Ignara continued to walk forward, slow and deliberate.
Each step felt as if it landed not on the ground, but directly inside Lyanna's chest. The sound of her footsteps pressed down on Lyanna's breath, tightening her lungs.
The battlefield was silent unnaturally so.
Vaelith, Varen, and Rosielle lay scattered across the ground. They were alive, yet completely removed from the battle.
Their bodies had reached their limits , their wills no longer mattered.
Ignara stopped in front of Lyanna.
A faint smile appeared on her lips not the smile of triumph, but of certainty. It was the kind of expression worn by someone who had already decided the outcome long ago.
From where he lay, Vaelith watched her. The moment Ignara stood before Lyanna, something inside him finally collapsed.
He had already pushed himself beyond his limits during his last clash with Azerion. Standing was impossible now , even staying conscious felt like mercy.
His thoughts screamed at him to move, to do something.. anything but his body remained unresponsive, heavy and useless.
Lyanna stood frozen, unsure of what to do. Her gaze drifted toward Vaelith.
He met her eyes, holding her stare without blinking. In that single glance, everything he could not say was conveyed. Regret. Apology. Failure.
His eyes told her that he could not protect her, that he had failed to fulfill his duty. The weight of that unspoken confession tightened Lyanna's chest.
Memory surfaced against her will
Flashback...
Before the journey had begun, before everything went wrong,
someone had questioned Vaelith's decision. "Had he truly chosen to give his sword to this strange girl? Had he really decided that Lyanna should carry such a thing?"
Vaelith had answered without hesitation.
Lyanna's training had just ended then. Without overthinking it, Vaelith handed over his finest sword, as if it were nothing more than an ordinary tool. That single act had ignited Rosielle's anger.
Lyanna:
" For this path, I left with everyone carrying Vaelith's priceless gift, his sword.
Somehow, in just a few moments, everyone here began to feel close to me…
Or perhaps it was simply my own heart growing lighter.
Still, I believed my resilience would steady me, no matter what happened."
Lyanna had carried the sword with her. At first, the place felt unfamiliar, but strangely warm. She believed her composure would be enough to hold her together.
But the moment Rosielle noticed the sword, her expression twisted. A gentle smile transformed into something sharp and territorial like a bird staring at someone who dared approach its nest.
Lyanna was an outsider. A normal girl. Someone they believed possessed no real power.
Rosielle argued loudly with Vaelith, but he ignored her completely.
Instead, he stepped toward Lyanna and said calmly,
"You won't need it right now. There's no real enemy here yet. I can handle whatever comes."
"The sword is heavy. There's no reason for you to carry that burden"
Before Lyanna could protest, Vaelith murmured something under his breath.
The sword dissolved into light, and in the next moment, a small mark appeared near Lyanna's throat ..delicate, intricate, no larger than a symbol....
I didn't understand what had happened.
Vaelith continued, "Since there are no enemies for now, I'll manage.
But if something does go wrong
close your eyes immediately.
Place your right hand over the mark on your throat.
You'll see the sword within the darkness of your vision.
Now go and store it inside properly… or I'll do it myself."
Startled, I jumped slightly. "No ..no, I can do it."
Without another word, I turned and hurried inside.
I knew Vaelith was the only person here I truly trusted.
In just a few days, he had become someone incredibly close to me.
And yet, the words I spoke did not come from emotion alone.
I value reason above all else
.....
Inside, I used that unknown mystic power of mine
compressing the sword, shrinking it until it became no larger than a feather, light as a petal.
I slipped it carefully into the inner pocket of my clothes....
I knew Vaelith's method was sound safer...
With his technique, even massive weapons could be carried anywhere
sealed into small symbols, hidden through delicate markings.
The memory faded
Lyanna looked back at Ignara. She knew now there was still one final option left. Perhaps the greatest one of all. Her gaze returned briefly to Vaelith,
But what if everyone realized she was the same as them?
Vaelith saw Ignara standing before Lyanna, and in that instant, his final hope disappeared.
For a moment, he felt utterly weak and cowardly , as though all his efforts .. because despite giving everything he had, despite pushing himself beyond his limits, this was still the outcome...
If only Varen had been slightly more focused… if only he had held his strength for the crucial moments of the battle…
But would Vaelith ever understand that now?... But regret served no purpose now.
All along, a net had been laid for them.
Enemies waiting in silence, prepared long before they ever stepped into this place.
And yet calling them enemies felt wrong.
Vaelith and the others had come to negotiate, to speak of shared interests, of matters that did not have to end in blood.
But would they ever understand that?
Ignara clearly did not.
To her, it was as if Lyanna's very presence threatened to take something away her place, her claim, her existence. Three outsiders, each carrying a power foreign to this land… how could she not see them as invaders?
Without hesitation, Ignara had aligned herself with Azerion and Sylvara.
A decision Vaelith had never imagined would turn them into such relentless foes..
And now
The realization burned deeper than any wound.
He had failed.
Failed to keep his word. Failed to fulfill his duty.
Vaelith squeezed his eyes shut, as if darkness could erase the sight unfolding before him.
Ignara turned her gaze toward Lyanna.
A strange, chilling smile curved her lips one that held no hesitation, no mercy.
"So," she said softly, almost cheerfully,
"DIE NOW."
In the next heartbeat, a massive sphere of fire bloomed from her hand.
It roared through the air, hurled straight toward Lyanna.
Lyanna's mind went blank.
The fire rushed at her with terrifying speed. there was no time to run, no space to escape.
If she didn't reveal her power now, before everyone… then perhaps she would never have another chance. ..Or worse there would be no need for chances ever again.
Slowly, trembling, she reached into her pocket.
Her fingers brushed against something soft.
White.
Light.
Almost weightless.
As Lyanna held it, a single sentence echoed endlessly inside her head . a deep, unfamiliar voice, heavy with an ancient authority she did not understand.
A voice she had never heard… yet somehow had always known.
If she could understand it..
If she could answer it..
Then the power sleeping within her might become the most terrifying force this place had ever witnessed. But yet she didn't know how.
Ignara, meanwhile, had already assumed victory.
The flames reflected triumph in her eyes until something caught her attention.
A subtle movement.
Lyanna had taken something out of her pocket.
Ignara frowned slightly.
She didn't understand what it meant but unease flickered through her confidence.
Lyanna herself was no less confused.
She stared at the feather in her hand, as if waiting for it to explain itself. And when she finally looked up ..
Death stood before her. Thousands of questions screamed through her mind ,
Where did this power come from?
Why was it hers?
What was she supposed to do?
Thousands of questions
And not a single answer.
Was this really the day she would die?
No.
Lyanna didn't want that.
She wanted to live.
There were words buried deep inside her heart ..things she hadn't said yet, truths she hadn't faced, promises she hadn't broken.
As the fireball closed in, stopping only inches from her face, its heat scorching the air, Lyanna shut her eyes.
The flames were right there.
Breathing distance.
This was the final moment.