I was being spiteful when I snatched the Sea King's treasure.
While it may be true that she looks like an ordinary, lowly creature—nothing about her shines or stands out—from the moment I saw his second-in-command guarding her, I knew she was dear to him.
That greedy and cunning Sea King tramples wherever he sets foot, plundering and raiding without care. Taking something he treasured would teach him a lesson.
When we arrived at Avion, I finally saw her clearly.
She was different from the rest of us. What kind of creature was she? No scales. No fur. No feathers. Her skin glowed softly, her hair was smooth, and her face radiant. She introduced herself as Sienna.
She was beautiful, yes—but not enough to rival my own beauty.
The more time I spent with her, the more she stirred something in me. The way she knew her place. The way she admired and praised me, feeding my confidence. The way her presence made me feel… complete. And yet, she tested my patience every chance she got.
No one in my kingdom ever caught my attention the way she did.
I have flown far and wide, mated with the prettiest birds, yet none captivated me as she did. That is why I could never get rid of her. I wanted her. I feared I could never return her to the seas.
Still, my pride would not allow me to admit it.
I could not accept that a simple, plain creature had enraptured me.
So I kept my feelings hidden. I told no one—but I showed her instead.
In Avion, we court through offerings. Each flight, we bring home the rarest and most precious thing we can find. I brought her everything. And she accepted them wholeheartedly.
I believed we had an understanding. I believed she felt the same.
Every time I flew, all I thought about was what I could bring back for her.
Until the bats appeared.
They attacked suddenly, mid-flight, searching for something they called the vessel.
At first, I didn't understand. Then it became clear.
They were after Sienna.
If they believed I would give her up, they were gravely mistaken.
I let out a command that shattered the air, ordering the weak of my flock to scatter while the strong stayed by my side. I flapped my wings, summoning a windstorm so violent it sent the smaller bats spiraling into the canyons. But the colony was endless. My flock bled; I saw my brothers and sisters fall, and I dived into the fray with beak and talon, tearing through the darkness. Even a King has his limits. For every bat I slaughtered, another landed a blow.
I ordered the survivors to regroup at our outer posts, then returned to Avion—to take Sienna and warn Aron.
What I saw shattered me.
Sienna was in Aron's arms.
He was comforting her.
That should have been me.
I never expected Sienna to be the one who pulled Aron from his grief. He was my ally, my friend. We had known each other for a long time. Seeing him look at her the way I did hollowed me out.
Why must we love the same girl?
That moment ended our friendship and turned it into rivalry.
He claimed her. I didn't care. I needed to hear it from her. And even if she admitted it, I knew I would never let her go.
Never.
I would fight kings, gods, fate itself.
I wanted her—for as long as I lived.
If I had to prove myself, then so be it. Nothing would stop me.
Aron left without fighting me, out of respect for my condition. I never told him about the bats. I intended it to be that way, to take her far away—from him, from the Sea King, from everything.
When she woke, I confronted her.
She looked for Aron.
She worried about my wounds.
But she never acknowledged how I felt.
When I finally confessed, she refused me—honestly, kindly, politely.
No one had ever dared turn me down.
What angered me most was when she said I was too good for her.
For the first time, I hated being better than someone.
Then I sensed them again—the bats.
There was no time.
We fled.
I carried her as far as I could, wounded and weakening. They caught up to us. I fought until there was nothing left in me.
I prayed—begged—that she would live, even if I did not. As my consciousness keeps fading.
And then, through the fog, I heard her. She hadn't run. She had come back for me. My small, delicate, "ugly" lowly creature was fighting a swarm of monsters for my sake. My heart broke and mended a thousand times in that moment. I fell for her all over again, deeper and harder than before.
And then they let her fall. I watched her fall toward the dark abyss of the forest.
Grief tore through me.
No.
I would not let this be the end.
With every fragment of strength I had left, I tore free and attacked—again and again—until my body could no longer move.
"Give it up, King of Avion," a bat mocked. "We'll help you join your precious vessel."
Then—
A blinding brilliance filled the sky, soul-searing light erupted from the forest floor, shooting into the heavens like a spear of gold. It froze us all. It was an apparition of a bird unlike any in Bestia—wings of shifting scarlet, amber, and sun-fire. The heat was instantaneous, an overpowering wave that made the air vanish and the bats shriek in agony as their leathery skin began to blister.
I lay there, broken, tears flooding my eyes.
So this is why I could never let her go.