Aurelia’s heart pounded so fiercely she felt it in her teeth.
The Origin Throne pulsed before her white-gold and sun-gold light twisting around it in perfect, unnatural harmony. A balance she did not feel inside herself. A balance she had never felt, not once.
And across the chamber, Kane’s fractured essence flickered in the holographic map: shards of golden light drifting deeper into the realm’s layered void.
He was slipping.
Fading.
Dying.
Aurelia swallowed, her throat burning.
“Tell me exactly,” she whispered hoarsely, “what each path does.”
The First Sunborn met her eyes. For once, he didn’t look like an ancient predator. He looked… resigned.
“If you ascend the Throne…”
He nodded to the pulsing structure behind her.
“You will complete the cycle your predecessors failed. You
