BEFORE DESTINY (Special – Part 3 Final)
Caelithra remained in Zyrion's arms for several long minutes. She felt his body trembling—not just from the physical pain of his bloodied hands, but from something deeper, something broken inside his soul that he tried to hide from everyone. Something that only she, in that moment, could see.
When Zyrion finally loosened his embrace, Caelithra cupped his face between her hands, forcing him to look at her.
"Come with me," she said, her voice soft but firm.
Zyrion didn't protest.His eyes, usually full of that defiant spark, now held nothing but infinite exhaustion.
He let Caelithra take him gently by the wrist and guide him back to the small camp, where the others lay fast asleep under blankets and travel cloaks.
Without making a sound, Caelithra led him to a secluded corner near some rocks, where she had improvised her own small resting spot.
She knelt on the ground, pulled out her water flask and a clean piece of cloth from her bag.
"Sit," she whispered.
Zyrion obeyed without a word, letting himself drop heavily onto the blanket she had spread out.
Caelithra knelt in front of him, taking his hands with infinite delicacy.
Her heart pounded violently, each beat like a furious drum inside her chest.
The touch of Zyrion's wounded hands in her own was warm, damp with blood.
"This is going to hurt," she warned as she opened the flask.
Zyrion gave a faint, broken smile.
"I'm used to it," he murmured.
Caelithra poured cool water over his destroyed knuckles.
The thick, dark blood began sliding down his fingers, staining the blanket beneath them.
Zyrion clenched his teeth but made no sound.
Caelithra watched him from the corner of her eye as she worked—her movements firm, but unbelievably gentle.
She didn't want to hurt him more than he already had.
"Why did you do that?" she asked, breaking the silence as she wiped the blood away with the cloth.
Zyrion lowered his gaze.
"Because sometimes I feel like… if I don't get everything out… I'll explode."
Caelithra wrapped his hands with the cloth, applying pressure to stop the bleeding.
"You don't have to carry everything alone, Zyrion," she whispered. "No one can."
He let out a bitter laugh.
"I don't have a choice."
Caelithra set the cloth aside, lifted his hands, and held them against her own chest, shielding them with her body.
"Yes, you do," she whispered. "You have us."
Zyrion looked up at her, surprised by the intensity in her words.
Caelithra—the cold one, distant, the woman who rarely showed any real emotion—was now looking at him with bright eyes filled with quiet sadness and fierce determination.
"You're not alone," she repeated, like a promise.
Zyrion swallowed, his emotions hitting him all at once.His lips parted to say something—but no words came.
In a slow, inevitable impulse, Caelithra leaned toward him, resting her forehead against his.
The world around them vanished.The wind stopped blowing.
The stars seemed to freeze in place.
Only the two of them existed.
Zyrion closed his eyes, inhaling the faint clean scent of Caelithra, feeling her breath mingle with his.
"Thank you," he whispered, his voice breaking.
Caelithra didn't respond with words.Instead, she let the warmth of her presence, the weight of her closeness, speak for her.
They stayed like that long enough for the pain to become bearable.Long enough for Zyrion's wounded soul to find, even if just for a moment, something close to peace.
Finally, Caelithra pulled her forehead away, but kept holding Zyrion's hands.
"Promise me you won't do something like that again," she asked softly.
Zyrion nodded slowly.
"I promise," he said—knowing it wasn't just a promise to her… but to himself.
She gave him a tiny, shy, almost invisible smile.
"Good," she whispered. "Because I'll need to kick your ass if you do."
Zyrion let out a soft laugh—a real laugh, the first he'd had in days.
"I wouldn't want to miss that," he murmured.
Caelithra finally released his hands, but didn't move away.She sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.
And together, in that cold and silent night, they found a bit of comfort in shared solitude.
The wounds would heal slowly, yes.But they weren't alone.Not anymore.
The night moved on—slow, quiet, calm.A blanket of stars covered the sky, and the murmur of the wind brushed the treetops like an ancient whisper.
The campfire had faded to glowing embers, pulsing faintly.
Zyrion and Caelithra remained there, sitting together beneath the vast darkness, without needing to speak.The silence between them wasn't awkward—it was heavy, full of all the things they didn't know how to say.
Zyrion shifted his bandaged hands, noticing how the physical pain was now only an echo compared to the calm he felt beside her.
It was Caelithra who broke the silence, her voice barely a murmur against the night.
"Have you ever wondered… what would become of us if all this ended?"Her eyes, reflecting the starlight, drifted to Zyrion.
Zyrion breathed in deeply, his breath forming a small cloud in the cold air.
"You mean… if we won?" he asked, sounding more doubtful than hopeful.
"Yes," Caelithra whispered. "If all the pain… all the war… if it all disappeared tomorrow."
Zyrion looked down, thinking.
"I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe… I'd try to live a simple life.Have a small house near a river.Grow something.Maybe write stories about what once was."
Caelithra gave a faint, melancholic smile.
"And me? Where would I be in those stories?"
Zyrion glanced sideways at her—and for the first time in a long while, a faint blush rose on his cheeks.
"You…" he swallowed. "You would be the main character."
Caelithra let out a brief, warm laugh.
"A heroine in your tale?"
"A savior," Zyrion corrected softly.
She stared at him for a long moment, her expression softening.
Then, without warning, Caelithra moved.She placed her hands on his shoulders and, with almost disarming tenderness, pulled him toward her.
"Lean on me," she said, her voice sweet, almost motherly.
Zyrion froze for a moment, as though his body didn't know how to react.Her closeness… her warmth… it was overwhelming.
Words stuck in his throat.
"I—I don't know if…" he stammered, feeling his face burn even more.
Caelithra let out a soft laugh.
"Zyrion, just relax," she said. "Let me take care of you… even if it's only for tonight."
At last, with an almost childlike surrender, Zyrion nodded and let Caelithra guide him.He rested his head against her chest, right over her heart.The steady, constant heartbeat was the last thing he heard before closing his eyes.
Caelithra wrapped her arms around him, protecting him as if the entire world could shatter around them, but nothing would touch him as long as they stayed like that.
"Rest," she whispered, gently running her fingers through his hair. "I'll be here."
Dawn slowly crept into the horizon.
The first golden and rosy lights of morning colored the sky.The night's chill began to fade, replaced by a growing warmth.
Karion was the first to wake.He stretched beneath his blankets, yawned, and blinked toward where his companions lay.
His eyes widened at the scene before him.
Zyrion, fully resting against Caelithra, slept peacefully.She, with her head slightly tilted toward him, wore a serene, content expression—as if she were still embracing him even in her dreams.
Karion smiled to himself—an honest, warm smile.He knew better than to say anything.
Not now.
He wouldn't ruin that moment.
Just as he started to get up quietly, he noticed Caelithra opening her eyes—barely—still half-asleep.
Karion reacted instantly.Like a child caught misbehaving, he dropped back onto his blanket and pretended to be deeply asleep, adding a soft, exaggerated snore.
Caelithra, still drowsy, let out a tiny laugh.Her heart filled with a warm happiness—a feeling she couldn't remember experiencing before.
She hugged Zyrion a little tighter, closing her eyes again, letting the moment wrap around them once more.
[Present Day]
Darkness surrounded him.
Zyrion opened his eyes beneath the cold prison of his white iron mask.The fragment he had found in that river when he was still a young dreamer searching for answers now pulsed inside him.An unbreakable bond, a curse and a power woven into his being.
The blood that had once spilled during their union still felt fresh in his memories.The weight of the fragment, the weight of the mask… and the weight of all the shattered dreams he had sworn to protect.
Zyrion closed his eyes behind the mask.For a brief moment, he remembered that night…Caelithra's warmth.The unspoken promise.
And in the midst of all the darkness surrounding him, that memory burned like a living spark—reminding him of who he truly was.
Who he still could be.
TO BE CONTINUED…