I read it twice. Adrian did the same.

"I'll sign it," I said.

"Same," Adrian agreed.

Victoria produced two pens from seemingly nowhere. "Sign at the bottom. Use your full legal names. The contract is magically binding, which means it registers with the ambient mana of the world itself. No need for witnesses or official stamps."

I took the pen and signed. Hadeon Ravana clear and legible. Adrian signed below me. Adrian Celestius, equally clear.

The moment Adrian's pen left the parchment, the signatures glowed with silver light. The contracts power activating. I felt a faint tug on my mana, like something had just created a tiny thread connecting me to the document. Then the glow faded.

"Done," Victoria said, rolling up the parchment. "The contract is now active. You're committed."

A weight settled on my shoulders. Not physical weight. Something heavier. The knowledge that I'd just signed away my right to back out. Six days from now, I'd start training that had a one in three chance of killing me. No refunds and no second thoughts.

Adrian must have felt something similar because his expression was carefully blank.

Victoria returned the contract to the box and closed it. "Six days, so get your affairs in order and say your goodbyes. Make sure your factions can function without you because there's a real chance you won't come back."

"Comforting," I said.

"I'm not here to comfort you. I'm here to train you." She stood, signaling the meeting was over. "Go home and rest to heal completely and I'll send coordinates for the mountain facility two days before we leave, be ready to depart at dawn."

We stood as well. The wards around the room disengaged with an audible pop as Victoria opened the door. Sunlight streamed in, bright and ordinary. The normal world continuing while we'd just signed contracts agreeing to risk death for the chance at freedom.

Outside, our teams waited. Lucille caught my eye, questioning. I shook my head slightly. Later. I'd explain everything later.

Victoria walked us to the edge of the training ground. "One last thing," she said. "The technique requires absolute trust in your own existence. Doubt kills you as surely as lack of power. When you're touching fate threads and your body starts to fade, you have to believe you're real strongly enough to overwrite reality's attempt to erase you. Confidence isn't optional. It's survival."

"Understood," Adrian said.

Victoria's expression softened imperceptibly. "You're both braver or more foolish than most. I haven't decided which. Either way, you've got six days to get your spiritual house in order. I suggest you use them well."

She turned and walked back toward the stone building, black veins visible on her neck even in the bright morning light. A woman dying slowly, teaching others to risk death quickly. The irony wasn't lost on me.

"Well," Adrian said quietly. "We really did it."

"We really did," I agreed.

"Elena's going to kill me when I tell her."

"Lucille will probably try to talk me out of it."

We started walking back toward where our teams waited. The grass crunched under our feet. Birds sang in the distance. Everything was aggressively normal, which somehow made the weight of what we'd just committed to even more surreal.

"Hey," Adrian said. "If we both die during this."

"Yeah?"

"At least the Council won't get what they want."

I laughed despite myself. "That's the spirit. Spite-based survival."

"It's gotten me this far."

Lucille met me halfway across the field, her expression tight with concern. "Well?"

"Six days," I said. "Then two weeks of training. Thirty-three percent chance I don't come back."

Her hand found mine. Squeezed once, hard. "You'll come back."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. You're too stubborn to die learning a technique. You'd consider it poor planning."

Despite everything, I smiled. She wasn't wrong.

Behind us, Adrian was having a similar conversation with Elena. Her voice carried across the field, worry and anger mixing. "You can't be serious. You're going to risk your life for a technique you might not even need?"

"I need it," Adrian said firmly. "The Council will come for me eventually. I'd rather face them free than bound."

"Then let Hadeon learn it first. See if it works. Don't rush into this."

"We're doing it together. That's not negotiable."

Their argument continued as we walked. Elena wasn't giving up easily, and I couldn't blame her. What we were doing was objectively insane. Risking our lives for the chance to cut threads we couldn't even see yet. Banking everything on a technique most people died learning.

But the alternative was worse. Living as the Council's puppets. Dancing to their script. Being the Villain and the Hero they'd assigned us to be.

I'd rather die free than live controlled.

Apparently, Adrian felt the same way.

We reached the edge of the training ground where transportation waited. Seraphina stood beside the carriage, arms crossed, her expression unreadable. She'd been quiet since the battle three days ago. Processing everything she'd learned.

"So you're really doing this," she said as we approached.

"We are," I confirmed.

"Both of you. At the same time."

"That's the plan."

Seraphina's jaw tightened. "If you both die, the resistance loses its leadership. Have you considered that?"

"We have," Adrian said. "Kaeel can take over if necessary. Aria knows the networks. Your team and Hadeon's team can coordinate defense. It's not ideal, but it's workable."

"Workable." Seraphina's voice was flat. "The two most powerful fighters in the resistance simultaneously risking death is workable."

"The two most powerful fighters staying bound to their narrative roles while the Council hunts them is worse," I said. "We're out of good options, Seraphina. This is the least bad one available."

She looked at me for a long moment. Then at Adrian. Then back at me. Finally, she sighed. "You're both idiots."

"Frequently," I agreed.

"But you're our idiots." She pushed off from the carriage. "Fine. Six days. We'll prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Just... try not to die. I've gotten used to having you around."

Coming from Seraphina, that was practically a declaration of love.

The ride back to Silvercrest was quiet. Everyone processing what we'd just committed to. Lucille sat beside me, her hand still in mine. She didn't say anything, didn't need to. The grip said enough.

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