I woke from sleep with her warmth still lingering over me. She was the best thing that ever happened to me — the only one who could stand by my side. The most enchanting bird in this world.
I reached out to hold her.
She was gone.
I looked around. The entire peak was empty. My body was completely healed, as if nothing had happened. The bats were nowhere in sight. I stood and called her name — but before I could search for her, kings from different clans emerged one by one, each with his men.
Gideon.
Rocco.
And, to my surprise, Aron.
All of them were looking for her.
Sienna.
"Talon, how could you put Sienna in danger? I left because I trusted you to protect her!" Aron growled.
"I did protect her. With my life."
"Then where is she? Did the bats take her?" Gideon asked, his voice sharp and commanding.
"And the light that ripped through the sky — the dark clouds that led us here — what was that?" Rocco added.
Why did I have to answer to them? Why talk as if I conspired with the bats? I needed to find her — and they were wasting my time.
"I'll say this once so we can be done with it," I replied. "I don't know where she is. She was with me — but when I woke, she was gone. She destroyed the bats. The black clouds were them turning to dust. And the light?"
I paused.
"That was her. Shining like the sun."
The three kings fell silent, stunned. Even I was still reeling. The power she unleashed — no one in this world had ever seen anything like it. In the wrong hands, it could end everything. That's why I had to find her.
"Are we finished?" I snapped. "I'm going."
"What makes you think you're the one to look for her?" Rocco snarled. "She's my treasure. My responsibility. My mate. You snatched her from me, put her in harm's way, and lost her."
His aura surged, pressing against mine. The mountain trembled beneath the weight of our fury.
"I'll look for her." Aron's voice cut through the tension — calm, steady. "I never should have left. I know she'll want me to find her. I am bound to her, and this time I won't fail."
Always the noble one.
As if I didn't share that bond. As if my devotion meant less.
Gideon remained quiet. His presence was formidable, restrained — as though he refused to add himself to the war between us. Wise. Thoughtful. Infuriatingly composed.
"Enough," Gideon finally said. "Put aside your differences. We search together. She is the reincarnation of the Goddess of Abundance."
He looked at each of us — even Rocco.
"Our enemy is Vera. We protect Sienna at all costs. Corruption spreads across every realm — and Vera is at the center of it. She cannot have Sienna."
So righteous. So pure. No wonder Juno isolated itself from the rest of the world — untouched by deceit, shaped into perfection. I wondered what it would take to make him break — and I wanted to see it.
"Fine by me," I said.
"I agree," Aron added.
Rocco hesitated — greed flickering in his eyes.
"Fine. But when we find her, she comes with me."
"No, she doesn't," I shot back.
"I won't need to say anything," Aron added. "She'll choose to return with me."
Rocks cracked beneath us. The peak began to crumble.
"Enough!" Gideon roared. "We find Sienna — and she chooses."
This king. Acting above all of us. Was he confident she would choose him? The thought intrigued me.
We finally stood down.
It all made sense now — the pull I felt toward her. She was more than a girl. She was a forgotten deity reborn. The Goddess of Abundance.
And I was honored to stand by her side.
But if the others thought they could take her from me, they were wrong. The more I learned their strengths and weaknesses, the easier it would be to defeat them.
Sienna was mine.
The only problem: where to begin?
We tried to sense her — but it felt like she disappeared entirely, as if she deliberately hid herself from us. Yet when we followed our instincts, our hearts tugged us in the same direction.
Connected to hers.
We moved forward, into the unknown — toward what would likely become the hardest battle of our existence. A battle not just of strength, but of hearts. A battle where no bloodshed, no sacrifice, no victory would come without cost.
And none of us would leave the same.