Divided

Celeste...

A/N: I know I've been away for about three weeks, and I just wanted to take a moment to explain. At first, I wasn't feeling my best—physically and mentally. I seriously considered giving up on continuing my book. The doubts crept in, and I questioned whether I should really finish it.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it wouldn't be fair to those of you who have supported me along the way. So, I've made the decision to keep going. I'm back, and I'm ready to continue not just this book, but the entire series.

Thank you.

Third POV

Red and black magic collide in the vast arena, sending shockwaves of heat and shadow through the air. The ground trembles beneath their feet, cracked and scorched from the violent exchange. Sparks hiss in the air like angry spirits, dancing between the two figures locked in a duel that was never meant to happen.

Cadenza raises her hand, shadows swirling like ink from her fingertips. She opens her hands, trying to tear open a portal—an escape. But the spell fizzles, warping, collapsing in on itself.

"You can't escape this time, Cadenza," Celeste says, her voice sharp and cold as the blade of a dagger. Her irises blaze with red magic, flickering like embers. She stands tall, unwavering, framed by the pulsating wall of magic that cages them in.

Once a challenge is issued in the arena, there is no exit. The magic barrier encircling the battleground is ancient and absolute. It will not fall unless one fighter surrenders—or dies.

Cadenza laughs, low and bitter. Her smirk curves. "Is this really what you want to do, Celeste? Will you be able to live with the feeling of your younger sister's blood on your hands?"

A muscle in Celeste's jaw tightens. "You really think I still consider you, my sister?" she says, voice empty of warmth. Her gaze is unreadable, cold enough to freeze everything.

"You set a never-ending fire," Celeste continues, eyes flickering down to the snowy ground beneath them. "You killed hundreds of our people."

She lifts her chin slowly, meeting Cadenza's gaze. Red light flickers in her palm, pulsing with controlled fury.

"And you hurt the people I love."

-Back in the Tribrid Forest

Snow falls in slow, silent spirals, coating the bloodstained ground in a fragile layer of white. The once-whispering trees stand still, their branches heavy with frost, as if mourning.

Alistair drops to his knees beside them, the cold biting through his clothes, but he doesn't feel it. His breath comes in ragged clouds. Tzan is cradling Ajia's lifeless body, arms trembling, eyes wide with disbelief.

"W-why?" Tzan's voice breaks like glass, thin and fragile, barely holding itself together. Tears streak down his cheeks and fall onto Ajia's unmoving face, and the sound of them hitting her skin shatters something deep inside Alistair.

Caterina beside them, her fingers wrapped gently around Ajia's hand, as if holding it might still bring warmth back into it. Her sobs are quiet but unrelenting, caught between gasps for air and the weight of a grief too heavy to name.

Ajia lies between them, peaceful, almost like she's sleeping. But the stillness is too perfect. Too final.

Alistair's POV

"He said that the fight... will bring me to my end."
Celeste's words echo in my mind, louder than the wind around us. Louder than the ache in my chest.