“Ready or not, you''re not going anywhere, Isolde.”


    Aurelian’s menacing voice dripped with venom. “You’re coming home with me and I''m about to ruin your life, just as I swore that I would.”


    As he spoke, the portal behind Isolde crackled erratically, its edges rippling with an eerie energy. The light within pulsed, matching the erratic beat of her heart. Zethar''s figure appeared, distant and distorted, his anguish undeniable. All around them, the air vibrated with unseen force.


    “Aurelian, just let me go, I beg of you.” Isolde cried. “This marriage isn''t what either of us wants. Let me disappear. You can say you came upon me drowning but it was too late to save me. No one will blame you because it will be an accident. You can marry someone else.”


    “I don''t think you understand how this works, Isolde,” Aurelian said. “You lied to me. You betrayed me. You are a disgrace to your family and to mine.”


    He leaned in closer, his fingers tightening around her throat with deliberate pressure. “You deserve to lie in the bed you''ve made.”


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    Aurelian’s weight bore down on her, pressing her into the sand; the sharp edges of broken shells biting into her back. Her muscles burned with each desperate twist, but his grip only tightened until her limbs began to falter under his strength. In that brief moment, a single regret flickered—she might never have the chance to tell Zethar how she truly felt.


    “And as for you,” Aurelian said, shouting back over his shoulder at the portal. “Whoever, whatever you are, know this—I will find you, and I will see to it that you''re dealt with. No one escapes my reach.”


    “Is that so?” said the voice of another man now towering above Aurelian in the darkness.


    “Zethar!” Isolde cried. “How did you…”


    Before she could finish, Zethar gripped Aurelian’s collar, lifting him off the ground with a single pull. In one fluid motion, he twisted, wrapping his arm around Aurelian’s waist and hurtling him into the portal with a brutal force.


    From the portal came a sound like a roar—deep and primal. Aurelian was swallowed into its depths, his figure disappearing into the swirling light, leaving nothing behind but the echo of his final words. You’ll both regret this as long as you live.