Lysara pursues Vaelin, determined to stop him from delivering the final shard to the Forsaken One. However, as she crosses into the Valley of Echoes, magic itself starts unraveling—spells fail, enchanted weapons dull, and even time seems unstable. She realizes that if the Forsaken One is freed, magic itself may cease to exist.
Lysara catches up to Vaelin in a ruined temple, where the Forsaken One's influence is strongest. Vaelin is no longer fully human—his body pulses with dark energy, and his eyes glow with golden fire. He believes that freeing the Forsaken One is the only way to end the cycle of war, suffering, and corruption. Lysara must fight her former friend for the final shard.
Meanwhile, the kingdom erupts into war. Warlords, rebels, and remnants of Lysara's loyalists clash for control of the throne. But as the battle rages, the sky splits open, and the Forsaken One begins to manifest. Across the battlefield, warriors freeze in terror as a massive, ancient form looms above the land.
Lysara defeats Vaelin, but instead of killing him, she spares his life—showing that she is not the same kind of ruler as those before her. She takes the final shard, but now she must choose:
Reforge the crown and use its power to seal the Forsaken One again, continuing the cycle of rule and suffering.
Destroy the shards, ending the Forsaken One permanently, but risking the loss of magic forever.
Offer herself as a vessel, binding the Forsaken One within herself to create a new order.
Lysara makes her choice. No matter what she decides, there is a cost—whether it's her kingdom, her power, or herself. As the battle reaches its climax, the world is reshaped by her decision.
The aftermath: If Lysara reforges the crown, she becomes a ruler feared for her power. If she destroys it, she leads a kingdom struggling to survive without magic. If she binds the Forsaken One within herself, she becomes something more than human—an eternal guardian, never able to truly rule, but always watching.
Years later, legends speak of the Queen Who Shattered the Cycle. Some call her a hero, others a destroyer. In the ruins of the old world, a traveler finds a single shard of the broken crown, hinting that the story is not truly over.
---