The room was filled with faint blue light as the ritual circle glowed beneath Kimberly and Mohandria.
Theo lay motionless beside them, his breathing shallow. Kimberly's mother was barely alive, her pulse fading. Mohandria's chants grew louder, her voice trembling as the air thickened with power.
The spirits began whispering in strange tones, their voices echoing inside Kimberly's head, cold, distant, merciless.
"Only one can be saved… only one can live."
Kimberly's heart pounded as she clutched both hands, her mother's cold fingers on one side, Theo's weak palm on the other.
"No! I won't choose!" she screamed. "You can't ask me to do this!"
The whispers only grew louder, circling around her like a storm.
"Only one destiny… only one soul can rise."
Mohandria's tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to focus. "Kimberly, they're rejecting the merge. The balance won't hold if we force it!"
