Cassia's POV
"CLOSE IT!" I scream at Seraphine. "CLOSE THE PORTAL NOW!"
She just laughs, that high, broken sound that makes my skin crawl. "I told you—I can't! Breaking the circle from inside is a one-way door!" She spreads her arms wide as the portal tears wider. "Welcome to the end of the world, cousin. At least we'll die together!"
The thing pushing through the portal is massive. I catch glimpses—too many eyes, claws like swords, a mouth that could swallow buildings. It roars again, and the sound makes the fortress shake worse than any earthquake.
"We need to seal it from this side!" Oracle Lyanna shouts over the noise. She's already channeling power toward the portal, but it's barely slowing the creature down. "I need help! My strength alone isn't enough!"
Theron grabs my hand. "Together?"
I nod. "Together."
We raise our joined hands and blast the portal with everything we have—his ice magic and my divine light, merged into one stream of power. The portal shrinks slightly, but the creature pushes harder. We're in a stalemate.
"It's not working!" Sweat drips down Theron's face. Being human again means he actually gets tired now. "We need more power!"
"The soldiers!" Kael steps forward, his sword glowing with a faint blue light. "Every person in this room has magic in their blood. Even if it's small. If we all channel it together—"
"It might be enough to seal the portal," Lyanna finishes. "Yes! Everyone, form a circle around them! Channel your energy through the king and his mate!"
The freed soldiers hesitate. They're confused, scared, exhausted from being mind-controlled.
"Please!" I beg them. "I know you don't know me. I know you barely trust me. But if we don't close this portal, everyone we love dies. Your families, your friends, your children. Help us save them!"
One soldier steps forward. Then another. Then all of them, forming a protective circle around Theron and me. They place their hands on our shoulders, our backs, anywhere they can touch.
I feel their power flowing into us—small streams compared to ours, but together they become a river. The combined energy is overwhelming, like trying to swallow an ocean.
"NOW!" Theron and I shout together.
We release everything at once. Gold, silver, blue, white—every color of magic imaginable bursts from us in a massive wave that slams into the portal.
The creature screams. It's being pushed back, inch by inch.
"More!" Lyanna commands. "We're almost there!"
I dig deeper, pulling on reserves I didn't know I had. Beside me, Theron does the same. The soldiers behind us pour every drop of magic they possess into our joined hands.
The portal shrinks. Shrinks more. The creature's claws slip back through. Its eyes disappear into darkness.
With one final push, the portal snaps shut.
Silence.
Everyone collapses. I fall to my knees, gasping for air. Theron drops beside me, his chest heaving. The soldiers sprawl on the floor like broken dolls.
"Is it... over?" someone asks weakly.
Lyanna floats down to the ground, her glow dimming. "The immediate threat is over. The Abyss portal is sealed." She looks at Seraphine with ancient disappointment. "Though the damage you've caused will ripple for years."
Seraphine stands alone in the center of the shattered circle. Her purple blade lies broken at her feet. She looks small suddenly. Lost.
"I just wanted to matter," she whispers. "Just once, I wanted to be first. To be chosen. To be special."
Despite everything—the murders, the betrayal, the attempted apocalypse—I feel a flicker of pity for her. We were raised as sisters. I remember the little girl who used to braid my hair and tell me stories.
That girl is long gone. But maybe some part of her remembers too.
"You always mattered, Sera," I say quietly. "You just couldn't see it."
Her eyes meet mine, and for a second I see grief there. Real, genuine grief for everything she's lost. For the person she used to be.
Then the moment passes. Her face hardens.
"Pretty words won't save me now." She looks at Theron. "I suppose you'll execute me? The traitor who opened a portal to the Abyss? Death is the only fitting punishment."
Theron stands slowly, helping me up with him. He studies Seraphine for a long moment.
"No," he says finally. "No execution."
Everyone gasps. Even I'm shocked.
"Your Majesty—" Kael starts.
"She'll be imprisoned," Theron continues, his voice firm. "In the deepest cell we have, with magic-suppressing chains. She'll live with what she's done. She'll have years to think about her choices." He meets Seraphine's eyes. "Death is too easy for you. Life is the harder punishment."
Seraphine's jaw drops. She actually looks disappointed. "You're really not going to kill me?"
"I'm done killing," Theron says simply. He looks at me, and something warm passes between us. "I've been a monster for twenty years. Time to try being a man instead."
Guards come forward and take Seraphine away. She doesn't resist. As they lead her out, she glances back at me one last time.
"I really did love you once, Cass," she says softly. "Before the jealousy ate everything else."
Then she's gone.
The throne room slowly empties. Soldiers limp away to get medical care. Oracle Lyanna prepares to return to whatever space between life and death she came from.
"Wait," I call to her. "You're my great-grandmother. Don't you want to... I don't know, get to know me?"
She smiles sadly. "I've watched over you your whole life, child. I know you better than you think." She touches my cheek with ghostly fingers. "You have the Lightborn compassion. The Lightborn strength. You'll do great things with the power you've been given."
"But I'm mortal now," I protest. "The curse broke. I'm not divine anymore."
"You're human," she corrects. "But divinity doesn't leave you just because you chose mortality. It simply sleeps until you need it." Her form starts to fade. "Take care of him. And let him take care of you. That's what partnership means."
She disappears like morning mist.
Theron and I are finally alone.
We stand in the destroyed throne room, surrounded by rubble and scorch marks and the lingering smell of dark magic. We should probably check on the fortress, make sure everyone's safe, deal with the aftermath of tonight's chaos.
Instead, we just look at each other.
"So," Theron says. "We're mortal now."
"Both of us," I confirm.
"The curse is broken."
"Completely."
"And you actually love me." He says it like he still can't quite believe it.
I step closer. "I do. Is that okay?"
"It's—" He struggles for words. "I don't know what it is. I've been cursed for so long, I don't remember what normal feels like." He reaches out tentatively and touches my face. "But this feels right. You feel right."
I lean into his touch. "What happens now?"
"Now?" He considers. "Now we rebuild. We fix what was broken. We try to be better than we were." His thumb brushes my cheek. "And we figure out what it means to be together without fate forcing us."
"Sounds complicated."
"Terrifying, actually." But he's smiling. That real, warm smile that transforms his whole face.
I'm about to kiss him again when Kael appears in the doorway.
"Your Majesty, forgive the interruption." He looks uncomfortable. "But we have a... situation."
Theron sighs. "What kind of situation?"
"The kind where seven kingdom leaders just arrived at our gates with armies." Kael swallows hard. "The kingdoms you conquered. They heard about the attack tonight. They heard the Dark King's curse is broken. And they want to know..." He trails off.
"If I'm still in charge," Theron finishes grimly.
"Are you?" Kael asks quietly.
Theron looks at me. I see the question in his eyes—what kind of king should I be now? What kind of man?
"Tell them," I say firmly, making the choice with him, "that King Theron will meet with them. Not to threaten or conquer, but to negotiate. To find a way forward that doesn't involve war." I squeeze his hand. "Tell them the Dark King is dead. This is someone new."
Kael bows. "As you command, my lady."
He leaves. We're alone again, but the weight of reality has settled over us.
"Seven kingdoms," Theron mutters. "Seven leaders who have every right to want revenge for what I've done." He runs a hand through his hair. "This could start a war. Multiple wars."
"Or it could be a chance for peace," I counter. "You're not cursed anymore. You're not being controlled by dark magic. You can be the king you were meant to be before Malekith twisted you."
"And if they don't believe that? If they demand my head?"
I think about it seriously. "Then we fight. Together. But not with armies—with words. With truth. With the story of what happened to you and how you broke free." I meet his eyes. "You were a victim first, Theron. Before you became the monster. Maybe it's time people knew that."
He's quiet for a long moment. Then he pulls me close, resting his forehead against mine.
"How are you so brave?" he whispers.
"I learned it from you," I reply honestly. "You've been fighting your curse for twenty years. Never giving up. Never accepting it. If you can do that, I can face a few angry kings with you."
We stand like that, drawing strength from each other, until a guard appears with another urgent message.
"Your Majesty! The kingdom leaders are requesting an immediate audience!"
Theron straightens up, his expression hardening into something regal and commanding. The king, not the cursed boy.
"Tell them we'll meet in one hour. In the main hall." He looks at me. "Will you stand beside me?"
"Always," I promise.
We walk toward the main hall together, hand in hand.
But as we turn the corner, we nearly collide with someone running the opposite direction.
It's a young messenger, wild-eyed and panicked.
"Your Majesty!" he gasps. "News from the border! Urgent!"
"What is it?" Theron demands.
The messenger swallows hard. "There's been an attack. An entire village wiped out overnight. Everyone dead. No survivors." His voice shakes. "And they left a message painted on the walls in blood."
My stomach drops. "What message?"
The messenger's face goes pale. "It says: 'The Abyss portal may be closed, but we are already here. The true invasion begins now. Return the divine girl to us, or watch your world burn.' It's signed..." He hesitates.
"TELL ME!" Theron roars.
"It's signed 'The Children of the Abyss.'" The messenger looks at me with pure terror. "They want her, Your Majesty. They want the girl who sealed the portal. And they say if we don't hand her over by the next full moon, they'll destroy everything."
Theron's hand tightens on mine.
"How long until the full moon?" I ask, though I'm afraid of the answer.
The messenger checks the calendar on the wall.
"Three days, my lady."
Three days to figure out how to fight an enemy we know nothing about. Three days before they start destroying kingdoms to get to me.
Three days to decide if I should sacrifice myself to save everyone else.
I look at Theron and see the same calculation in his eyes. The same terrible math.
One life versus millions.
My life versus the world.
"They're not getting you," he says fiercely. "I don't care if I have to fight every creature from the Abyss. You're not dying to save anyone."
"It might not be your choice," I whisper. "It might be mine."
His face goes pale. Because he knows I'm right.
Before either of us can say more, the ground trembles. Not earthquake-strong, but enough to feel.
A warning.
The Children of the Abyss are already moving.
And we have three days to stop them.