EMILIA’S POV
The moment she said, “You’ll see,” something inside me turned to ice.
My heart pounded painfully against my ribs as she turned her back to me and began walking toward the shadowed corner of the cave. I swallowed hard, forcing the words out because silence felt unbearable
—like it would crush me.
“What… what do you plan on doing?” I asked.
She didn’t answer.
She didn’t even look at me.
Her footsteps faded into the darkness, leaving nothing but the thickest silence | had ever felt—heavy, suffocating, alive. My pulse hammered in my ears. I could hear my own breathing, shaky and uneven, echoing against the stone walls.
I tried the ropes again, twisting, pulling, yanking until my wrists burned and my skin tore. Pain flared, hot and sharp, but the ropes didn’t budge. They were tied with something more than just physical knots. Some kind of spell held them tight, locked around me like iron.
“Come on,” I whispered through gritted teeth, fighting harder. “Come on, come on-please-”
Nothing.
My wolf was still silent. Like she had been swallowed whole. And the strange presence inside me—the one the Milandra’s spirit-felt even quieter. Like she was holding her breath. Or sleeping. Or trapped.
“Damn it,” I hissed, jerking my wrists again. “Wake up. Do something.
Help me.”Still nothing.
I sagged back against the cold stone, breath shaking, panic rising in tight, suffocating waves.
And then-
Footsteps.
Slow ones.
Deliberate.
She was coming back.
I lifted my head just as she stepped into the dim glow again-and my heart stopped
That smile
That awful, twisting, wicked smile that stretched too wide.
Something gleamed in her hand.
A dagger.
Beautiful… horrifying. She held it like it was a newborn baby-gentle, careful, worshipful. She brought the tip to her lips, touching it with her finger as if testing its sharpness.
A tiny sigh escaped her. “Perfect.”
Then she lifted her eyes to mine, and the smirk that curved her mouth made my entire body lock in terror.
I jerked against the ropes instinctively. “No. No-stay away from me, you sick bitch!”
Her steps were light, graceful, almost playful.”Oh, Emilia,” she said softly, “you should be honored. Not many people get to witness something this important.”
My blood ran cold. Every muscle in my body tightened.
“What are you trying to do?” My voice cracked. “What the hell is that knife for?”
She twirled it between her fingers, letting the light catch the curved * symbols on its blade.
“The one thing left,” she whispered. “The last piece. The final problem.”
She stopped right in front of me.
“Destroying Milandra’s spirit.”
For a second, my brain didn’t process the words. They just hung there, empty. Then they slammed into me like a punch.
Milandra’s spirit.
Inside me.
Destroying her meant-
My stomach flipped.
“No,” i breathed. “No. No, you- you can’t-”
She crouched down until our faces were level. Her smile stretched wider.
“Oh yes,” she cooed. “I can.”
I jerked so hard the ropes sliced deeper into my wrists. Panic surged up, thick and overwhelming.
“If you destroy her, you kill me!” I yelled. “You’re literally killing me!”She gave a soft, almost loving smile. “Shhh. I’ll make it quick. You wort feel a thing.”
“Stop! Don’t— don’t fucking touch me!” I screamed, twisting away as far as the ropes allowed.
Her fingers shot out and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head so hard I cried out. Pain exploded through my scalp.
Her face came close enough that I could smell the metallic scent of the dagger.
“That stupid bitch,” she snarled, spit flying, shouldn’t have driven that sword into my heart.”
Her grip tightened, making my eyes water.
“They thought they could destroy me,” she hissed. “But nothing that divine dies easily.”
My breath shook. “What does that have to do with me? I didn’t do anything to you!”
“Oh, but you did,” she purred, leaning in until her nose almost brushed mine. “She lives inside you. Her power. Her soul.”
She jerked my head back again, making me cry out.
“And I can’t,” she said slowly, each word dripping poison, “let her awaken inside you. I can’t let that stupid bitch destroy me again.”
Something snapped inside me so hard I felt like I might explode.
I could smell the cold metal of the dagger in the air.
And then-
Her hand came down.
The knife plunged toward my chest, the point glinting in the dim light, a streak of silver aimed straight at my heart.
“No!” I screamed, thrashing so wildly the ropes cut deeper. “NO, NO, NO
The blades pierced my skin .
Sharp.cold.final.
White-hot pain exploded through my chest, ripping a raw scream out of me so loud it echoed off the cave walls.
Something inside me lurched violently-the tearing sensation ripping wider, deeper, like something sacred was being dragged out of me with brutal force.
My vision blusred.
My ears rang.
My body convulsed.
“No…” I rasped. “No… please…”
Her smile stretched into pure triumph.
“It’s done,” she whispered.
But then-
A sound shook the cave.
Deep. Rumbling. Primordial.
A growl.
A growl so powerful it vibrated through the stone floor beneath me.
So dark and furious it made the witch freeze in place.
So familiar my soul recognized it even before my mind did.
Her head snapped toward the cave entrance.
The growl came again.
Louder. Closer. Deadly.I felt my heart stutter in my chest.
He was here.
Maximus.
And the entire mountain trembled with the sound of his rage.

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