KAELIS DRAYDEN POV:
I wake up choking on air that tastes like metal and smoke.
For a moment, I don't know where I am.
Don't know when I am.
Everything hurts-my bones, my skin, even my hair feels like it's been ripped apart and badly sewn back together.
I roll onto my side and vomit onto concrete-hard, grey, cold beneath my hands.
Nothing comes up but bile and terror. My whole body shakes.
Slowly, I push myself to sitting.
And stare.
The world is too crowded.
Buildings tower above me like glass mountains, so tall they seem to pierce the sky.
Lights-thousands of them, millions-glow in windows, on signs, in strange symbols I don't recognize.
The air hums with a constant noise I can't identify, mechanical and alive all at once.
And the people.
Even at whatever ungodly hour this is, people rush past me without a second glance.
Dressed in clothes I've never seen-tight pants that cling like second skins, short skirts that would get someone arrested for indecency in Arventis, fabrics in colors that shouldn't exist.
They hold glowing rectangles to their faces, talking to no one I can see.
They ignore me completely, stepping around me like I'm just another piece of trash on the street.
Which, I suppose, I am.
"Okay," I whisper to myself, voice shaking. "Okay. You're alive. You jumped through a magical portal and you're alive and that's... that's good. That's-"
A roar splits the air.
I scramble backward, pressing against the wall behind me, as a metal beast barrels down the street-huge, gleaming, with glowing eyes and a sound like a dragon's scream.
It passes within feet of me.
I can't breathe.
Can't think.
Can't-
"Move, asshole!" Someone shoves past me, nearly knocking me over. "Fucking tourists."
I stare after them, heart hammering.
What the fuck is happening?
I don't know how long I wander.
Minutes? Hours? Time feels slippery here, like it can't quite get a grip.
Everything is too bright & Too loud.
The metal beasts-cars, I hear someone call them-roar past constantly.
People shout into their glowing rectangles.
Music blares from everywhere and nowhere.
The air smells like food and garbage and something chemical that burns my nose.
I'm starving.
Exhausted.
I find myself in front of a shop with a glowing sign: "24 HOUR DINER." Through the glass, I can see people eating, drinking dark liquid from small cups, talking and laughing like the world isn't completely insane.
My stomach growls loud enough to hurt.
I have no money.. Just the torn royal coat on my back and boots that are falling apart.
"Fuck it," I mutter, and push through the door.
The woman behind the counter looks up as I enter. Her expression shifts from bored to concerned in half a second.
"Jesus, kid. You okay?"
I open my mouth. Close it. Try again. "I... I need food. Please. I don't have money, but I can-"
"Sit." She points to a stool. "I'll get you something."
"I can't pay-"
"I said sit." Her voice is firm but not unkind. "You look like you're about to pass out. When's the last time you ate?"
I try to remember. The banquet? Before I ran? "I... don't know. A day? Two days?"
She mutters something I don't catch and disappears into the back.
I collapse onto the stool, head spinning.
The woman returns with a plate piled high with food I don't recognize. Golden circles, strips of meat, something that looks like scrambled eggs.
"Eat," she commands. "Slowly. Don't make yourself sick."
I want to ask what the food is, where I am, what year it is, but my body takes over. I eat like a starving animal, barely tasting, just needing.
"So," the woman says, refilling my cup with that dark liquid-coffee, I remember from somewhere-"you running from something? Someone?"
I pause mid-bite. "...Yes."
"Thought so. You got that look." She leans against the counter. "I'm not gonna call the cops unless you give me a reason to, but kid, you need help.."
"I don't... I don't have anywhere to go." My voice cracks. "I don't even know where I am."
"New York City. Manhattan specifically." She studies me. "Where you from? That accent-I can't place it."
"...Far away."
"Uh-huh." She doesn't push. "Look, there's a youth shelter a few blocks north. They'll take you in, no questions asked. Get you cleaned up, fed, maybe help you figure out your next steps."
"Thank you," I whisper. "I don't... I don't know how to repay-"
"You don't." She waves me off. "Just... stay safe, okay? This city eats kids like you alive."
I leave the diner with a full stomach and directions to a shelter I have no intention of going to.
I can't stay in one place.
Can't let anyone track me.
Can't-
"You really should have taken her advice."
I spin around.
Nyx stands in the alley beside the diner, looking exactly as he did at the banquet.
Black, Strom hair dripping water despite the dry night. Blue eyes glowing in the darkness. He's shirtless now-just loose pants.
"How-" My voice comes out hoarse. "How did you find me?"
"I told you. Water is everywhere." He gestures around. "In the pipes beneath this city. In the rain that fell an hour ago. In the coffee you just drank." He steps closer. "I've been following you since you landed.."
"That's-" I back away. "That's stalking."
"That's protection." His expression is unreadable. "Do you have any idea how close you came to dying in that alley three blocks back? Those men-"
"I didn't go into any alley."
"Because I made it rain." Nyx's eyes flash. "Drove them inside. Gave you a different path. You're welcome."
Anger, fear and exhaustion crash over me in a wave.
"I didn't ask for your protection! I didn't ask for any of this! I just wanted to be free!"
"Free." Nyx laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Kaelis, you jumped through a portal into a world you don't understand. You have no money, no identification, no way to survive. In this city, you'd be dead or worse within a week." He pauses. "That's not freedom. That's just a different cage."
"At least it's my choice!"
"Is it?" He's closer now, close enough that I can feel the cold radiating off him. "Or did you just run from one trap into another?"
I want to argue. Want to scream at him. Want to-
My legs give out.
I don't hit the ground. Nyx catches me, one arm around my waist, pulling me against his chest.
So cold. But somehow not uncomfortable.
"Let me go," I whisper, but there's no strength behind it.
"No." His voice is soft now. Gentle. "You're exhausted. You're hurt. You need rest." He tilts my face up, blue eyes searching mine. "Let me help you."
"Why?" Tears burn behind my eyes. "Why do you even care?"
"Because the sea chose you." His thumb brushes my cheek. "Because I've been waiting twenty-two years for you. Because you're mine, Kaelis, whether you accept it or not."
"I'm not-"
"I know." He almost smiles. "You keep saying that. But here's the truth: you can hate me, you can fight me, you can run from me. It won't change anything. You're bound to me by something older than prophecies, stronger than kingdoms." His eyes hold mine. "So stop fighting and let me take you somewhere safe."
I'm so tired.
So, so tired.
"Where?" I ask weakly.
"The Tidelands. My realm. Where time moves differently and the surface world can't reach." His arm tightens around me. "Where you can rest. Heal. Figure out what you want to do next."
"And if I want to leave?"
"Then you leave." He says it so simply. "I won't keep you prisoner, Kaelis. I'm not Ravion."
The name sends a shiver through me. "Is he... does he know I'm gone?"
"Oh, he knows." Nyx's expression darkens.
"The Dark King woke to find his future husband missing and a wedding in ruins. He's... displeased."
"Good."
"Mm. Except he's also hunting for you. With everything he has." Nyx studies me. "The surface world isn't safe for you anymore. Not from anyone who knows your face."
"So I'm trapped either way."
"No." His voice is firm. "You're protected. There's a difference."
I want to argue.
Want to fight.
But I can't.
I'm drowning on dry land, and Nyx is offering me air.
Even if that air comes with a price I don't understand yet.
"Okay," I whisper.
"Okay?"
"Take me to the Tidelands." I meet his blue eyes. "But this doesn't mean I trust you."
Nyx smiles-
"I don't need your trust, little prince." He lifts me easily, one arm under my knees, the other supporting my back. "I just need you safe."
He carries me toward the street, toward a puddle left by the rain I didn't know had fallen.
The water begins to glow.
"Hold your breath," Nyx murmurs.
And then we're sinking into the puddle, through it, down-
The city disappears above us.
And everything turns to water and light...
To be continued..