After the council disperses, your allies gather in a smaller chamber.

“We need to talk about it,” Mira says flatly. “The sacrifice. The containment. Someone has to do it, and we’ve been dancing around it since the shrine.”

“I’ll do it,” you say immediately.

“No.” Theron’s voice is sharp. “You’re the only one who can use the relics. The only one the founders chose. If you sacrifice yourself before the Binding is broken, we lose everything.”

“Then after—”

“After, we’ll see. But going in assuming you’ll be the one to die? That’s not a plan. That’s giving up.”

Wren places a hand on your arm. “He’s right. The forest taught me this: a seed must have soil to grow in. You are the seed. We are the soil.”

“That’s very poetic,” Mira says, “but let’s be practical. The containment needs to happen at the moment of release. Whoever does it needs to be there, ready, the instant the Binding breaks.” She looks at each of you in turn. “I’m fast. I’m expendable. I have nothing waiting for me if this works.”

“You’re not expendable,” you say quietly.

“Everyone’s expendable. That’s the first rule of survival.” But her voice wavers, just slightly.

“I could do it,” Theron offers. “My ancestor’s relic judges souls. Maybe the Scales can help me take on that burden—channel the release through myself.”

“And I am of the forest,” Wren adds. “Thornwen’s power flows through the Thornwood, through me. Perhaps I can return that power to the earth, safely.”

Three volunteers. Three friends who would die for this cause. For you.

“We don’t decide now,” you say finally. “We go in together. We face Varek together. And when the moment comes… we trust that the right choice will be clear.”

It’s not an answer. But it’s the best you have.