The battlefield was quiet — for a heartbeat.
Ash drifted like snow. Burnt steel cooled. The branded Morghoul collapsed into rubble, its silver chains undone, steaming.
And in the middle of it all stood Jayden…
changed.
His eyes glowed white. Not Hollow red. Not Outsider black.
White — the color of clarity. Of choice.
---
The Voice of the Tower
From the Tower of Whispers, an ancient voice rose once more:
> "Ashkarin… child of both bloodlines, yet ruled by none."
> "You walk a path that was broken long ago. And by walking it… you restore it."
Jayden stood silently, hands glowing, body trembling. The power inside him was loud. It wanted to lash out. To destroy. To rule.
But he didn't let it.
He listened.
---
Between Worlds
Kaelric stared across the field, his face unreadable.
"You've made yourself an enemy of both sides," he called out. "You'll be hunted by the Hollow and the Outsiders. There is no safety now."
Jayden raised his voice. "Maybe that's the point."
"I was never meant to fit in either cage."
"I wasn't born to obey your rules — or theirs. I was born to break the cycle."
---
The Message in the Flame
Jayden turned to his allies — the rebels, the forgotten, the runaways, the branded and unbranded alike.
"You feel lost? Hunted? Powerless? I did too."
"But you don't need to be chosen by a council or marked by a bloodline to matter."
> "You matter because you choose to rise."
He turned toward the wounded rebels. "We don't fight because we hate them. We fight because we remember what it's like to be nothing. And we won't go back."
His voice echoed, not just in the air — but in the readers' hearts.
Those following his journey from screen to screen.
---
To You, the Reader
Jayden's gaze lifted beyond the world.
And in that moment, the narrator's voice blends with his, speaking to you:
> You've come far — not just in this story, but in life.
> Maybe you've felt like Jayden. Pulled in opposite directions. Pressured to choose who to be — what side to stand on.
> But sometimes, the strongest choice is not to choose between what already exists...
> …but to create a new path entirely.
You're not too strange.
Not too late.
Not too broken.
You are becoming.
Like Jayden.
Keep going.
---
Veyna's Tears
Behind him, Veyna wiped her face silently.
"Never seen a fool turn into a legend," she muttered. "Guess there's a first time."
Jayden grinned. "I'm not trying to be a legend."
"Then what are you trying to be?"
He looked at the dawn breaking behind the ruined tower.
"…Free."