The red rune glowed like a bleeding sun, carved deep into black stone. The final trial loomed before them, casting shadows that flickered like living things.
Sacrifice.
The word echoed in Alden's bones.
Kael stood at the platform's edge. "This isn't like the others. You won't just fight, or reflect, or endure. You'll lose something. That's what the trial demands."
Alden looked to Lyra. Her eyes were steady, unreadable—but her hand brushed his arm, a silent gesture of support.
He turned to Bloodfang. The beast's eyes burned like molten steel, silent and calm. Unshaken.
"I'm ready," Alden whispered.
As he stepped onto the stone, the world shifted again.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then light—blinding and cold—spilled across a desolate plain. Alden stood alone again, wind howling. But this time, he wasn't in a dreamscape. This felt real.
And ahead of him…
Bloodfang.
But something was wrong.
The wolf-beast stood opposite Alden, breathing heavily, his body flickering with unstable energy—like static tearing his form apart. His eyes no longer burned bright. They shimmered like glass, distant and dull.
Then a voice echoed—deep, hollow, ancient:
"To prove your bond, you must sever it."
"To claim the Concord Sigil's full awakening… you must let him go."
Alden's heart clenched.
"No," he said. "There must be another way."
"There isn't."
Bloodfang didn't move.
Alden stepped closer, fists shaking. "What kind of bond needs to be broken to be made whole?! That's not strength—that's cruelty!"
The voice replied.
"True bonds are not chains. They are choices. Prove your will… by releasing him."
Suddenly, memories surged into Alden's mind—
—Bloodfang shielding him from a Direbear's charge.
—Their first night under the stars, back when they were both just lost things.
—Bloodfang nuzzling his hand after Alden's first real victory.
—The joy in Alden's chest every time they fought side by side—not as master and beast, but as equals.
"You were never his master," the voice said. "You were his companion. Now… let him choose."
Bloodfang finally moved.
He stepped forward and stared at Alden with strange clarity in his gaze.
Then he bowed his head.
The silent gesture said it all.
I trust you.
Alden swallowed the lump in his throat.
He took one final step and pressed his hand to Bloodfang's forehead.
"I release you," he whispered.
The bond cracked like shattering glass.
Bloodfang vanished in a flash of light.
Alden dropped to one knee, breath stolen, heart feeling suddenly hollow—like someone had torn out a piece of his soul.
He could still feel the echo of the bond, like a phantom limb.
The plain around him began to crumble. The sky split apart. The final trial unraveled itself.
And then—
He awoke.
He was back in the real world.
Kael was kneeling beside him. Lyra crouched at his side, eyes wide with concern.
"Alden!" she said. "You were out for a minute—what happened?"
He didn't answer.
He looked down at his palm.
The Concord Sigil was burning. But no longer just silver—it pulsed with golden veins now, cracks of fire weaving through it like lightning sealed in skin.
Kael stepped back. "That's… new."
The ground beneath the trial stone rumbled again.
Then a light shot into the sky from the center of the platform.
And with it—a howl.
Familiar.
Alden's heart surged. "No way—"
From the light, a beast emerged—not just a beast.
Bloodfang reborn.
But different.
He was larger now, sleeker. His fur shimmered with shifting hues—moonlight and starlight rippling across black. A glowing sigil burned on his chest.
Lyra's eyes widened. "He… evolved."
Kael stepped forward. "Not just evolved. Ascended. You let him choose. And he chose you again. That's no longer a summoned beast."
"That's a partner," he said quietly. "For life."
With the trial complete, the mountain shook.
From behind the final stone, a hidden stairway revealed itself—descending deep into the earth.
At the end: a colossal door of ancient stone and living vines, locked with six beast sigils.
The central one—the Concord Sigil—glowed now with full brilliance.
Alden stood, placing his hand on the stone.
It opened.
Behind it… a vast chamber awaited.
Inside: ancient murals, forgotten relics… and a throne.
But not a throne for a king.
A throne for a beast.