At that moment, while all of that was unfolding, I was being taken to Hellos — which, by then, already stood tall and imposing on the horizon, gleaming gold under the sunlight.
From where we were, I could see clearly the vast structure of the arena. From it rose monumental walls, shining columns, and banners fluttering wildly in the wind. Along with that grand vision came the distant roar of the crowd — excited, frantic — echoing like the growl of a living creature, fed by anticipation and cruelty.
The sound of applause, voices, laughter, and bets formed a grotesque chorus, announcing that the spectacle was about to begin.
…Sounds of the frenzy in the arena…
— Sigh… What did I ever do to you, universe, to always end up screwed like this? — I thought, with a faint, almost resigned laugh, while we walked down the road toward the arena.
— Damn it, it's always the same… I don't even want to get involved in any of this, and yet, there I am — right in the eye of the storm, again and again.
I sighed deeply, shaking my head slightly.
— Calm down, Kyrion. That feeling… it's just exhaustion. Lack of sleep, maybe. Besides, complaining now is useless… the milk's already spilled. — I concluded mentally, letting the metallic echo of the soldiers' armor fill the silence between one thought and another.
A faint smile then escaped me.
— But I'll admit something… I never thought you, hearts, would surrender like this — so easily, so completely. So even I have a side like that, huh? Unbelievable… — I thought, laughing quietly at myself.
— Aurëalis… she's incredible — even with that intense, possessive, sometimes unbearable nature. But… those are some of the things that make me always want her close…
— Come to think of it, she's the perfect daughter-in-law my mother always wanted…
I stopped for a second, tired just from imagining the scene of them meeting.
— Tsk… no, thinking better, that would only bring me more headaches. Better not even imagine that right now… — I concluded, already weary at the thought alone.
While the wind carried the distant sound of trumpets, the crowd's impatient rumble, and the flutter of the massive banners, I allowed my mind — for just a brief moment — to drift even further.
— Will I be able to see her, at least during the battle? — I wondered, feeling a strange warmth spread through my chest.
— It's been so long… so long since the last time I saw her.
But in the end, I wouldn't need to wait. Fate — cruel and precise as always — was about to move, and what came next would forever change the future of the divine upper dimension.
As we continued, and my mind began to calm down a little, something shifted.
From afar, I felt something — small, fragile, yet absurdly familiar. A presence that didn't touch my senses, but my very soul.
At first, it was just a faint thread of energy, almost like a distant dream — but little by little, it grew stronger, warmer, closer, until I had no doubt: Whatever it was, it was coming to me.
At some point, when that presence was near enough, the air around me changed.It carried a scent — soft, sweet, familiar — one I hadn't felt in so long, yet one I could never forget.
The instant that fragrance reached my senses, something inside me froze. My legs, once moving forward, suddenly refused to take another step.
…Sounds of footsteps and confused murmurs around…
— Huh?... What's going on? — one of the guards asked, startled by my abrupt stop.
— That scent… and that presence… I'd recognize them anywhere… — I thought, as a chill ran down my spine.
— Hey, you filthy rat! Why'd you stop?! We're almost there! Keep moving! — yelled one of the guards, his tone sharp and impatient.
But to me, their voices no longer existed.
It was as if the world itself had gone silent. Everything — the roar of the crowd, the light of the sun, the shouts of the soldiers — vanished, reduced to distant echoes.
My body froze. My mind quieted. And deep within me… something awakened.
Maybe it was emotion. Maybe longing. Or perhaps it was simply the primal instinct of a being recognizing — even after millennia — the only other half that completes it.
— Hey! You deaf?! I said move! — roared the guard, now furious.
Still, I didn't move. My eyes remained fixed on the sky.
— Tsk… you bastard, are you ignoring me?! — he shouted again, losing his patience completely.
— I'll teach you to obey, you worthless trash! — he said, raising his fist.
But before the blow could reach me, the commander's voice sliced through the air.
— Can someone explain what's going on here? — he demanded, his tone cold and commanding.
The guard froze, with his fist hanging just inches from my face.
— S-sir?! — he stammered, shocked by the sudden appearance of his superior.
— This bastard stopped out of nowhere and refuses to move. I was just about to teach him a lesson… — the guard said quickly, bowing his head.
The commander stepped closer. I remained motionless, with my gaze fixed upward, as if entranced by something only I could see.
He frowned, intrigued, and did what no one else had thought to do until that moment: he just turned toward the same direction I was looking.
— He doesn't look like he's plotting anything… it's more like he's fixated on something else… but what? — thought the commander.
And then — he felt it.
By focusing all his attention on that same direction, he finally sensed it — that colossal force, which had before been just a distant tremor, now revealing its full magnitude as it approached, tearing through the heavens like a divine bolt about to strike the earth.
— D-damn it… what is that?! How didn't I sense it sooner?! Quickly, soldiers, dis— he shouted, but couldn't finish.
In that same instant — within a single fraction of a second — a massive, devastating impact struck, like thunder given form, shaking the ground and swallowing all sound.
The explosion hurled guards, civilians, and stones in every direction, raising a towering column of dust and energy that opened a gaping crater where the street once stood. The few who reacted in time — the commander among them — managed to raise a barrier of light, though even that wasn't enough to stop them from being thrown backward.
When the smoke began to settle, the groans of the wounded echoed through the chaos.
— Cough… cough… damn it… what… was that? — muttered the commander, coughing, trying to see through the haze.
— S-sir, are you alright?! — asked one of the few soldiers still standing, limping toward him.
— Yes, I'm fine… Tsk… but that's not what matters now. What happened here? Where's the prisoner? — the commander asked, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
— Sir, I'm not sure yet. As soon as I felt the surge, I came straight here, but I haven't been able to investigate. Besides, all this dust and smoke will make the search much harder… — replied the soldier, panting.
— Tsk… That's bad. That bastard might've tried to escape if he's still alive. And if he didn't survive… that's even worse. Keltherion is far too eager for that fight. — thought the commander, clenching his fists.
— Alright. You, soldier, search for survivors. I'll examine the area and find out what caused all this. — he ordered.
— Yes, sir! — replied the soldier, vanishing into the dust a moment later.
The commander, then, took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a brief instant.
Slowly, he reached for his sword, and, when his fingers wrapped around the hilt, a metallic ring of steel sang through the air — sounding like a divine call. The blade, freshly unsheathed, caught the faint sunlight that pierced the veil of smoke, gleaming with a near-supernatural brilliance — as though it bore the fire of the heavens themselves. Then, for a moment more, he stood motionless, utterly focused — until, when he opened his eyes again, they now glowed with a golden radiance, alive with a divine power. His energy, then, began to expand, rippling around his body, molding the very air. He turned the blade vertically — holding it like a great silver fan — and with mighty swings, began dispersing the smoke and dust, strike after strike, each one unleashing a violent gust that swept the field clean.
Gradually, the gray veil lifted, revealing the devastation beneath: Shattered bodies, scattered debris, and a massive crater yawning at the heart of the ruin.
— Tsk… what the hell happened here? — he thought, tightening his grip on the sword.
— The only thing I remember is an immense power — appearing out of nowhere… and then nothing, just the impact. — he concluded, struggling to piece the memories together.
Then, from within the wavering cloud of dust still dancing above the ruins, something caught his attention.
There — amidst all that chaos — stood two silhouettes.
— What… is that? — he murmured, narrowing his eyes.
Still unable to see clearly what rose before him, the commander decided to advance — cautiously, guided only by instinct and by the oppressive silence that hung in the air.
The shadows ahead, once vague and shapeless, began to take form under the pale light, with their outlines growing sharper with each step he took.
The fog recoiled slowly, as if the world itself hesitated to reveal the truth to him.
And then, when he came close enough to see beyond that veil, his eyes finally understood, and, in the same instant, the blood in his veins froze.
There, among the wreckage and ruin, bathed in golden dust and fractured sunlight, Aurëalis and I stood face to face. After so long. After so much chaos.
Time itself seemed to stop.
…Muted sounds… broken breathing… and the faint sound of a kiss…
— Huff… huff… A-Aurëalis… wa— I tried to speak, but the words died on my lips.
Our tongues were already entwined — locked in a deep, desperate kiss that had begun the very moment she reached me.
Aurëalis, upon seeing me, lost all control. Her body, once rigid and burning with fury, melted in an instant. Tears streamed down her face, and the weight she carried — fear, guilt, despair — dissolved in my arms.
She pulled me against her with such force that for a moment I thought our souls might fuse.Then her hands rose to my face — and without hesitation, she kissed me again, deeply, fervently — with her tongue wrapping around mine in a gesture that carried urgency, love, and relief all at once.
— Kyrion… KYRION! — she cried between tears, pulling away only for a heartbeat, just to embrace me again, even tighter than before.
— A-Aurëalis… I-I can't… breathe… — I managed to whisper, suffocating in her grasp.
However, she didn't loosen her arms immediately. She kept me there, pressed against her chest, as if making sure I wouldn't vanish again. Only after several seconds did she slowly relax, letting me draw a breath — but only for an instant, as a moment later, she pulled me back to her, even closer, as if to say silently: "You're mine… and you'll never leave me again."
This time, she didn't seek my lips. Instead, she pressed her cheek against mine and began to move it gently along my skin — in a gesture that was at once tender, possessive, and primal, as though she wished to carve her essence into me.
One arm held me tightly, keeping me trapped in her embrace, while the other ran through my hair with a touch that was both loving and reverent.
With each movement, a soft, low sound escaped her throat — a smooth, melodic purr, the ancient sound only dragons in pure ecstasy could produce, when joy became too great for words to contain.
It was the sound of one soul to another.
Among dragonkind, that sound was something profoundly intimate — an echo of the heart that few dared to reveal, for it exposed feelings even the mind could not restrain. But Aurëalis didn't seem to care. She let the sound flow freely from her throat, pure and honest, as if she wanted every note to reach me. There was no shame, no restraint — only the raw, radiant truth of her affection, resonating between us like an ancient melody only two souls could understand.
As she continued rubbing her cheek against mine — soft, slow, possessive — as if marking me with her scent — something deep within me ignited. An old memory, buried in the farthest corners of my mind, stirred quietly awake. And before I realized it, I began to emit that same sound — instinctively — the sound I hadn't made since I was just a hatchling, nestled between my parents, back when the world was still simple and safe.
When Aurëalis heard it, she froze. Her eyes widened, and for a brief moment, a deep blush spread across her face, coloring her cheeks with a vivid, feverish hue.
For an instant, she simply couldn't believe what she'd heard — as if her mind refused to accept that I, of all people, had responded to something so intimate, so quickly.
— Kyrion… that sound… — she whispered, her trembling voice wavering between surprise and emotion.
Aurëalis looked as though she couldn't decide whether to cry or laugh, whether to hold me tighter or simply stare in silence. Then, slowly, surprise gave way to tenderness, and a wide, genuine, passionate smile bloomed across her face, dissolving every trace of doubt.
She leaned closer, bringing our faces so near that our breaths intertwined — warm, uneven — and, in a motion as soft as a sigh, she brushed her nose against mine.
Her touch was gentle, hesitant, affectionate — as if she were confirming that I was real, that this moment truly existed. Her eyes shimmered — and within them lived a light made of love, relief, and a sweet disbelief, the kind that only comes from witnessing the impossible made real.
— That sound you made… it's the cutest thing I've ever heard… — she said, laughing softly, her gaze glistening with tears.
— You have no idea how much I missed you… — she added, wrapping her arms around me again, resting her head on my shoulder, breathing deeply — as if trying to memorize every little part of my scent forever.
For a few seconds, I was speechless.
The flood of sensations hit me like a wave — emotion, nostalgia, peace — all colliding in an overwhelming rush I couldn't contain. It felt as if the entire world had stopped, and all the emptiness within me had finally been filled.
The warmth of her body against mine, the rhythm of her breathing, the scent of her skin, the divine energy she radiated… everything whispered that, in that moment, nothing else mattered. And amidst that silence heavy with meaning, the only thing I could do was return the embrace — pulling her even closer, as if the universe itself longed to merge us into one.
And then, between one breath and another, I whispered:
— I missed you too… my love.
At that moment, I felt something I hadn't felt since the last time I saw Aurëalis — true peace. The same peace I only found when I slept and drifted into the silence of the cosmos.
For a few seconds, we stayed like that — lost in each other, as if time itself had forgotten to move.But then, suddenly, the air around us shattered with a sharp crack — as if reality itself had been torn apart.
Waves of energy ripped through space, slicing the air with violent force, striking us head-on — breaking our fragile moment of peace like glass under a storm.
— What… is that? — I asked, still holding Aurëalis close.
When I finally regained my focus and looked around, something glimmered before my eyes.
There, just inches from my head, a gleaming blade hung suspended in the air — frozen, humming with a cold, deadly light, while one of Aurëalis hands held it from reaching me.
Her fingers gripped the weapon's edge tightly, stopping it mid-swing — saving me from a probably death. And yet, even as she held the blade at bay with one hand, she never released me with the other.
Her body remained pressed against mine in a tight embrace — as if, in that single instant, the world could crumble and she still wouldn't let go. It was a paradox in motion — a goddess who, with one hand, held back death itself and, with the other, embraced me with a tenderness that seemed capable of defying time.
— Sigh… Valerius… — said Aurëalis, with a cold and exasperated tone.
— What do you think you're doing?
The energy around her began to ripple again, vibrating like living fire.
Valerius, the commander of the guards, stepped back, with his eyes wide with shock under the crushing weight of her presence, while the blade of his sword trembled — still trapped in her delicate yet unbreakable hand. Then, with a simple flick of her wrist, Aurëalis pushed the blade backward. The released force was so immense that the sword screamed as it was flung away with violence.
The impact traveled through the metal and struck Valerius himself, that, unable to withstand it, was hurled backward as if an invisible storm had struck him head-on.
His crash with the ground was inevitable, but before hitting it with full force, Valerius let out a harsh grunt of effort, forcing every muscle that still obeyed him to move.
The recovery was agonizing — his knees locked and the armor groaned under the strain — yet even so, he managed to dig his heels into the dirt and land upright in a rough, staggering motion, kicking up dust that veiled him for a heartbeat.
From within that haze, his eyes found us — me and Aurëalis — but now, unlike before, the arrogance was gone. In its place, gleamed, now, a sharp caution and a tactical coldness.
He no longer looked at us as a superior, but as a wounded fighter who'd realized that a single mistake could cost him his life.
— I should be the one asking that question, princess… — said Valerius, his voice firm though trembling after regaining balance.
— Why are you standing beside that… wretch? And why did you do all this?! — he shouted, looking around at the ruins and the fallen Light Dragons that littered the ground.
The silence that followed was suffocating. Dust still drifted down from the sky, and the wind carried the metallic scent of blood.
Aurëalis held his gaze — with a cold and calculating expression.
— Sigh… Honestly, that's none of your concern, Valerius. But since you asked, I suppose it won't hurt to answer once and for all — for everyone who still dares to listen. — she began, her crimson eyes glowing just as they had during her fight against Edgar.
— I love Kyrion. I'm madly in love with him. And I will never allow anyone to harm him. Is that clear? — said Aurëalis, her voice vibrating with divine conviction.
— What?! — Valerius' eyes widened in disbelief.
— A Light Dragon… falling for trash like him?! — he spat, his words dripping with contempt.
Then Valerius turned his gaze toward me, with fury flashing in his pupils.
— Tsk… You bastard, that's it! It has to be! You did something to her — bewitched her, manipulated her… — he snarled, with his fists tightening and his voice rising.
— Come on, say it! What did you do?!
Aurëalis took a step forward, with a golden light pulsing faintly around her with each of her breaths.
— Valerius… — she said, calm but unyielding.
— You're completely mistaken. He never did anything bad to me. On the contrary… I was the one who went after him. Even when he tried to pull away — afraid of what you all might do — I didn't let him, because I wanted him by my side. Always.
Her voice wavered for an instant.
She closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath, as if struggling to contain the pain.
— And because of me, he suffered. All this time.
— If there's anyone to blame here… it's me. — she whispered.
— It's me, for allowing you all to manipulate me again and again. For believing you wanted my good, even when I already knew it wasn't true.
Her gaze turned icy, sharp as a blade.
— But this ends now. Taking Kyrion captive… hurting him… that was the greatest mistake you all ever made.
Aurëalis then took my hand in hers, noticing the cut along my arm. Her once-tense expression softened, and her fingers glided gently over the wound. A warm, almost ethereal light began to flow from her palm, wrapping my skin in a soft mantle of radiance. Little by little, the injury closed, as her crimson eyes watched me with serene tenderness — the kind of devotion one reserves only for something sacred.
Valerius stood motionless, his mind clearly struggling to process everything he had seen and heard.
— W-What…? — he muttered, rubbing his face in disbelief.
— Sigh… This is going to be one hell of a headache…
He lowered his sword slightly, exhaling heavily.
— Well… if what you say is true, princess… then you really have changed a lot, huh? — he said, with an almost melancholic tone.
— After all, your parents were never like this… and clearly didn't raise you to be, either.
Aurëalis looked at him calmly, though her eyes blazed with something untamable.
— Yes… my parents should be examples to me. But they aren't — and they never will be.
Hearing that, Valerius let out a rough laugh, full of disbelief and irony.
— Pshh… Hahahaha… Who would've thought? The daughter of Keltherion and Lyssandra, the perfect princess of Lumina… saying something like that! — he mocked, still laughing.
— Well, not that it's any of my business… but… — his expression shifted suddenly, the smile vanishing, replaced by a cold, deadly stare.
— Even if I don't care about your little relationship… I still have direct orders from the king…
Before I could react, he lunged toward me again — impossibly fast — with his sword cutting through the air like lightning, mid-sentence. However, Aurëalis was already between us.
With a single movement, she blocked the blow. The steel of the sword clashed against her hand, reinforced and protected by her energy, and the impact made the ground tremble beneath our feet.
— …I have direct orders from the king to take the prisoner to the arena! — shouted Valerius, trying to force his blade forward, but Aurëalis' strength held firm.
In that moment, before Valerius could act again — or before I could even move to help her — Aurëalis vanished. A heartbeat later, she reappeared right in front of him, crouched low beneath the arc of his swing, and drove a precise, brutal strike into his stomach.
The impact was devastating.
Valerius' body was launched through the air, crashing into the nearby ruins with a thunderous explosion of stone and dust.
For a moment, silence reigned — until the debris began to settle. And there she was — Aurëalis — standing tall amid the chaos, walking slowly toward him, with her aura blazing like a furious star.
— W-what… speed… is that… — I thought, astonished.
Valerius coughed blood, supporting himself weakly against the broken stones.
— Ugh… cough… ha… haha… You're still the same, aren't you, princess…? — he laughed between ragged breaths.
— The only one of your generation who managed to defeat me… before even entering the Superior Academy…
He chuckled weakly, blood dripping from his mouth.
— Hahahah… how nostalgic…
Aurëalis said nothing. She just kept advancing — with each step a reminder that her mercy was gone.
When she came close enough, she raised one hand. Then, energy began to gather at her palm, swirling in golden spirals that lit up the ruins. And just as she was about to strike Valerius down, he lifted his sword toward the heavens — and the air around them began to tremble.
— Kragna-uf! — shouted Valerius, in the ancient language of the Light Dragons.
In that very instant, the sword in his hands exploded in light, and a golden beam cut through the air, tearing the sky like a divine spear until it struck the clouds, where it detonated in a blinding blast that lit all of Lumina.
The sound reverberated for kilometers, and the ground beneath us shook as if the heavens themselves had roared. Instinctively, I lifted my gaze, feeling the air vibrate around me — but what truly made my blood run cold in that moment wasn't the light, nor the thunder of the explosion, but Aurëalis's face.
She was motionless.
Her eyes, once incandescent with power, now reflected pure horror. Her breath turned shallow, and her body — which rarely showed weakness — trembled.
— Hahaha… — Valerius's voice echoed, hoarse, between laughter and coughs.
He still lay on the ground, with his body covered in blood and dust, but the smile on his face showed that he had won in another way.
— Did you really think… you'd kill me that easily, princess? — he mocked, spitting blood between words.
— I think now you should worry less about me… and more about what's about to happen. — he said, laughing.
Aurëalis, at that moment, kept staring up at the sky, frozen, as if she couldn't hear anymore.
— Aurëalis! — I shouted, running to her and gripping her shoulders.
— What's happening?! Answer me!
She blinked then, as if waking from a trance.
— K-Kyrion? — she whispered, her voice trembling.
And then, with a sudden snap of awareness, terror flooded her gaze.
— Kyrion… that explosion… we have to run, now! — she cried, already beginning to transform into her semi-human form.
— What? Run? From what?! — I asked, confused, trying to understand.
— No time to explain! Just transform and follow me! NOW! — she ordered, with her voice seized by urgency.
Seeing the state she was in — the tension in her eyes, the urgency in her voice — I realized that if anyone there knew what was about to happen, it was her. After all, as the princess of that realm, no one knew better the omens of disaster; and by the way she spoke, this certainly was one of them. For that reason, I didn't dare question her. I simply trusted.
— Okay! — I replied, shifting into my semi-human form and taking off alongside her.
Down below, still sprawled among the rubble, Valerius let out one last weak, almost deranged laugh:
— Hahahaha… good luck to you, princess… — he murmured, before fainting, with the smile still on his face.
We tore through the skies at extreme speed, breaking the clouds and leaving behind the glare that devoured the horizon. But soon the air around us grew heavy, dense, and my energy — the little I had kept as a last card for the arena fight — began to dissipate even faster.
My body ached, and every wingbeat was a battle.
— Huff… huff… A-Aurëalis… at this rate… we won't get far… we need to stop… — I said, with my breath faltering.
— Kyrion, don't! W-We can't stop! We have to keep going! — she answered, with a hoarse, almost pleading voice, still forcing her wings even as her muscles trembled.
But then, the inevitable happened. The glow of Aurëalis's wings began to flicker. Her energy, once vibrant, went out like a smothered flame. And then, suddenly, she collapsed.
— AURËALIS! — I cried, diving after her in free fall.
The wind roared in my ears as I plunged to reach her, and I managed — just barely — to catch her before she struck the ground.
I caught her in my arms and took the full impact myself, channeling almost all the energy I had left to fortify my body before the fall. The shock reverberated through me like thunder beneath my skin, but I held her tightly, refusing to let go. We hit the ground and tumbled across the rough terrain until we finally came to rest amid shattered stones and twisted roots, with the air thick with dust.
— Aurëalis! Can you hear me?! — I asked, desperate, shaking her gently, even through the pain of the impact.
After a few seconds, she slowly opened her eyes.
— K-Kyrion?… Agh… Where are we…? — she murmured, breathless and a little lost.
Her skin was pale, her lips — once as red as apples — were now faintly bluish. The shadows beneath her eyes betrayed sleepless nights — and her breath came in short, broken gasps. She was exhausted, in every possible way.
— We had to land. You blacked out in the air… and fell. — I explained, keeping my voice steady even as my heart reeled.
— You need to rest, at least for a few hours. Your body won't hold if you keep going like this. — I added.
She tried to rise then, but could barely prop herself up on her arms.
— N-No… we can't stay here… — she said, her voice almost fading.
— We're still too close to Lumina… if they find us… it will be the end…
— Aurëalis… — I tried to argue, but she cut me off with a determined look, even while gasping.
— Kyrion… please… — she whispered, with quiet tears forming in her eyes.
— If we stay here, they'll find us… and everything I've done until now… will have been for nothing.
In that moment, seeing her like that — once more so fragile, exhausted, with fear glimmering in her eyes yet still fighting with every shred of strength she had left just so we could stay together — awakened something deep within me. That sight reignited the memory of the promise I had made to myself: never again to let her bear such pain, never again to see that broken expression, that look where courage and despair coexisted upon her face. In that instant, every part of me screamed the same truth — I would rather face hell itself than watch her suffer again.
So I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment.
— Alright. — I answered firmly.
— I don't know what's happening, nor whether I'll have the strength to carry us much farther… but I believe in you.
— If we can't stay for you to rest, not even a little, and we must go… then so be it. — I said, my voice set with resolve.
Aurëalis, fighting with all her might to stay awake, lifted her eyes to me and drew a small smile.
— Thank you so much… and I'm sorry for making you go through all this, my love… — she whispered, with a saddened look in her eyes, as if she believed all our suffering was her fault.
Seeing that look again — fragile, guilty, and yet so pure — broke me inside once more. Without a word, I moved closer as she tried, in vain, to stand.
— And where do you think you're going, miss? — I asked lightly.
Before she could answer, I swept her into my arms, catching her by surprise.
— You… didn't really think I was going to let you walk, did you? — I said, meeting her gaze with a half-smile.
— You're in no condition for that.
I paused for a moment and, in a lower voice, added:
— And don't you ever apologize for any of this again, Aurëalis. I know how hard you've fought. I know all you want is for us to be together — and for me to be safe.
I let out a brief sigh, meeting her shimmering eyes.
— Just as you wish that for me… I wish the same for you. So please, don't blame yourself anymore. Seeing you sad… that's what truly destroys me inside.
I said it feeling my face burn with embarrassment, but Aurëalis only stared at me in silence, with a growing light in her eyes, as if each word made her fall for me a little more.
— I-I understand… — she murmured, lightly clutching my shirt before resting her head against my chest and, right after, turning her face gently to the side so the tip of her nose could brush my breastbone, drawing in a slow, deep, almost trembling breath. It was as if she sought, in my scent, a refuge — something to calm her, to remind her we were still alive, together — and, somehow, it truly soothed her.
— I promise nothing bad will happen — I murmured at last, trying to hide the weariness in my voice — and the shyness.
— You can trust me.
In that instant, something changed in her. The fear that consumed her, the fatigue that weighed on her shoulders… all of it seemed to dissolve. The tremor in her body ceased, and her eyes shone again — warm, serene, confident — as if she believed that, while we were together, nothing in the universe could really touch us.
— Shall we go? — I asked, slowly spreading my wings, readying myself for flight.
Aurëalis nodded with a small smile, but one brimming with love. Her eyes, now fixed on mine, seemed to say everything words could not — something pure, intense… something that utterly disarmed me. I felt my hearts quicken even more, and for a brief instant, happiness was absolute.
Then I drew a deep breath and adjusted my wings and tail, ready to take off. But before I could move a muscle, a new voice sliced through the air like a blade.
— Where do you think you're going? — said the voice, cold, commanding, unmistakable.
My body froze, and before I could even look back, a terrible pain tore through my chest — an invisible, brutal force. One of my hearts writhed as if crushed from within.
— AAAGHHHHH! — the scream ripped from my throat before I could stop it.
I staggered and fell to my knees, with my body folding under the unbearable pain. Yet even while fighting to stay conscious, I still managed to set Aurëalis gently on the ground before collapsing completely.
— KYRION?! — she cried, her voice consumed by pure despair.
Exhausted, Aurëalis dragged herself to me, with tears brimming in her eyes and her body shaking — but with an instinct to protect me stronger than anything.
— Kyrion, talk to me! What's happening?! — she begged, her voice trembling between sobs.
But the pain was overwhelming. It was as if liquid fire ran through my veins, burning me from the inside, while something crushed my chest within. I couldn't react, couldn't breathe — only endure.
— Tsk… tsk… tsk… You really did make quite a mess, didn't you? — the voice spoke again, each word dripping with a cruel, almost amused calm.
Aurëalis lifted her gaze, still trembling — and what she saw made her hearts plummet.
There, wreathed in a golden light, stood Keltherion — with shining eyes —, Lyssandra, the queen, with an icy serenity, and Caelus Moonfang, the one who was supposed to be my opponent in the arena… and the suitor her father had chosen for her. Behind them, a dozen elite guardians stood aligned, each radiating divine power enough to devastate entire cities.
Aurëalis froze. The air seemed to vanish from the world. Her wings retracted instinctively, and silent tears slid down her face.
— N-no… — she murmured, her voice failing.
— It can't be… father… mother…
Keltherion stepped forward. His cold gaze fell upon her first, then upon me — still struggling to breathe.
— My daughter… what have you done? — he asked, in a tone so calm and controlled it hurt more than any scream.
Aurëalis didn't answer. She only remained kneeling at my side, with her trembling hands on my face, trying to wake me, trying to protect me — even before her own parents.