Chapter 52
Cassian’s body screamed in protest, his muscles burning as he tried to force himself up. His vision swam, the crackling remnants of Arin’s lightning magic still coursing through his veins.
Above him, Arin stood motionless, his sword raised, electricity hissing and sparking along its length.
Cassian refused to look away.
If this was how it ended—if this was how brotherhood shattered for good—then he would face it. Head-on.
Arin’s eyes, steel-gray and unreadable, flickered. A single second of hesitation.
It was all Cassian needed.
With one last burst of strength, he rolled to the side just as Arin’s blade slammed down, sending a surge of lightning into the ground where he had just been. The earth split apart, sparks flying, but Cassian was already moving.
He surged forward—
And tackled Arin.
Both men crashed to the ground, weapons scattering as they grappled in the mud and blood. The battlefield blurred around them, the world shrinking to just this moment.
Just the two of them.
Two warriors.
Two brothers.
Two men who had once sworn to protect each other—now locked in a fight to the death.
\---
The Past Still Bleeds
Cassian’s fist slammed into Arin’s jaw.
Arin barely flinched. He had always been resilient.
Instead, he retaliated immediately, driving an elbow into Cassian’s ribs, knocking the air from his lungs. Cassian rolled with the force, twisting to pin Arin beneath him.
For a single second—a fleeting moment of silence—Cassian saw it.
The same hesitation in Arin’s eyes.
The same flicker of guilt.
“Why are you doing this?” Cassian demanded, voice raw. “You still have a choice.”
Arin’s face darkened. “No. I don’t.”
Cassian’s grip tightened. “Damn it, Arin! Draven is using you!”
Arin’s breath was ragged, his steel gaze burning.
“I know.”
Cassian froze.
For the first time since this fight began, his blood ran cold.
Arin shoved him back, flipping their positions in a blur of brutal efficiency. His knee pressed against Cassian’s chest, his hands gripping his own sword once more.
But he didn’t strike.
Instead, his voice dropped to a whisper.
“I have to, Cassian.”
Cassian’s stomach twisted.
This was wrong. All of it.
Arin wasn’t the kind of man to blindly follow orders. He was too damn stubborn, too damn proud to let anyone control him.
Unless—
Unless something was forcing his hand.
Cassian exhaled sharply. “What did Draven do to you?”
Arin’s jaw clenched.
For the first time, Cassian saw the faintest glimmer of something else.
Not rage. Not loyalty.
But fear.
“I can’t stop,” Arin said quietly. “Not until this is over.”
Cassian stared at him.
And then—
A shadow passed over them.
\---
The Sky Burns
A deafening roar split the air.
Cassian and Arin both snapped their heads up, their fight momentarily forgotten as the sky blazed with fire.
No—not fire.
Magic.
Cassian’s chest tightened. Leon and Elara.
They had returned.
And they weren’t alone.
The rift in the sky had begun to close, but its presence still loomed, warping the battlefield. Shadowed figures stirred at its edges, creatures not meant to exist in this world, twisting and writhing against the light.
And then—
The full force of the Silver Guard clashed with what remained of Cassian’s army.
Chaos erupted once more.
Arin hesitated.
Just for a second.
But Cassian saw it.
Felt it.
And that was all he needed.
With a sharp twist, he knocked Arin’s sword away and threw him off balance. Arin cursed, rolling across the ground, but Cassian didn’t give him a chance to recover.
He pressed his sword to Arin’s throat.
“End it,” Arin whispered.
Cassian’s grip tightened.
His brother—because no matter what had happened, no matter what they had become, Arin was still his brother—didn’t even fight back.
Cassian’s heart pounded. Damn you, Arin.
Then—
A single arrow whistled through the air.
Cassian barely had time to react before searing pain tore through his shoulder.
He staggered back, a sharp snarl ripping from his throat as he turned—
And saw the archer.
Draven’s forces had targeted him.
Cassian’s knees threatened to buckle, but he forced himself upright. He still had a fight to win.
He turned back—
But Arin was already gone.
\---
The Last Gamble
Cassian pressed a hand against his wound, breathing hard.
Soren appeared at his side, daggers still slick with blood. “Well, that was a shitshow.”
Cassian exhaled, glaring at him. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
Soren eyed the battlefield. “We’re getting slaughtered out here. If you’ve got a plan, now’s the time to use it.”
Cassian’s mind raced.
Arin had hesitated.
That meant something.
If he could just push further, if he could find whatever chain Draven had wrapped around him, then maybe—
His breath caught.
A shadow loomed in the distance.
Draven.
The bastard stood at the highest point of the battlefield, his cloak billowing, watching the battle with something close to amusement.
Cassian’s jaw clenched.
Enough.
This had gone on long enough.
“Where the hell is Leon?” he growled.
Soren smirked. “Why? You need backup?”
Cassian wiped the blood from his lip.
“No. I need a distraction.”