The serpent did not roar.
It whispered.
Words slithered through the sky, curling into Alina's mind. They weren't in a language she knew, but she understood them.
"Bearer. Flame. Child of the mirror. Come down. Speak the vow."
The world held its breath.
Selene squeezed her hand. "You don't have to go alone."
"I'm not," Alina said. "But I must be the one who answers."
She stepped to the edge of the altar's remains. Fire rippled from her feet with every step. Above her, the serpent's form coiled into a spiral, its body blotting out the sun.
Then—
It descended.
Not with violence, but with reverence.
Alina's feet touched the ash-strewn earth. The serpent coiled its head low, close enough that she could see the glowing scars carved into its scales—memories etched in flesh.
"I am Isarion. Memory. Wound. Witness. They cursed you in my name, though I never asked."
Alina gritted her teeth. "Then what do you want?"
"To be remembered truly. Not feared. Not forgotten. But forgiven."
Selene watched from the altar, magic surging at her fingertips in case Alina needed her.
The serpent lowered a single obsidian fang.
"Take it. Bind me. Not in chains, but in name. Become the one who rewrites what was broken."
The choice echoed like thunder.
Alina looked back at Selene.
Selene nodded once. "If you do this, you change everything."
Alina turned back to the serpent.
And reached for the fang.
As soon as her hand closed around it, the sky split.
Visions poured into her: cities burning, lovers torn, centuries of silence—all tied to Isarion's forgotten sorrow.
And then—
Peace.
The serpent sighed.
And vanished.
Its memory lived on.
Inside her.