Elodie tightened her grip around the spear's shaft, muscles coiling like a drawn bow. With a sharp breath, she spun it above her head, light spiraling around the blade in a roaring halo. Her eyes locked onto Aster.
Then she hurled the weapon's will forward.
A beam of blinding radiance tore through the air.
Aster reacted on instinct. He dove sideways as the light scorched past him, close enough to kiss his cheek with heat. The ground behind him exploded into glassy shards, still smoking. He rolled, sprang to his feet, and slashed forward, black mana surging from his blade like a living shadow, roaring toward Elodie.
She pivoted smoothly, the darkness grazing her cloak as she slipped aside.
A smile curved her lips.
"I thought you had no mana," she said lightly, eyes gleaming. "You really are full of surprises."
She slammed the spear into the earth.
The ground cracked open like brittle ice, a web of fractures racing outward. The earth sank, collapsing into a shallow ravine. Aster leaped at the last second, boots skimming the edge as he flipped and landed on solid ground across from her, skidding through dust.
He looked up.
Elodie stood bathed in light, mana overflowing from her like a second sun. It wrapped around her body in radiant currents, lifting strands of her hair, casting long burning shadows across the battlefield. She raised her spear skyward.
"Light," she cried, "bring forth!"
The sky answered.
A horizontal wave of brilliance erupted from her spear, slicing through the air like a blazing wall. It roared toward Aster, searing, devouring, unforgiving. Heat slammed into him. He crossed his blade just in time, sliding backward as flames licked his arms. His clothes charred, fabric curling into ash. The scent of smoke clung to him.
I don't know any fancy spell to make a move like that, he thought grimly. So I'll just hit harder.
He planted his feet and swung.
Dark mana surged, violent and raw, ripping free from his blade. It tore through the battlefield in a crescent of shadow.
Elodie's eyes widened.
She twisted at the last instant.
The attack passed within an inch of her face, the pressure ripping a strand of hair loose. Behind her, the forest screamed. Trees shattered and burned, their trunks carved open by violet flames, as if the world itself had been scarred by night.
Ash drifted through the air.
Elodie steadied her breath, spear glowing once more.
Aster stood across from her, cloak torn, blade humming with darkness.
"Not bad for a peasant like you," Elodie chuckled, tilting her head as if she were merely admiring a curious animal.
Aster's fingers tightened around Everanth's handle until his knuckles burned white.
How he wished he could escape this inevitable fate.
If only Mad Dog was not such a scum for money.
If only he had not shoved him out of that carriage.
If only… if only…
What did I do to deserve this?
The question clawed through him. His chest felt too small for the storm swelling inside. Grief, rage, humiliation, fear. They fused into something wild and hungry.
Across the battlefield, Elodie's eyes widened.
A faint tremor of mana had sparked around Aster's blade. Then it grew. The air warped. Darkness rippled outward like ink bleeding through water.
"I just wanted a normal life," Aster whispered.
Then he charged.
The ground cracked beneath his feet as he hurled himself forward. Everanth collided with Elodie's spear in a thunderous clash, light and shadow detonating between them. Shockwaves tore through the clearing, sending dust and splinters spiraling into the air.
Aster pressed on, relentless.
His eyes burned with unrestrained fury, every strike heavy with desperation. Elodie dodged, pivoting and sliding away, parrying swing after swing. Each time his blade swept past, black mana burst outward like claws. One blast grazed her side, shredding through the seams of her dress.
She clicked her tongue.
"That was one of my favorites," she sighed, almost mournful.
She leaped back and raised her spear toward the sky, light spiraling violently around its tip. The clouds above churned, responding to her call. She was about to bring it down
When chains snapped into existence.
They coiled around her weapon in a blink, wrapping the shaft in cold iron before she could even begin the strike. The light sputtered, imprisoned.
Elodie froze.
She exhaled slowly, then turned her glare toward the edge of the field.
Nikolai stood there, one hand raised, shadows of steel curling around his fingers.
"Killjoy," she muttered. "I wouldn't want you to accidentally break him apart."
While they argued, Aster did not hesitate.
He turned and ran.
His lungs burned as he sprinted through the smoke and broken earth, heart pounding like a war drum. Freedom was only a few breaths away
Chains lashed out.
They wrapped around his wrists, his ankles, his torso. The force yanked him backward, slamming him to the ground. The bindings tightened, dragging him across the dirt until he was forced down on his knees.
"Ugh! Let me go!" Aster snarled, struggling as darkness flared uselessly against the iron.
Nikolai approached, eyes fixed not on the boy, but on the sword.
Everanth pulsed once.
The mana that had swelled so violently moments ago now retreated, concealed, as if the blade itself were breathing.
Nikolai's lips curved into a slow, intrigued smirk.
"You really are interesting," he murmured.
Aster glared up at him, chest heaving, eyes still burning.
The forest still echoed with broken light and scorched bark. Sunbeams slipped through torn branches, dust glittering in the air like fallen stars. Aster was dragged across roots and ash, wrists bound, breath ragged.
"My, my," Nikolai drawled, strolling beside him, "what have you gone and tangled yourself into this time?"
A slow smirk curved his lips. "I knew there was something interesting about you."
Aster growled and hurled his head back.
Thud.
His skull collided with Nikolai's jaw.
For a heartbeat, the world froze.
Then Elodie heard it.
Her brother laughed.
Not the thin, court-polished kind.
A real, startled laugh that burst from his chest.
Nikolai steadied himself, still holding Aster by the chains, shoulders shaking with amusement. "You're unbelievable," he said, sounding almost delighted. "Like trying to tame a wild cat with lightning in its bones."
He caught Aster by the chin and yanked him forward, forcing him to meet his gaze.
"You have the guts to hurt me?" he murmured. "How adorable."
Then his tone sharpened like winter glass.
"You should know your place. By the crime you committed, you are punishable by exile. Never setting foot on Eidralis soil ever again."
Aster's eyes widened.
Exile.
No food . No medicine. No home.
Eloise…
He had told her he would be back soon from an ogre hunt.
Rowan had waited with his storybook, eyes bright, already begging for the next chapter.
They would wait.
And he would never come.
Aster's strength crumbled. He bowed his head, shoulders trembling.
"Please… forgive me, Your Majesties," he whispered to the trees, to the sky, to anyone who might listen.
"Please. I beg you. Don't exile me."
He bit his lip, hard.
"My siblings would be orphaned," he said, tears gathering in his eyes. "They only have me."
Even the forest seemed to hold its breath.
And for the first time, beneath Nikolai's smirk, something softened.