They returned to the mansion of Eris, the Goddess of Chaos. She was already impatiently waiting for them. Ciaran and King Cassius knelt at her feet, chained.

"Congratulations on your win. I honestly expected at least one of you to be dead by now," she said with malicious disappointment.

"So that's what you planned? Did you think that if you sent me to Nyx, I wouldn't come back?" Amaya tossed her the crown she so longed for. "I have to disappoint you that your plan didn't work. No Keres will send me into the Void."

"I admit we underestimated you," Eris said.

There sounded applause. As if out of nowhere had appeared another god. Dressed all in gold. His blond hair was slicked back. A mischievous smile graced his lips.

"Of course, we underestimated her, Chaos. After all, she has been resisting my power for so long, and I am the most powerful of us," he spoke.

"Fate." Amaya didn't know whether to be excited or run away.

"Amaya." he gave her a look. "Remember, Eris, this chaos is your fault. It was you who started it all when you told her how to avoid Death."

"I'm the Goddess of Chaos, of course, I bring chaos," Eris said.

"However, this chaos has gotten out of your control as well," remarked Fate.

"Why are you here Fate?" Amaya asked him.

"It quickly spread through the Dark Regions that you had come here, so I came to see for myself," he replied. "I wanted to see with my own eyes the one who could defy the fate I had prepared for you."

"It wasn't worth anything, so I made my own," Amaya shot back.

"I noticed that. You turned an unwanted prince into a king. You robbed him of his death so that you could keep him for yourself," said Fate.

"You brought us together and expected me to just let him die?" Amaya laughed. "Why did you do that anyway?"

"It was a gift for your services." Fate grinned maliciously. "However, you clearly rejected him."

"You can't just bring him into my life and then take him away from me," Amaya said exasperated.

"You managed to keep him forever and then you threw him away. It is not my fault. You just want what you can't have, Amaya," said Fate. "If you wish, I can release you from that bond."

Suddenly a red thread appeared between her and Ciaran, connecting them.

"No," said Ciaran.

"Amaya, the decision is yours," said Fate.

"Cut it off. " said a voice in her head. "I command you to cut the bond."

Amaya was looking at the red thread that led from her to Ciaran. She looked at him. She saw the pain in his eyes and the urgency for her to refuse. She hadn't said a word yet and she had already broken his heart. With her hesitation.

"No," he told her silently.

"After all, that's what you wanted when you came back to me years ago. You wanted me to cut the bond. Cut it off! "

"Cut the bond," Amaya said to Fate, looking away from Ciaran.

"No!" Ciaran shouted. "Don't do it, Amaya!"

"Are you sure about that, Amaya?" Fate asked her a question. "There's no going back."

"If we belong together, we don't need your help, Fate," Amaya said forcefully. "Cut the bond!"

"As you wish."

"No!" cried Ciaran in vain.

A bright glow came out of the darkness of nothingness. The bond that connected them was engulfed in blue flames. It hurt. It hurt excruciatingly as the bond was torn. She felt as if the flames were burning her herself. It was as if a part of her was on fire and turning to ash and dust. The whole world was melting into unrecognizable blurs. She screamed, but no sound came out of her mouth. The glow was blinding her.

And suddenly it was gone.

She couldn't feel him anymore.

The bond that tormented her for years when she couldn't be close to him was broken.

She no longer felt Ciaran.

When she dared to look at him, she saw the anguish in his eyes. How his worst nightmare turned into reality. With the breaking of that bond, something broke in him as well. It hurt her to see him suffer, but it had to be like that.

"The bond is broken," said Fate. "We'll see if your paths find their way back to each other or if you run away again, Amaya."

His voice sounded distant. As if he were calling to her from a great distance. The words were incomprehensible to her. She was still dazed by the blast of energy that broke the bond between her and Ciaran. The surrounding world was only vague blurs. She saw how Fate approached her.

"Perhaps you belong to Arawn after all," he whispered in her ear loud enough so that Ciaran could hear.

"No," Ciaran said in a small voice.

"Prove it." Fate challenged him and he vanished into nothingness as if he had never been there.

"Are you alright?" Queen Dragomira asked Amaya, still kneeling on the ground.

She nodded. The words didn't come out of her throat, but she nodded that she was fine.

"Ciaran." finally came out of her lips. "Let's go home." she held out her hand to him.

"No, no, no, no, no." Eris stood between them. "The game is not over yet, dear Amaya. If you want him back, you have to complete the three tasks I give you, and you've only completed one so far." Nyx's crown adorned her dark hair.

"What do you really want Eris?" Amaya said with venom on her tongue.

"I'm trying exceptionally hard to bring order to the chaos I've unleashed," she replied with all seriousness.

Amaya laughed. "And you'll unleash even more chaos in the process."

Eris waved and Ciaran and King Cassius disappeared. Bright flames engulfed them, leaving behind only smoke. Queen Dragomira drew her sword and aimed it at Eris' neck before she could notice.

"Where is he?" she asked her irritated.

"Where everything turns to dust," she replied.

Queen Dragomira didn't stand a chance against her in the realm belonging to Eris. She once again banished them from her mansion into the chaos. They didn't even get a chance to object. Queen Dragomira would probably cut her throat with a blade with her objections.

"Where are they?" Queen Dragomira asked Amaya, confused. "Where's Erebus?" she asked when she didn't see him with them.

"Maybe she doesn't really like her offspring, but her blood still runs in his veins. She won't let him go where we're going," said Amaya.

"Where did she send Cassius?"

"Into Hell."

Terror flashed in her eyes. Even though she didn't know as much as Amaya, even her idea of hell was terrifying enough, and during that short time among the dark creatures, she learned that reality was much more terrifying than her imagination.