The shard pulsed, icy tendrils snaking up Kael's arm as he stole a sliver of Lyra's time. Her breath hitched, her wrist aging to wrinkled flesh beneath his grip—but the world slowed.
The hunter's blade froze mid-swing. The bridge's splintering planks hung suspended. Poisoned droplets hovered above the river.
Lyra's eyes snapped open, irises bleeding from amber to Gideon's cold blue. "Stop."
The hunter shuddered, blade clattering to the bridge. He collapsed, armor crumbling to rust.
Time snapped back.
The bridge groaned, planks disintegrating. Kael lunged, dragging Lyra onto solid ground as the structure collapsed into the gorge. She writhed in his arms, her aged hand clawing at his chest.
"What did you do?" she snarled, her voice layered with Gideon's mocking timbre.
Kael dropped the shard. "Lyra—!"
She backhanded him, the force unnatural. His jaw cracked, blood filling his mouth. "Foolish prince," Gideon's voice hissed through her lips. "Did you think I'd let her go?"
Lyra's body convulsed, torn between her will and Gideon's. She staggered toward the shard, blue veins spreading like cracks across her skin.
"Don't!" Kael tackled her, pinning her wrists. "Fight him, Lyra!"
Her eyes flickered—amber against blue. "K-Kael… kill me."
Gideon's laugh bubbled from her throat. "You won't. You're weak."
The forest erupted with howls—more hunters, their blades glowing, closing in.
Lyra's fist struck Kael's ribs. He gasped, grip loosening. She scrambled for the shard.
"No!" Kael seized her ankle, yanking her back.
She spun, slashing his cheek with her nails. "Let. Me. Go."
The hunters' footsteps thundered closer.
Kael grabbed the shard and pressed it to her chest. "Forgive me."
He stole another second—not from her, but from himself.
His hand withered further, bones protruding. Agony seared his veins—but Lyra's eyes cleared.
"Kael?" She blinked, amber returning. "What… what did you—?"
The hunters emerged from the trees. Six. Ten. Twenty.
Lyra grabbed his mangled hand. "Run. Now."