The light slowly faded.
Where once there was only void, now stretched a sky reborn. Endless auroras shimmered above, weaving rivers of color that pulsed like the veins of creation itself.
Arka stood at the center of it all. The battlefield of silence was gone, replaced by a plain of crystal light that reflected his image in a thousand fragments.
But he was not whole.
The starlight that had once burned so fiercely inside him now flickered weakly, its brilliance dimmed. His breathing came in shallow bursts, and faint cracks of silver light spread across his skin like fractures in glass.
The astral wolf appeared beside him, translucent and faint, its eyes filled with sorrow.
You did it. The Heart of Silence is gone. The names have returned to the flow of time.
Arka smiled faintly. "Then the world remembers again."
The wolf nodded slowly. Yes... but you traded more than your strength. The Star Seed is breaking.
Arka looked at his hand. The light within his palm trembled before fading entirely. He could feel the weight of mortality returning, a heaviness he had long forgotten.
"So this is what it feels like... to fall back into the world."
The Return of Names
All across the restored realms, stars began to fall. Each one carried a memory, a story reborn. Mountains regained their ancient names, seas whispered songs of those who had once sailed them.
On distant continents, the people who had been trapped in endless sleep awoke beneath a dawn sky filled with falling stars. The beasts that had been turned to stone stirred once more, their eyes reflecting life instead of stillness.
In the citadel of Astren, Liora looked to the heavens and felt tears slip down her face.
"He did it," she whispered. "He truly did it."
Behind her, the crystal towers resonated with starlight, forming a single constellation in the shape of a wolf's head a silent tribute to the one who had defied eternity.
The Dying Light
Back at the Heart's remains, Arka's body began to falter.
The cracks along his skin deepened, releasing faint trails of glowing mist that drifted upward and dissolved into the sky.
The wolf paced restlessly beside him. Hold on. The world still needs you.
Arka shook his head. "The world doesn't need me. It needs to live. That's all I ever wanted."
You are the Beast Sovereign, the wolf growled. Your existence keeps the balance.
"I was," Arka said softly. "Now I'm just a memory like the others."
The wolf lowered its head, a low rumble of grief escaping its chest. If you fade, I fade too.
Arka placed a trembling hand on its forehead. "Then fade with pride. We gave them a future."
The wolf's body shimmered. For a brief moment, both of them glowed as one two souls sharing a single heartbeat.
Then, slowly, the wolf's light faded, merging into Arka's chest for the last time.
The Last Starfall
The heavens trembled once more.
Every star that had been reborn began to move, aligning above Arka's location. From horizon to horizon, the sky burned in silver and gold.
Liora looked up from afar, her heart stopping at the sight.
"It's his farewell..."
The stars began to descend, not as destruction but as rain a celestial downpour of light. Wherever it touched, life bloomed. Flowers grew on battlefields, rivers cleared, and every broken world found healing.
At the center of it all, Arka stood beneath the radiant storm. His expression was calm, almost peaceful.
"Lysander," he whispered, "if you can hear me... I kept my promise."
The pendant at his chest glowed one final time. A faint echo of laughter and warmth filled the air the voice of the silver-haired prince reaching through time itself.
You did well, Arka.
Tears rolled down Arka's face as the final star descended.
The starlight engulfed him, lifting his body into the sky. His form began to dissolve into particles of light, scattering across the heavens to join the stars he had freed.
When the light finally dimmed, only a single silver feather remained, drifting slowly toward the earth.
The Dawn After
When morning came, the world had changed.
The skies shone clearer than ever, and the beasts roamed freely without fear. The people of Astren built monuments not of stone, but of starlight structures that pulsed with living energy, reminding them that their savior had become part of the heavens.
Liora stood on the balcony of the highest tower, holding the silver feather that had fallen from the sky.
She whispered softly, "The Beast Sovereign's light never dies. It only returns to the stars."
As she spoke, a faint glow appeared on the horizon.
In the new dawn's brilliance, a constellation shimmered a lone wolf chasing a falling star.
And in that light, the world remembered his name.
Arka, the Beast Sovereign of the Star Wolf.