"He is indeed a coward," Isabel said in tears, her voice shaking as the last shred of hope in her heart seemed to slip away.
Before she could gather herself, strong hands seized her arms. The guards had caught her—dragging her back to the palace. Her cries echoed in the woods as she struggled against their hold.
"No! Please!" she pleaded. Her feet scraped the ground, resisting with all her strength.
She knew what awaited her back at the palace. Returning meant destruction. Death would be kinder than what the queen and her daughter had planned for her. They would never let this moment pass—the perfect chance to finally rid themselves of her.
Tears streamed freely down her face as she kicked and fought. But no one listened. The guards' faces were stone. Her voice grew hoarse. She began to lose hope.
And just as despair started to settle in—
A wind rose.
A voice thundered through the air, chilling and commanding: *"Seize."*
Everything stopped.
The guards froze. Heads turned.
A dark figure emerged from the shadows, the wind swirling violently around him.
"A monster! A monster!" one of the guards trembled, stepping back.
Xavier took a step forward, his crimson eyes glowing.
"Shoot!" Dylan, the chief guard, shouted. "Shoot the arrows!"
The soldiers obeyed, but they didn't understand. How could they?
This wasn't just a man. He was the devil—the most feared. The fallen one.
The arrows dissolved into ash midair, burning before they could even touch him. The cinders floated uselessly to the ground.
"Afraid?" Dylan barked. "Drag the princess back to the palace—I'll hold him off!"
But in the blink of an eye, Xavier raised his hand. A gust of power surged through the woods, knocking several guards to the ground. Screams filled the air.
With terrifying ease, he stepped over their fallen bodies and grabbed Dylan by the neck, lifting him off the ground. His eyes burned brighter, the red flames dancing in their depths.
He was going to kill him.
"*Xavier—*" Isabel called out gently, her voice barely above a whisper.
He paused.
His gaze shifted from his prey to the fragile girl behind him.
He dropped Dylan. The guard hit the ground with a dull thud, lifeless.
Isabel ran toward him, her white hair streaming behind her like silk in the wind.
*Who are you?* her mind screamed. *What are you?*
As he walked toward her, she felt her heart ache and swell. "I have lived all my life rejected. Abandoned. Cast out," her mind whispered. "I don't know what he is. I don't care. He is my savior. My light."
Xavier's thoughts echoed: "The heavens laugh. The almighty Lucifer… has fallen for a weak human. The very race that destroyed me. Yet here I am, reaching for her."
*If only she knew*, he thought. *If only she knew what she's throwing herself into.*
But she ran to him anyway. And when she reached him, she threw her arms around him, holding tightly.
He looked down at her and asked, "Don't you want to know what I am?"
"I don't care what you are," she said, her voice steady. "All I know is that I will never leave you. Whether you represent light or darkness, it doesn't matter."
He gently cupped her face, staring deep into her soul. "Don't regret this," he warned.
"I won't," she promised.
And then, he kissed her.
The wind rose again—fierce and consuming.
And then, they disappeared.