*Chapter 30: The Last Light*
( Final chapter for season one)
The temple lay in ruins, shadows retreating before the first faint light of dawn. The battle had ended, but the cost was written deep into Mark's soul.
Jun was still in his arms—so fragile, so pale, as if the life was seeping away with every shallow breath.
Mark's hands trembled, clutching Jun as if sheer will could stop the inevitable. "Please, Jun. Don't leave me. You're the only thing I have left."
Jun's eyes fluttered open, soft and tired, a weak smile ghosting his lips. "Mark… you've always been my light in the darkness. I'm sorry…"
"No," Mark choked on the word. "You're not allowed to say goodbye."
Jun's hand weakly traced Mark's cheek. "Love is brave… but sometimes brave means letting go…"
Mark's vision blurred with tears. "I won't let you go. Not ever."
Jun's breath hitched once, then stilled.
Mark froze, horror sinking in.
"No… Jun…" he whispered, rocking him gently. "Wake up… please…"
But Jun was gone.
The silence was suffocating. Mark's world cracked open, spilling pain and emptiness into every corner of his being.
He buried his face in Jun's hair, sobbing, the agony ripping through him like a storm.
Outside, Dao and Lek staggered in, battered and bleeding. The others had fallen, sacrificed in the final fight. Mark was alone now—alone with the weight of grief and loss.
"Jun's gone…" Mark whispered, voice raw and broken.
Lek's eyes filled with tears. "We lost too many."
Dao knelt beside Mark, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We will honor them, Mark. You have to keep going."
Mark looked up, eyes burning with fierce determination. "I won't love again. Not after this. Loving means losing."
He stood, clutching Jun's lifeless form close. "But I will wait. For your next life. I will find you again. No matter how many lifetimes it takes."
A heavy silence settled over them.
Mark's curse was clear—love was his burden, and loss his endless companion.
Yet beneath the heartbreak, a stubborn spark remained—hope that somehow, someday, they would be reunited.
The sun rose slowly over the ruins of the temple, bathing the world in pale light.
Mark took a deep breath, hardened by sorrow and strengthened by love.
The story wasn't over.
It was only the beginning.
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