"Before blades are drawn, wars are always waged with words."
— Precept of the Third Tongue
---
The chamber pulsed like a dying heart.
Tenebranth hovered above its pedestal—still, silent, impossible to ignore.
Yet no Veyra rippled from it.
It existed without echo.
And sitting beneath it, as if she had all the time in the world, was Serenya.
Black wings folded neatly behind her.
One golden eye watched.
The other—pale white—glowed faintly, as if tethered to another plane.
She did not stand when Vayren and Lyra entered.
She did not flinch.
She simply opened her eyes fully… and spoke.
> "You're smaller than I thought."
---
Vayren stepped forward, Veilbrand humming softly on his back.
"Move."
Serenya tilted her head. Smiled.
> "I would. If I thought you were ready to carry what that dagger takes."
Lyra's flame ignited around her hands.
"Then you don't know us."
> "I know more than you think."
She stood. Slowly.
No aura.
No threat.
And yet Vayren felt his grip tighten against his will.
---
Scene: Serenya Speaks
> "You think this is a race?" she asked. "You think relics are trophies?"
"The Fold chose all three of us. You, the Hollow Star. Her, the Infernal Flame. And me…"
She opened her arms.
> "The Forgotten Wing."
> "I've already accepted what I am. Have you?"
---
Vayren narrowed his eyes.
"You think you understand what I've lost?"
"No," she said. "But I've seen the version of you who gives up."
That made him pause.
> "The Fold shows things," she continued. "And I stayed inside longer than you. I listened."
> "I watched the Vayren who let Lyra die."
Lyra stepped forward.
"That didn't happen."
Serenya looked at her with sympathy that felt like mockery.
> "Not yet."
---
Tension Rises
"Why are you here?" Vayren asked.
Serenya's expression darkened.
> "To see if you're strong enough to take it from me."
> "Because I don't want Tenebranth."
She turned back toward the pedestal.
> "But someone has to carry it. And only one of us will survive what happens next."
---
Silence followed.
No threats.
No move to attack.
Just a truth so heavy it cracked the floor beneath it.
---
Final Lines
Serenya walked past them slowly—no wings extended, no blade drawn.
As she passed Vayren, she whispered:
> "I already bled for this world once. I won't do it again."
And then she was gone.
Only the dagger remained.
Floating.
Waiting.
And now…
It pulsed.