Celestial Bonds - Shattered Paths (Book 3)

Chapter 24: The Crown's Demand

Jax

The chamber was cloaked in darkness, lit only by the eerie glow of the Cosmic Crown resting at the center. I stood just inside the entrance, my heart pounding in sync with the faint pulsations of the Crown's light. My hands were cold, clenched into fists as I watched Lyara collapse to the ground in front of it, her sobs echoing off the ancient stone walls. My instinct was to run to her, to pull her into my arms and shield her from everything this cursed prophecy demanded. But I couldn't. Not yet.

The air felt thick and heavy with unspoken words and unbearable truths. Lyara had just seen what the Crown wanted of her—to choose between her love for me and her duty to her kingdom. The same impossible decision loomed before all of us, and I could feel it clawing at my resolve.

"Jax," Lyara's voice strangled, cutting through the tension. "What are we supposed to do? It wants... it wants us to give up everything."

I swallowed hard, my eyes flickering to Kian and Lira. They stood on the opposite side of the chamber, faces etched with shadows and worry. Kian looked like he'd aged years in the past few days. His gaze was fixed on the Crown; his jaw clenched as if he could make it into submission by sheer force. Beside him, Lira had her arms wrapped around herself, her face a mask of conflicting emotions. She was always so composed, so certain, but now even she looked lost.

I stepped forward, closing the distance between me and the Crown. The closer I got, the louder its whispers became, clawing at the edges of my consciousness. It urged me to choose, take the promised power, and shape our fate. I felt a surge of anger. How dare it demand this of us? How dare it try to dictate our lives, our love?

"We have to take control," I said, echoing louder than I intended. "We can't let this... thing decide for us. It's trying to manipulate us into choosing between each other, between what we want and what it wants."

"And what does it want, Jax?" Kian's voice cut through the space between us, sharp and cold. "Do you even know? Or are you just grasping at straws, like the rest of us?"

I turned to face him, feeling a familiar surge of frustration. "It wants to break us," I replied through gritted teeth. "It's feeding on our conflicts, our desires. But if we give in to it and let it force us into choices we don't want to make, we lose everything. I've been looking into the texts, and there's a way to break its hold, but it requires us to confront it. Together."

"Together?" Kian echoed, disbelief and bitterness twisting his features. "You mean, the four of us? The same four who can barely look at each other without falling apart?" His gaze flickered to Lyara and then to Lira, his eyes darkening. "We're fractured, Jax. How do you expect us to do this when none of us even know where we stand with each other?"

His words cut deep because they were true. We were broken, carrying scars and secrets that had driven wedges between us. My chest tightened as I glanced at Lyara. She was looking at me, eyes wide and desperate. In that moment, I could feel the full weight of our choices, the love we had fought for, and the looming possibility of losing it all.

Lira stepped forward, her expression one of fierce determination. "Then we have to decide," she said, her voice steady despite the turmoil in her eyes. "The Crown isn't just demanding a sacrifice; it's testing us. It wants to see if we will relinquish our pride and fears. If we let it break us now, then we've already lost."

Silence hung between us, thick and oppressive. She was right, of course. Lira always had this uncanny way of cutting to the heart of things and seeing through the layers of doubt and fear that clouded our judgment. I hated how much sense she made, how she could take the chaos and put it into words that felt like truths we had been avoiding.