The rift opens wider, like a mouth to the abyss.
From it, the creature emerges—an eldritch titan of shifting forms, an amalgamation of fragmented timelines, memories, and futures that never were. Its eyes glow with the fire of lost worlds, and its voice is a thousand whispers of everything that could have been. A storm of sorrow and madness rolls in its wake, twisting the air around them.
Kael grips his sword, the steel glowing faintly from the ember's warmth still embedded in his chest. He stands beside Lyra, her hands glowing brighter, her form flickering like a silhouette of starlight. Together, they are more than they were.
But the creature speaks, its voice reverberating in their bones.
> "You cannot stop me. I am the unmade, the undone, the never-was. Your world is a fragile thing. And I will unmake it."
Lyra steps forward, her eyes meeting Kael's. She doesn't speak—there's no need. They've already shared everything they need to. This is the end, and it's only fitting they face it together.
The creature swings its massive hand, and time itself seems to freeze in its wake.
Kael rushes forward, sword raised, cutting through the stillness. But the creature doesn't fight him—it warps around him, twisting reality, pulling him into a memory.
A memory of Lyra's death.
Kael falls to his knees, his vision swirling with the image of the cliff, the moment she was lost to him. His breath catches, and for a moment, all of his strength wanes.
But then, a voice, clear and steady, cuts through the storm.
> "Kael. Don't fall for their lies."
He looks up—there she is. Lyra stands before him, glowing, like the light of a thousand stars. She doesn't look like she's part of the rift—she's real, here, in front of him, her hand outstretched to him.
"I won't lose you again," she says.
And with that, the memory shatters.
---
The creature roars in fury as the very fabric of reality around it begins to unravel. Lyra summons the light, her form now fully stable, her power rising. She holds her hand to the rift, and the ember inside her chest burns with a light so intense it cuts through the darkness like a spear of truth.
Kael stands beside her, sword raised. They are the last line, the only thing between the creature and the end of everything.
> "You were born of what might have been," Lyra says, her voice clear and unwavering. "But you will die for what could never be."
The creature recoils. The ember pulses in Lyra's chest—its warmth fills the air. She steps forward, drawing the power from every part of herself, from every version of her that has ever existed.
Kael joins her, his sword raised high, and together, they strike.
The creature shudders. Its form begins to fracture. The ground beneath them cracks, but they don't stop. The sky above them rips open, and for a moment, everything is just light and shadow.
And then—silence.
The rift begins to close.
The creature howls as it vanishes, its form collapsing into a singularity of time that implodes on itself. The city's sky begins to heal, the colors of twilight returning as the tear in the heavens seals itself. The storm dissipates. The winds calm.
Lyra and Kael stand together, breathing heavily, their bodies burning with the aftereffects of the battle. The ember has dimmed in Lyra's chest, no longer a raging fire but a steady, warm pulse.
Kael turns to her, eyes full of wonder and disbelief. "We did it. We did it."
Lyra smiles, though she's clearly exhausted. "We always did it. Together."
---
They return to the city in the hours before dawn, the streets empty but for a few survivors. The buildings that had been torn asunder are now slowly rebuilding, as if the world itself is recovering from the wound it had endured. The city is alive again.
Arin, who had been helping with the recovery, steps forward, looking at them with awe. "You… you saved us."
Lyra looks out over the city, her eyes soft. "We saved everyone."
Kael, his arm around her, gazes at the horizon. The stars above are no longer fractured. They burn steady, bright.
"Where do we go now?" Lyra asks, her voice a whisper of hope.
Kael turns to her, smiling. "Wherever we need to."
She takes his hand.
Together, they walk into the new dawn, where the future is unwritten, and the world has a chance to begin again.