Damon woke in the lab. No machines hovered above him this time, no wires or restraints — only silence, and Daichi sprawled across his chest in his dog form, heavy and warm.
His bones felt weighted, as if something inside them had been reforged overnight.
The air tasted faintly metallic — the ghost of machines lingering even without a single device in sight.
He stroked the wolf's fur, a thought flickering soft, grateful.
He's such a good dog.
Daichi stirred, eyes bright with relief. His voice pressed into Damon's mind, trembling.
"I'm glad you're okay. Last night was… I didn't know what was happening. I could feel your agony."
"I'm sorry," Damon whispered, thumb smoothing behind Daichi's ear. "I don't understand it either. But now… I can see better. I feel sharper. I can hear more."
"How?"
"I don't know," Damon admitted. "I just feel… stronger."
He lifted his right hand. Beyond it, his mother and sister dozed beside him — Queen Thessa in her nightmare-still regal posture, Nyra curled close with her hand resting near his arm. Damon exhaled and asked Daichi not to wake them. Then he pressed his palm to his forehead, eyes shut tight.
Why'd I have to worry them again? Mom's a Queen. She has other things to attend to, not me. I hate worrying the people I love.
The door opened. Tolrex entered, relief loosening his shoulders.
"You're awake. You gave everyone quite a scare."
Nyra startled upright at his voice. In a heartbeat she was on him, arms tight, breath shaking, tears threatening.
"Last night was terrifying. Blood was coming from your mouth, your eyes looked dead — and you were still breathing."
"I'm fine," Damon said softly. "Calm down."
"I just found you," she whispered. "I don't want to lose you again."
"You won't," he said gently. "I feel fine. In fact, I feel—"
"Better," Tolrex finished.
Damon nodded. "Yes. Exactly."
Queen Thessa woke, moved to him, regal even in fear. She stroked his hair, sadness and relief fighting in her eyes.
"You should really stop scaring your mother," she murmured. "I'm sorry you have to endure this."
Damon met her gaze. He didn't need words.
He sat up. His legs felt a little longer. His hands opened and closed — the grip tighter, cleaner.
"What exactly am I going through?" he asked.
Tolrex hesitated. "I didn't tell your mother or sister because you should hear this first but… you are growing."
Nyra wiped her face. "What's wrong with that?"
Daichi shifted, watching.
"You are growing, Damon," Tolrex said softly. "That's the problem."
Confusion crossed the Queen's face. Tolrex wiped equations from the board, summoned a 4D hologram splitting into two charts labeled DAMON and THALOR. He drew two simple lines.
"Lines solve all," he murmured.
"This is the best way to make it sink in. What does anything that moves have?"
"Speed," Damon replied.
Tolrex wrote S on both lines. "And if a thing moves far faster than it should?"
"Depends on its strength… its durability," Damon said. "Outcome differs."
"Exactly." Tolrex marked T and D. "The T-line is your father. He built himself slowly. His body could withstand the speed of his growth."
He turned to Damon's line.
"You haven't trained your body to match your power. Your strength grows faster than you do. Every time it spikes, your body scrambles to keep up. That's what happened last night — your bones, blood, nerves, all racing to survive your own power."
Silence settled.
So each time I train… each time I grow… it'll feel like this?
He met Nyra's eyes — hers worried, his steady. His mother stood still, swallowing fear.
"So Tolrex," Queen Thessa said tightly, "if his body can't contain the growth… this purge will happen again?"
Tolrex lowered his gaze.
Damon saw the flicker in his mother's expression — not anger, but fear wearing the shape of anger. The kind a mother feels when the world reaches for her child again.
He took her hand. She softened instantly, breathed out, then bowed her head to Tolrex.
"Forgive my tone."
Tolrex bowed back.
Damon rose; Daichi hopped onto his head like a snowy crown. Sunlight streamed through high windows, painting Woewyn's waters in feathered gold. Buildings stretched far, trees hummed under nature's breath; somewhere, a child answered his mother's call.
Damon inhaled deeply.
"If I master my power… will the growth stop?"
"It's likely," Tolrex said. "But you're unpredictable."
He gestured at the hologram. "You now carry your father's fighting experience. Nine-one-six."
Damon raised an eyebrow. "So I don't need combat training anymore."
The room's tension thinned.
"You look taller," the Queen said, palm warm on his shoulder.
He smiled. "I know."
Nyra slipped under his arm. The three of them stood together, watching sunlight dance across the glass. Tolrex watched, quietly admiring how fast their sorrow bent into unity.
---
Hours later — a burning bath cooling his muscles, greetings with generals, and a visit to Solaren in the training hall.
Solaren ruffled Damon's hair. "I don't like that a kid like you is carrying so much for a kingdom you barely know."
He rested a heavy yet gentle hand on Damon's shoulder.
"When I look at you, I see a boy carrying a war on his back. Take the day off. Even steel needs cooling."
Damon bowed — still unsure how a prince should stand. Daichi, in wolf form, lowered his head too.
"Prince shouldn't bow," Solaren said, surprised, and clasped Damon's hand.
Damon and Daichi left calmly.
---
He climbed the tallest building, sat cross-legged, let the sun rest on his skin. Quiet gathered around him.
I guess this is life now… But why me?
Wind lifted his coat, flapping soft.
"I've never asked life for much," he told the horizon.
"Except Natsuki… and even that felt like a dream I wasn't meant to touch."
He exhaled.
"This path wasn't one I chose. It was a storm that dragged me in. And death—"
He laughed once, breathless.
"Death's chased me more in five months than most people face in their whole lives."
He looked upward.
"If the Eternal One is testing me… you already know I don't break. I don't run."
He lay flat, hands behind his head.
"I don't want to save the world. But I won't watch it burn. Not while the people I love are in it."
The silence afterward felt earned. Daichi watched him, soaking in every word.
The heaviness didn't vanish — but the breeze helped.
Damon stood, brushing dust from his coat.
"Come on. If we stay, I'll start thinking too much."
Daichi snorted. "You already think too much."
Damon smirked. Just like that, the air felt lighter.
"Do you know where you're going?" Daichi asked.
"No." Damon stepped off the ledge. "We'll find out."
The wolf followed.
---
Rooftops blurred beneath his boots. He stopped at the edge — eighty feet of sheer air.
"Don't," Daichi warned.
"It's only eighty," Damon said. "I can land it."
"Damon, no."
"Daichi, yes."
He grabbed the wolf and jumped.
Wind punched into him, coat snapping upward. His stomach rose — not from fear but thrill — as the world blurred into stone and sky.
He bent his knees at impact. Shock rippled through his legs, cracking the ground in a spiderweb.
Daichi froze, stunned.
"Snap out of it," Damon said, walking. "Let's go."
"You're going to get us killed," Daichi muttered, trotting after him.
Damon smirked.
A scent hit them — savory, sweet, rich. Daichi drooled instantly, following it like a trance. Damon followed him.
Whispers rose as the market opened around them:
"It's the prince."
"Has he come to look for a hand?"
"What's he doing with no guards?"
The whispers brushed his ears lightly. Damon didn't stiffen or boast — he simply nodded to the ones who waved, as if greeting neighbors rather than subjects.
He and Daichi shared a look and kept moving.
They reached a hall with its name carved boldly across the rooftop:
THE COREHOUSE OF PLENTY.
Its walls were etched with glyphs that pulsed softly. Inside, three sections glowed with their own life.
At the entrance, The Flameout Section roared — open pits blazing, ember-meats sizzling under molten spice.
To the left, The Harvest Section steamed with dumplings, roasted roots, and warm breads.
To the right, The Fruit Stand shimmered with crystal pears and shard-berries glowing like sky-plucked stars.
Daichi stared unblinking at the Flameout Section.
"You always loved meat this much?" Damon asked.
"I'm a wolf now," Daichi said dryly. "My cravings for flesh have spiked."
"That's terrifying," Damon muttered. "We'll get some of all of them."
"You don't have money," Daichi reminded him.
"There's no such thing as a broke prince," Damon said, whipping out Varnex's wallet.
"How do you still have that?"
Damon smiled without answering.
The stall master — a big man with hairy hands and a gold-toothed grin — bowed.
Damon returned it. "How's your day?"
"Fantastic!" the man boomed, preparing something special for them.
"Why's everyone so cheerful?" Damon asked.
"Trineum's match is in a week," the man said. "Great event."
"Must be important if people feel it early."
"It is," the man said, handing over a basket of sizzling skewers.
"How much?"
"For the prince? Nothing."
"Thank you," Damon said, bowing deeper.
Daichi hopped up, nose twitching. His eyes locked on the Dragonfire Jerky — wyvern tail cured with volcanic salt and something secret. Drool dripped.
"Stop," Damon hissed, wiping the counter.
The man only laughed.
They left the Corehouse, weaving toward the market's edge. Damon carried the basket. Daichi paced close, captivated by the smell.
They walked through a patch of bushes searching for quiet — when they heard it:
A swirling, rhythmic sound. Like water stirred by an unseen hand.
A heartbeat beneath it, steady, alive.
Both froze.
Damon pushed aside the bushes. Leaves brushed his fingers. The sound sharpened, ripples folding over themselves.
His breath caught.
"Cythera," he whispered.
The ripples stopped.
Then she turned her head.