Silence lingered in the cavern long after the dragon's words had faded. The pulse of the earth had slowed, but the weight of what it carried remained.

  Astrid stood frozen, her heart rattling in her chest. The world hadn’t shattered yet, but it felt like it could at any moment.

  If we leave this world will crumble?

  Her thoughts shot to Myrren. Rundrin. Galgur. All the people who had risked everything to help them. If they left... what would happen to them?

  Kurai didn’t speak. He didn’t move. Not yet.

  The dragon’s molten eyes dimmed to a low, smouldering gold. When it spoke again, its voice was softer—but no less heavy.

  "This world was born in flame. Hatched into existence. A single breath, given freely, that became forests, rivers, beasts, stars. We were the first spark. From us came magic. From magic came everything else."

  The light pulsed faintly along the veins in the cavern walls, as if remembering.

  "But fire spreads. It reaches beyond its hearth. The Veil between realms cracked. A mirror world grew—not from magic, but absence of it. That realm was never meant to be separate. It was meant to balance what we had. To test it."

  Astrid's chest tightened. Charlie. Her world. All of it... a mirror?

  "When the fracture grew, the Council rose. Born of fear. Meant to guard. Instead, they choked. They hoarded flame. Snuffed out all they could not control. Even us, those who brought this world into existence."

  Dust drifted from the dragon’s wings, ancient and brittle.

  "They hunted the last of the old blood. We tried to mimic what they had destroyed, shaping a vessel in the dark, pouring into it every broken flame they could steal. In a vessel that could be hidden from their sight"

  Astrid’s eyes darted to Kurai.

  He is one of them? The last dragon?

  The dragon didn’t name him. It didn’t need to.

  "But true fire cannot be caged."

  Kurai lowered his gaze, his hands curling slightly at his sides.

  The dragon turned to Astrid now.

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  "And you, Bridge—you are the breath that cannot be burned. You carry the silence between the flames. The space where choice is born."

  Astrid swallowed hard. "So, what does that mean?"

  "It means you are not here by mistake. You were not dragged. You were called."

  It wasn’t an accident? I was brought here.

  A beat passed.

  "The prophecy was not meant to name heroes. It was meant to warn. And to prepare. Flame will leave. Bridge will break. And the world will be forced to choose: crack and burn... or mend."

  Silence followed.

  Astrid stepped back, shaking.

  "So that’s it? We let the world fall apart or… or we burn with it?"

  The dragon said nothing.

  Kurai looked at her. His jaw was set, but there was no pressure in his eyes.

  He stepped closer, voice quieter now.

  "You should go," he said. "I’ll stay. It’s safer for you—"

  "No," Astrid cut in. Her voice cracked. "Don’t do that. Don’t make this choice for me. I can’t lose you. I’ve felt it since we got here. Since the land started reacting to you. I knew—if it comes down to staying or losing you—I’m staying."

  Astrid stared down at the glowing veins in the floor. She could feel it humming in her soles—old, alive, aching.

  I want to help. Even if I’m terrified. Even if I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.

  But she wanted to go home.

  To Charlie.

  To normal.

  "No pressure, right?" she said quietly.

  Kurai stepped toward her, voice low.

  "We are in this together Astrid."

  He paused.

  "But wherever you go... I’ll go too."

  Astrid looked up at him, her vision blurring.

  "Even if I run?"

  Kurai nodded once.

  "Even then."

  She laughed softly, a cracked sound, and wiped her face with the sleeve of her jacket.

  "That’s really stupid."

  "I know."

  The dragon's voice returned, low and resonant.

  "Your bond burns bright. It is rare. Powerful. It may yet change more than prophecy ever could."

  It shifted, dust falling from its great shoulders like ash.

  "But the choice is yours. It must be. My flame burns low, and the world turns with or without me. The motion has begun. I will not judge you for choosing to leave."

  Astrid exhaled slowly, shoulders sinking.

  Her thoughts spiraled.

  Charlie’s face. Her voice. The promise Astrid had made.

  And Kurai — standing here, choosing to burn if she asked him to.

  How could she walk away from that?

  How could she leave him?

  Astrid exhaled slowly, shoulders sinking.

  "Yeah," she said. "But I could never live with myself if I did."

  Kurai moved in front of her, blocking her view from the dragon, their fate. Just him and her.

  Astrid stared at his hands holding hers. "I want to go home," she said softly. "More than anything. But deep down I know... I can't. Not yet. But then what if I never can? I can’t leave you, I won’t"

  She swallowed hard. "I want to help. Even if I don’t know how. Even if I’m scared. But what if I never see them again? What if I never see Charlie?"

  The tears welled up in her eyes, she could feel the panic, the doom. Still looking at Kurai’s hands in hers, tethering her grounding her from spiralling.

  Kurai didn’t look away.

  "Then I’ll make sure you do. No matter what it takes," he said. "I promised you once. I’ll keep that promise again."

  Astrid blinked, making the tears she was fighting fall.

  Kurai’s voice was quieter now. "Call it payment. You have done so much for me; in ways you will never know."

  She let out a shaky breath. "You’re not a debt, Kurai."

  "No," he said. Grabbing her face, lifting it so he could look into her eyes, red, watery and human.

  "But I am a promise. I am yours till you’re done with me, remember"

  Astrid didn’t answer.

  She leaned against him instead, and Kurai’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her in gently. For a moment, she could hear his heart racing beneath his coat — steady, but too fast to pretend he wasn’t affected. Then, quietly, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

  And for a little while, neither of them said anything more.

  Then, quietly, she whispered, "Charlie... I’m sorry. I know you’re probably scared, and I promised I’d come right back."

  Her voice cracked.

  "But I have to do this. I have to try. I want to make things better... even if I don’t know how."

  She closed her eyes, tears slipping free.

  "I love you. I’ll come home. I swear I will. I’ll make you proud."

  Kurai said nothing. He only reached for her hands, lacing his fingers through hers.

  And in that stillness, with the mountain shifting far above them, the choice was made.

  Without fanfare. Without ceremony.

  But unmistakable all the same.

  The dragon’s eyes flicker one last time.

  “Then you must move quickly. They already feel the shift.”