Mira’s POV

Kael stood frozen as Lyra lifted her blade. He didn’t raise his weapon or take a defensive step, and the guilt rolling off him made her eyes harden. My stomach dropped. He whispered her name as it hurt. She didn’t blink or acknowledge the bond tugging at both of them. She only angled the blade toward his heart.

“Fight me,” she said. Kael shook his head without apology, and something in Lyra snapped. Power cracked around her. “You owe me this.” Her voice wavered. But she forced it steadily. Kael lowered his blade even further, almost offering his chest.

“I won’t hurt you.” His voice was hoarse. Lyra laughed, sharp and bitter. “You already did.” Her slash came fast, meant to provoke, not kill. Kael didn’t dodge or block, and that only fueled her fury. “Fight me!”

Kael didn’t move. I tried to run to him, but the rogues held me back with a glare. They wanted her anger to land on him. Lyra struck again, harder. The blow staggered him. He managed to stay upright. His eyes were soft in a way that made her recoil. He still saw her as his child.

“I deserve it.” “You deserve worse.” She stabbed downward. Then dragged the blade sideways, slicing his shoulder instead of his throat. Kael stayed upright and his hands open. Blood spread across his chest. But he didn’t defend himself. Lyra hated that more than anything. “Both of you abandoned me, she said, her voice cracking. I stepped forward, but one of her commanders blocked me. The control they had over her chilled me.

Kael met her eyes. “I searched for you every day.” Lyra let out a humourless sound. “Lie to yourself. Don’t lie to me.” He flinched at her words. She saw it and pressed harder. “You didn’t look hard enough.”

“You’re right,” he said. The admission shocked everyone. “I should have moved mountains. I didn’t.” Lyra faltered, grip slipping before she tightened it. “You don’t get to be sorry now.” “Then I’ll carry whatever you give me,” he said.

“Don’t. You don’t get to speak.” I stopped, swallowing hard. Her pain was focused entirely on Kael. “You came here with an army,” she said. “To drag me back?” Kael shook his head. “To see you alive.”

She scoffed. “I’m not alive. I’m what you made.” He didn’t argue. She paced once, tight and restless. “You can’t fix this.” Kael nodded. “I know.” The honesty shook her. “Then why come?” “Because you’re still my daughter,” he said. Her expression froze, then rage surged again.

“And you’re still the man who left me to die.” She struck faster, harder, driven by a truth she clung to.

Kael didn’t dodge. He held her gaze anyway. Lyra froze, hand still on the hilt. Kael whispered, “I’m here now.” She shoved him away and tore the blade free.

He collapsed forward. I almost screamed, but Lyra’s voice cut through first. “Don’t get up.” The command hit him like a blow.

The rogues murmured behind her, but she didn’t seem to hear. Her world was Kael, bleeding, kneeling, refusing to fight.

“Stand up.”

Kael rose slowly, swaying. She watched every movement. “You won’t fight me.” He shook his head. “Never.” She stepped closer. “Then this ends my way.” Kael nodded.

The rogues stiffened. Kael braced. “Mama,” she said suddenly. Her eyes hit mine with hatred so deep it stole my breath. “You watch too.”

Kael whispered her name, but she silenced him with a gesture. “Both of you. You’re going to learn what it felt like to be the abandoned one.” Her power surged, and the ground trembled. Kael reached for her weakly. She didn’t look at him.

Then she said the words that iced my blood. “I choose my parent.” The energy split, bright and violent, locked around us. And before either of us could move, she whispered. “Only one of you leaves this camp alive.”

Lyra circled him slowly. “You think suffering makes us even,” she said. “It doesn’t.” Kael didn’t respond. She wanted him to argue, but he didn’t give her that.

“You think bleeding in front of me makes you a father again,” she continued. Kael flinched at the word father, but he didn’t look away. “But you were gone.”

Kael whispered, “I know.” She ignored him and turned toward me. “And you… You stayed gone longer.” The bitterness was sharp enough to taste.

“I didn’t choose that,” I said. Her glare snapped. “You didn’t fight it either.” She took a step toward me. “Lyra, please.”

“Don’t call me that,” she said. “You don’t get my name.”

Kael tried to speak, but his breath hitched. She lifted her hand sharply, and he fell silent before sound formed. The power threaded into his voice, sealing it.

“You will listen,” she said. Kael nodded once, trapped. “Both of you will stand there and feel what I felt.”

She stepped closer to him. “The nights are waiting,” she said. “The days they trained me to forget you.” She pressed her fingers to the wound she’d made; Kael winced but didn’t pull away. “The moments I realized I was better off imagining you dead than hoping.”

Kael’s shoulders shook. She watched it like it was a confession she’d been owed. “They told me stories about you,” she said quietly. “All of them ended the same way.” Kael lifted his eyes, barely breathing.

“You missed every version of me,” she said. “Every year. Every shift. Every nightmare.” Lyra turned toward me next. “And you,” she said. “You’re the reason he looked. Not me.” “He never said that about me.” My heart dropped. “So now you both get to suffocate.”

The energy around us pulled tighter, forming a circle on the ground, humming with her power. The rogues stepped back instinctively. Kael whispered through the bond, not sound, just pain. Let me take it. Lyra’s eyes flickered, sensing the shift.

“You still protect her?” she asked. “After everything?” Kael didn’t deny it. Lyra’s laugh was hollow. “Fine. Then you can die for her.” “If that’s the price, I’ll pay it,” Karl said quietly.

Lyra’s breath stuttered. She reached for her blade again, power rising sharp and bright. Then a voice cut through the air behind her. Cold. Familiar. Calculated. “Lyra,” he said. “Don’t waste your strength on them.”

Kael went rigid. I felt the name before it was spoken. Her mentor stepped into view, Kael’s brother. Lyra looked over her shoulder, torn for the first time. And the moment she chose who to face… the circle around us cracked.

The energy snapped. And something inside Kael finally broke.