives."
She touches the Throne-mark on her chest.
"So I'll do what every Throne-Bearer before me was too afraid to do."
She lifts her hands.
"And fuse them."
The Champion reels back.
"IMPOSSIBLE."
"No," May says softly.
"It's destiny."
Power surges through her—
hot, blinding, purifying.
Golden light bursts from her palms.
Violet streams pour from the Throne.
The two merge—
spiraling upward into a towering pillar that strikes the sky, ripping open a rift between the worlds.
The Veil cracks—
but instead of shattering,
the cracks glow.
Heal.
Shift.
Transform.
May screams as energy floods through her—
every memory, every life the Veil ever touched
pouring into her chest
like a tidal wave.
Nathel collapses to his knees.
"May—!!"
Zara holds him back desperately.
"Don't interrupt it! This is bigger than all of us!"
The Throne expands behind May—
no longer a symbol,
but a living force.
It wraps around the Veil
like arms pulling two worlds into a single heartbeat.
The Champion tries to resist.
"YOU WILL UNRAVEL REALITY—"
"No," May whispers,
her voice glowing with light not entirely her own.
"I will heal it."
The rift closes with a thunderous boom.
The Throne collapses inward—
into her.
Into her very soul.
The Champion drops to its knees as the shadows drain from its body.
Then—
it dissolves into light.
Silence.
Then—
the wind breathes again.
The trees sway gently.
The air warms.
The forest glows faintly with magic—
not dangerous,
not wild,
but alive.
Nathel stumbles forward.
"May…?"
Zara holds her breath.
The light fades.
May sways.
And then she turns—
Alive.
Whole.
Changed.
Nathel catches her as she collapses into his arms.
"You came back," he whispers, shaking.
"You came back to me."
She cups his cheek weakly.
"I chose you," she murmurs.
"And I chose them."
Nathel pulls her into a fierce embrace, burying his face in her hair.
Zara steps forward, awe softening her expression.
"You didn't just fuse the worlds," she says.
"You became the bridge between them. The first ever Throne-Bearer to rewrite the Veil instead of obeying it."
May exhales tiredly.
"Does that mean… it's over?"
Zara looks at the glowing horizon—
magic and reality slowly blending.
"For now," she says.
"But the balance is yours to maintain."
May leans into Nathel.
"Then I won't do it alone," she whispers.
Nathel presses his forehead to hers.
"You'll never have to."
The new world settles around them—
a world reborn,
a bond stronger than destiny,
and a girl who refused to choose between love and fate—
because she created a path where she could have both.
END.
Move to the epilogue that closes the entire novel.
NEXT👇