The battlefield was silent.
The storm had passed, but its scars remained across the heavens.
The once-glorious Sky Fortress now drifted aimlessly, its towers cracked and bleeding silver light.
Broken wings, shattered armor, and fragments of beast-essence floated through the mist.
Arka stood on the highest platform, surrounded by silence. The wind carried faint echoes of battle cries memories fading into the endless sky.
He clenched his hand. The starlight within him flickered weakly, almost refusing to respond.
So much had been lost.
The Aftermath
Liora limped toward him, her staff cracked in half, her robes burned.
"The ley lines have stabilized, but… the north quarter is gone. We lost more than half of our forces."
Arka didn't answer. His eyes traced the horizon where Kael had vanished.
Every death felt like a wound that refused to heal.
Garran approached, kneeling despite the gashes across his arms.
"The beasts are tending to their wounded. Many won't make it through the night."
He hesitated before adding, "The young wolf of the Crescent Pack… he died saving me."
Arka's fingers tightened. He had no words only the weight of every life lost under his command.
The Blood in the Sky
As the twin suns began to set, red light spilled across the clouds.
To anyone below, it might have looked beautiful. But to those on the fortress, it was a graveyard.
The surviving soldiers gathered silently. Some prayed. Some wept. Others stared at the horizon, hollow-eyed.
Arka walked among them, his presence alone enough to keep them standing.
He stopped before a collapsed bridge where a pack of wolves had fallen during the siege.
Their bodies shimmered faintly with fading starlight.
He knelt and whispered a vow.
"I will not let your sacrifice vanish into shadow. Your memory will guide my path."
The air around him trembled.
The astral wolf spirit appeared, its eyes reflecting the sorrow of its master.
"Your grief awakens something deeper," it said softly.
"But power born from pain can consume, if not tempered by purpose."
Arka looked up. "Then I'll turn this pain into a promise."
The Forbidden Ritual
Later that night, Liora found him alone in the central sanctum, surrounded by ancient runes glowing faintly on the floor.
Her breath caught. "You're not… you can't use that ritual, Arka. It's forbidden for a reason."
"I have to," he said quietly. "We're not ready for the next assault. Kael is gathering the fragments faster than we can move."
"You'll burn your soul," she warned. "That power wasn't meant for mortals even Sovereigns lose themselves to it."
Arka raised his hand. The runes pulsed in response.
"I'm not doing this for power. I'm doing it for them."
The ritual circle ignited, bathing the chamber in silver-gold light.
Images flashed around him the faces of those who had fallen, the cries of beasts, the fading heartbeat of the world itself.
The starlight entered his body like fire and ice combined.
For a moment, he screamed.
The wolf spirit howled beside him, merging partially into his form.
When the light faded, Arka fell to one knee, breathing heavily.
His hair now shimmered faintly with golden strands, and his eyes burned brighter than before.
Liora stared, half in awe, half in fear.
"What have you done?"
Arka's voice was soft but steady.
"I've crossed the threshold. The blood of the fallen sky… now flows within me."
The Oath of the Fallen
At dawn, Arka stood before the surviving soldiers once more.
The wind carried the scent of ash and metal, but also something new hope.
He raised his hand, summoning a small flame of silver and gold.
"This is what remains of those who fought for us," he said.
"Their essence will not fade. It lives on in us, in our strength, in our will to fight."
The soldiers knelt as one, pressing their weapons to the ground.
A vow was made that day silent, but eternal.
When the wind swept through the fortress, it carried whispers of the departed.
Their spirits rose with the starlight, merging with the True Star above.
Liora turned to Arka, her voice trembling.
"You've bound their souls to yours. You carry their pain now."
Arka looked toward the endless horizon.
"Then I'll carry it until the world is whole again."
Far beyond the floating skies, Kael stood atop a broken citadel, staring at the same dawn.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"So… you've awakened the Blood of the Fallen Sky," he murmured.
"Good. It will make breaking you all the sweeter."