Azra's mind was spinning. The weight of Kian's words hung in the air, pressing down on her chest like a boulder. A sacrifice. A life for the veil. Her heart pounded as the ground trembled beneath their feet, cracks splintering across the chamber's floor like veins, and the glowing light from the obelisk grew more intense with each pulse. Time was slipping away faster than she could process, and the choice she had to make became painfully clear.
But it wasn't just her life she was considering. There was Kian. She turned to him, and for a fleeting moment, the intensity of their shared kiss lingered between them, a thread of connection that hadn't been there before. But the look in his eyes was now one of grim determination. He wasn't waiting for her to make a choice. He had already decided.
"We can't let it collapse," Kian said, his voice steady, though his dark eyes held a sadness that tore at her. "If the veil breaks, everything that's been bound behind it will be set free. The creatures… the darkness… it'll spread far beyond Al'Khari. This city will fall, and everything connected to it."
Azra's stomach twisted. She could see it in him—Kian was preparing to do the unthinkable. He would sacrifice himself to save the veil, to restore the balance that had been broken centuries ago. He had lost his family to this curse, and he wasn't about to lose the chance to right those wrongs. The sadness in his eyes only confirmed her worst fear.
"No," Azra said sharply, stepping forward. "I'm not letting you do this. There has to be another way."
Kian turned to her, his expression softening just a little. He reached for her hand, his thumb brushing over her knuckles. "There isn't. You know that."
Azra shook her head, tears welling in her eyes as the reality of the situation came crashing down on her. "We'll find another way. There's always another way. This can't be it."
Kian let out a soft breath, pulling her closer, his voice barely above a whisper. "Azra, I promised I'd help you. That we'd do this together. And sometimes, this is what that means." His gaze flickered with resolve, but also with a deep sadness. "We don't have time to wait for another solution. The veil is collapsing now."
The ground beneath them gave another violent shake, and Azra stumbled against him, her heart pounding as the cracks in the floor grew wider. The obelisk, now throbbing with light, seemed to pulse in time with the very heartbeat of the city. The symbols on its surface glowed brighter, shifting, twisting as the air around them buzzed with the unstable magic of the veil.
"No," she whispered again, her voice trembling. "There has to be something else."
Kian cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to meet his gaze. His touch was warm, steady, grounding her in the chaos that swirled around them. "Listen to me," he said softly, his eyes burning with intensity. "This is what I came here to do. My family has been fighting this battle for generations. This is my fight, and I need you to let me do it."
Azra's heart shattered. Her fingers curled into the fabric of his cloak, holding on like he was the only thing keeping her anchored to the world. She shook her head, refusing to accept the fate that seemed inevitable.
"I can't," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I can't lose you."
Kian's gaze softened, and for a moment, the weight of the world seemed to fall away. He leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers, his breath warm against her skin. "You won't lose me. Not really. I'll always be with you, Azra. In this fight, in every fight after." His lips brushed hers in the softest, most heart-wrenching kiss, a promise of everything that could have been if they weren't standing on the edge of the world's destruction.
The kiss broke as the chamber trembled violently, and Azra gasped, the light from the obelisk blinding now. It was calling to them, pulling them toward it like the tide pulling in the shore. The energy swirling in the room was growing out of control, the veil's threads unraveling faster than she could have imagined. The gate was cracking.
Azra felt a surge of panic, her mind racing with fear and grief. She couldn't let Kian do this. She couldn't lose him—not after everything they had been through. She wasn't ready to let him go.
Before she could speak again, Kian stepped away, his grip on her hand loosening as he turned toward the obelisk. His expression was resigned, but there was peace in his eyes, as though he had made peace with his fate long before now.
"Kian, please," Azra begged, her voice breaking. "Don't do this."
He didn't turn back. "It has to be done."
The ground shuddered once more, the chamber filling with the crackling sound of magic surging through the air. The symbols on the obelisk flared with blinding light, and the veil itself seemed to scream in agony. The creatures outside roared as the energy burst through the city, shaking Al'Khari to its core.
Kian stepped onto the platform, his movements calm and deliberate, like a man walking toward his destiny. He looked over his shoulder one last time, his gaze locking with Azra's. His lips curled into a sad smile, one filled with a quiet acceptance that tore at her soul.
"Promise me," he said, his voice barely audible over the chaos around them. "You'll survive this. And you'll finish what we started."
Azra's knees buckled as the tears finally spilled over, hot and relentless. Her entire body trembled with the weight of his words, with the impossible choice he was forcing her to make.
"I promise," she whispered, the words tearing from her throat like a plea.
Kian gave her one last, lingering look before he turned toward the obelisk. The light pulsed brighter, and the air around him crackled with power as the ritual began to unfold. His form was bathed in the ethereal glow of the obelisk, and Azra could see the toll it was already taking on him, his body trembling as the magic of the veil latched onto him, feeding off his life force.
She wanted to scream, to run to him, to stop this madness, but her legs felt like lead, her voice lost in the roar of the collapsing chamber. All she could do was watch, helpless, as Kian offered himself to the veil, to save the world at the cost of his own life.
The energy surged around him, swirling faster and faster, and Azra's heart shattered into a million pieces. Her breath came in shallow gasps, her vision blurred with tears as she watched the man she had come to care for so deeply give himself to the ritual.
And then, just as the light reached its peak, there was a deafening crack—followed by a blinding flash of light.
Azra screamed, her voice lost in the chaos as the chamber exploded with energy. She felt herself being thrown backward, her body crashing against the cold stone floor as the world around her dissolved into nothing but light and sound. The veil was collapsing, the gate shattering, and the last thing she saw was Kian's form disappearing into the brilliance of the obelisk's glow.
Everything went silent.