The soles of our boots sank silently into the luminous mist of the Celestial Road.
What from afar looked like just a bridge of dense clouds, up close revealed itself to be a pulsing, living structure.
The mist beneath our feet condensed with every millisecond of contact, gaining the firmness of frosted, opaque glass, while veins of golden light ran beneath the surface, like the heartbeat of energy itself.
We were walking over the infinite void.
The wind there didn't howl or punish the face; it whispered, carrying a clean scent of ice and stardust.
Laura stopped for a second, kicking a cluster of clouds at the edge of the path.
The mist dissolved into white sparks before immediately reforming.
She leaned over, observing the dark, green immensity of the mortal world, miles below us.
"Are you telling me we could have used this cotton candy bridge the whole time?" she grumbled, crossing her arms with an indignant scowl as she resumed walking.
"If I'd known there was a magic carpet connecting Lavinsk straight to the elves' backyard, I wouldn't have marched for days on end in that filthy mud, much less almost become dinner for those damn Taranpus."
I couldn't help but smirk.
I adjusted the weight of the black gear and looked up at the vastness of the sky.
*She has a point,* I thought, feeling the thin, pure, and icy air fill my lungs.
*But her logic has a lethal flaw.*
"If we had used this road to drop straight onto Elfhing's doorstep," I cut in, my voice calm as I crossed my arms, "we would have delivered the Supreme Queen's letter straight into her hands. And considering that woman's level of paranoia and what was written on that scroll, we would have been executed the very next minute."
I looked at the white-haired girl walking further ahead, guiding the carriage.
"Not to mention we never would have bumped into Sillys in the middle of the forest."
Laura blinked, her red eyes processing the tragic timeline we would have faced had the path been easy.
Her tense face relaxed, and a loud, genuine laugh escaped her lips, echoing through the white immensity and getting lost in the wind.
"Yeah," she admitted, flashing that sharp, lethal smile of someone who loves a good fight.
"Thinking about it that way, the bloodbath was almost worth it."
Sillys, who until then had been guiding the runic carriage in silence, slowed her pace and looked over her shoulder.
The celestial wind played with her hair, but her posture was already that of someone who understood her own place in the world.
The weight of the crown was already there.
"The Celestial Road isn't just a dead path you walk on, Laura. It's the umbilical cord of Lavinsk," Sillys explained.
Her voice was soft, but laden with the reverence of someone speaking of a living god.
She raised her pale hand and pointed to the gigantic space around us.
It was then that my eyes finally unraveled the complexity of what was before us.
The road we were on wasn't the only one.
Far off, high above us, tearing through the stratosphere to the point where the blue of the sky almost became the pitch-black of space, another band of solid light twisted in a spiral toward an archipelago of floating mountains.
Silent lightning crackled around that trail.
"Up there," Sillys pointed.
"The branch that leads to the Harpy Kingdom. The isolated islands where the world's storms are born."
She lowered her hand, pointing to an opposite golden trail that plunged abruptly into a swirling vortex of dark clouds, descending toward an abyssal rift torn into the planet's crust.
The light of that road was opaque, exuding a volcanic heat that distorted the image of the air even from a distance.
"Below us, branching through gigantic tunnels and occupying almost the entire mantle of the planet, is the Underground Kingdom."
My eyes followed a third trail of mist, stretching endlessly toward the indigo horizon, melting gracefully until it sank into the churning waters of a boundless blue immensity.
"The Aquatic Kingdom, in the Sacred Ocean," she continued.
"And, of course, the artery of leaves and mist we just used, anchored in the oldest roots of the Black Forest."
Sillys lowered her hand, returning her icy gaze to the thick wooden carriage where her mother rested.
"This structure breathes, recognizes, and judges. It only solidifies for allied kingdoms that swear fealty to Lavinsk. If you had tried to use it as mere outsiders, without divine consent, the mist would simply have evaporated beneath your feet, plunging you into a freefall of thousands of meters. Only the aura of a recognized monarch, or the direct authorization of the Queen, keeps it solid."
*That explains why Silver made us march on the ground and eat dust,* I thought, observing the sparkling floor beneath my boots, finally understanding my master's method.
The divine universe was a gigantic web of political power, and I was stepping exactly into the center of it.
Further ahead of all of us, isolated in the mist, was Lucas.
He marched in absolute silence, his posture erect and the spear resting on his back.
The half-blood elf's silhouette cut through the glowing mist like the true tip of a spear—the first shield and the first blade should anything, mortal or divine, dare to cross our path.
Just behind his vigil, the Three Blades marched with impenetrable postures—Vandashi, Kanzo, and Odássio—covering the advance of the runic carriage.
The monotonous sound of its wooden wheels marked our pace.
Inside, the woman who had once made entire continents tremble was now nothing more than a shadow.
Elfhing was chained.
Her shoulders hung in defeat, and her eyes, once lethal, stared at the floorboards without blinking, completely emptied of any pride.
Laura, Arthur, and I followed closely, flanking the white carriage driven by Sillys.
The new Queen kept a firm grip on the reins, but her eyes drifted for a second, following Lucas's figure at the vanguard.
She then turned her face slightly in my direction.
"I haven't had the chance to say this properly yet," Sillys's voice sounded soft, blending with the celestial breeze.
"Thank you, Suki. For bringing him back... and for not killing him."
My fingers instinctively rose to my chest, brushing the fabric of the tunic right over the ribs that still held the echoes of being shattered.
My mind was violently dragged back to the scalding steam of the hot springs.
Lucas's inhuman brute force, the boiling, red-stained water asphyxiating me, and the impact of the steel-clad punch that had nearly crushed my skull against the stone at the bottom of the pool.
*Not kill him?* I thought, feeling a quick shiver and an ironic smile pulling at the corner of my mouth.
*That bastard almost turned me into paste. The one who needed a miracle not to die in there was me.*
"It was a close call," I replied, lowering my hand and returning my gaze to the unwavering figure of the half-blood tearing down the road ahead.
"But... it was a good fight."
The Celestial Road began to incline gently, plunging through the final layer of clouds.
When we crossed the colossal golden gates that marked the end of the mist bridge, the dense, humid atmosphere of the mortal world completely evaporated.
Before us, the immensity of Lavinsk pulsed in its absolute glory.
Towers forged of pure light pierced the sky, rivers of stardust flowed in reverse gravity, and suspended gardens breathed, molded by living constellations.
I observed that monumental landscape from above, feeling an unexpected and silent warmth heat my chest.
I had suffered horrors since arriving in that kingdom and had spent very little time actually living there, but somehow, bizarrely, the smell of ozone and the crackling energy in the divine air brought an absurd relief to my lungs.
*Why does this feel so much like coming home?* I thought, letting a contained smile escape from the corner of my lips.
The mist bridge continued to lower until it softly touched the impeccable floor of the central staircase, anchoring itself exactly face-to-face with the titanic gates of the castle.
The runic carriage ceased its movement.
Sillys pulled the reins, and we dismounted and stepped onto the stairs.
The royal guards—imposing colossi dressed in armor that looked forged from the core of shooting stars—slammed the bases of their halberds against the ground in unison.
The sound echoed like thunder before the heavy solid gold gates swung wide open with a deep rumble, clearing the path for our entourage.
We entered.
Elfhing was guided right behind us, the humiliating, metallic sound of her chains dragging across the floor contrasting grotesquely with the grandeur of the place.
The interior of the castle wasn't a silent mausoleum; it was a true nervous center of the universe.
Minor gods with metallic skin tones, giants in heavy armor, and elves draped in silks that seemed woven from starlight bustled through massive corridors lined with polished gold.
Floating crystal staircases crisscrossed overhead, connecting floors where beings made entirely of pure energy ascended and descended in a constant rhythm.
But the instant our boots stepped into the lobby, the deep hum of thousands of voices simply died.
The silence that collapsed over the castle was absolute.
The minor gods froze mid-stride, and the beings of pure energy stood still on the crystal stairs.
Every face in the immense hall turned, and eyes widened in pure shock upon seeing Elfhing.
A once-untouchable goddess, one of the oldest and most imposing regents of that empire, now walked with slumped shoulders and bound wrists like a common prisoner.
And then, as if pulled by magnets, thousands of divine stares slid from her chains... to me.
The stupor immediately gave way to a dense, palpable, hostile repulsion.
I was still the aberration.
The human boy with cursed blood who hadn't just survived the programmed massacre of the arena, but was now proudly marching through the main hall, escorted by the Blades and the new elven heir.
*They hate me even more now,* I realized, feeling their killing intent make the hairs on my arms stand up.
Minor gods gritted their teeth.
Giants in armor clenched their fists until their knuckles popped, and I saw some of them take a half-step forward out of pure predatory instinct.
The hatred burned the back of my neck like live coals, but the unwavering presence of Lucas at the vanguard, followed by Laura, Arthur, and Sillys, acted like a wall of crushing force.
No one dared to say a single word, and the crowd parted like a frightened sea.
That tense, silent march, flanked by expressions of stone and aversion, finally led us to the immense double doors at the core of the empire: the colossal throne room.
Seated upon a chair that seemed woven from the fabric of distant galaxies was the Supreme Queen of the Gods.
Her mere presence made the gravity of the room weigh on our shoulders. Our knees hit the floor in unison.
The Queen didn't even shift her posture; she only raised a pale hand.
"Rise. I know why you are here."
"Sillys, step forward."
Sillys stepped forward with elegance, the wind of the hall stirring her hair.
From within the cuffs, the chains clinked.
Elfhing had raised her face, her opaque eyes finally observing her daughter.
"Your Majesty," Sillys said, kneeling before the galactic steps.
"I come to bring the truth, deliver justice... and ask for your blessing to guide my people."
The Queen of the Gods leaned forward millimeters, resting her pale chin on her intertwined hands.
The infinite void in her eyes gleamed with predatory greed.
"Then speak, young Queen," her voice echoed, demanding the spectacle.
"Tell me everything."
The silence of the hall was broken by Sillys's firm voice, which did not waver under the weight of that divinity.
"It all started with the Oracle's prophecy," Sillys began, her voice reverberating against the polished gold walls.
"A vision of a fall that made my mother's mind crumble into absolute paranoia. To prevent the crown from being taken from her, she chose to break her own empire from the inside out, forcing the division of Dhyriel into three isolated parts. She believed that ruling through segregation and dread would keep her throne untouchable."
Sillys closed her eyes for a second, and I could see the tension in her shoulders.
The memory wasn't just political; it was an open wound.
"We were banished to the Black Forest. And that wasn't a simple exile, Your Majesty. It was a slow, suffocating death sentence," her timbre thickened, carrying the weight of sleepless nights.
"We were hunted day and night by the Taranpus. I saw my people torn apart in the shadows. I saw entire families succumb to starvation in the mud and soldiers deserting, fleeing like cowards because they could no longer bear the smell of blood and darkness. We were on the brink of total collapse."
The new Queen of the Elves opened her eyes and turned her face slightly in our direction.
"Until they fell from the sky."
The Supreme Queen moved her pupils infinitesimally toward me, then to Laura and Arthur, absorbing every detail of the story with a morbid fascination.
"The arrival of Suki, Laura, and Arthur changed the flow of our history," Sillys continued, her posture growing in majesty.
"They didn't back down from our hell. Together, we marched to the eastern region, venturing into the deepest shadows to attack the main beast nest. We hunted down and exterminated the Taranpus Queen, cutting the evil at its root and returning the forest, and the right to sleep in peace, to our people."
Sillys took a step forward, lifting her chin.
"And with our backs secured, we marched on the castle. The war that followed had few casualties; I didn't want to rule over the blood of my kin."
"Arthur became an impassable wall of pure granite, holding the frontline of the enemy army alone and supporting the tons of rubble crashing down from the sky so we could advance. Laura bled by my side in the heights, shattering her own bones in a blind, fierce sacrifice to delay my mother's divine fury at the top of the tower."
Then, she pointed directly at me.
"But it was Suki who had to cross the abyss. He faced Lucas, the most lethal and feared half-blood enforcer in our kingdom, and crushed his own body to carry your message, Your Majesty."
"It was he who struck the Sacred Bell with his own blood, fusing his rune to the bronze. He shattered the lie that covered the skies and dictated our victory."
The Supreme Queen listened to everything in ecstatic silence.
Her slender fingers tapped lightly against the armrest of the galaxy throne.
The spectacle of the fall of an empire, narrated with such rawness and blood, was exactly the kind of brutal tribute she demanded.
Finally, Sillys turned her face toward the runic carriage.
"She was a leader... but she chose fear," Sillys's voice hardened, cold and irrefutable.
"She chose to dominate when she could have guided. Even though she is my mother... today she stands as a criminal before your throne and before MY people."
The vast hall plunged into a cutting silence.
"Elfhing, daughter of Saren and ex-regent of Dhyriel," the Queen of the Gods called out, her voice making the universe itself tremble.
"Do you have anything to say?"
Slowly, as if her neck were made of lead, Elfhing lifted her head.
The chains clinked again.
"There is nothing to say," Elfhing whispered, her voice stripped of its former thunder.
The Queen raised her bare hand.
In that very instant, the golden chains binding Elfhing flared with blinding light, fusing into unbreakable locks.
"You will be taken to the eternal prison of Lavinsk until the pantheon deliberates your final fate. Your throne now belongs to Sillys."
"It is a pity it had to end this way, old friend."
The Queen rose, her stature swallowing the light of the hall.
"Let the heavens bear witness: the leadership of the elves has returned to the light."
She extended her hand over Sillys's head.
A circle of golden runes materialized beneath the young elf's boots, and a crown burned like a second sun over her white hair.
"Sillys. May your heart never corrupt. May your arms always protect. And may your eyes see what your mother could not."
The blessing reverberated like thunder, descending toward the mortal realm.
The audience in the throne room finally came to an end.
Leaving that chamber was like surfacing from the bottom of an ocean of crushing gravity.
We walked in silence through the long corridors of crystal and gold, feeling the tension leave our muscles with every step that distanced us from the Supreme Queen's scrutiny.
When we finally crossed the external porticos, the sun was beginning to tear across the horizon of the divine kingdom.
The air at the celestial gates of Lavinsk smelled of eternity and fresh air, loaded with ozone and stardust.
Before we could prepare ourselves for the farewell, the sound of heavy boots scraping on the marble made me turn around.
Lucas had separated from the elven vanguard and was walking toward me.
His posture was no longer that of an enforcer subjugated by fear and guilt, but of a warrior who had finally broken his own chains.
The celestial wind played with the dark, disheveled strands of his hair.
He stopped one step away from me.
In his hands, he held his legendary massive spear—the very same weapon of dark steel and colossal weight that had nearly split me in half in the hot springs of the castle.
"Suki," his voice sounded deep and raspy, but completely devoid of its former hostility.
He extended the colossal weapon toward me.
The matte steel, worn by eras, gleamed in the dawn's light.
"I said you fought and bled for a crown that wasn't yours," he murmured, his black eyes meeting mine with brutal respect.
"But you proved to me that true strength doesn't come from whoever dictates the reality of the world, but from whoever refuses to bow their head at the bottom of the abyss. You gave me back to myself, Suki."
I looked at the extended spear.
My entire body reacted on instinct, the bones in my ribs throbbing as they remembered the devastating impact of that blade.
*Is he giving me his own weapon?* I thought, the shock paralyzing me for a fraction of a second.
For a warrior of that caliber to give up the blade that had kept him alive for centuries was the highest mark of honor an elf could offer.
"Consider this a memory," he continued, pressing the heavy shaft against my chest until my fingers closed around the cold wood.
"And a promise that, the next time our paths cross, we will be allies."
I gripped the spear.
The weight was almost irrational, dense with the history of carnage and survival, but the metal now felt strangely warm and secure in my palm.
*It's incredible to think he moved something so heavy with such speed.*
"I'll take good care of it, Lucas," I replied, holding his gaze and giving a firm nod.
"Until next time."
Lucas gave a subtle, imperceptible smile, turning his back and returning to the side of the captains.
Vandashi, Kanzo, and Odássio.
The three captains who had ground my bones and forged my instincts in the training courtyard of the Black Forest.
Vandashi was the first to stop in front of me.
His eyes swept over the dark steel shaft in my hands, and the thick scar tearing the side of his face stretched as he flashed a sharp half-smile.
"I see you got a weapon to match your stubbornness," Vandashi said, his voice deep and rough.
"Just don't let its weight blind you. Remember what I taught you down there: reach and rhythm. Know the weapon before you use it."
*The foundation of survival,* I thought, tightening my fingers around the cold metal.
*I won't forget that.*
"You got it," I replied with a firm nod.
"I won't just be swinging it around like any piece of wood."
Kanzo took a step forward, his posture as relaxed as ever, with his dark, messy hair falling over one eye.
He raised his hand and lightly tapped his knuckles against the dark blade of my new spear.
The metallic sound buzzed in the cool morning air.
"The weight of this thing is going to try to anchor you," Kanzo murmured, his visible eye focused on me with a predator's precision.
"Don't fight the inertia. Let the air flow through the shaft. If you lose yourself in the chaos of battle, go back to the *Shōfū*. Breathe. The wind never stops, Suki. Neither should you."
I brought the spear closer to my body, feeling the energy of those words.
They had transformed my chaotic brute force into a lethal dance.
Then, the sound of grinding metal plates filled the space.
Old Bigster Odássio stopped before me, his solid silver armor reflecting the light of the rising sun.
The giant said nothing at first.
He merely raised his enormous hand and brought a heavy slap down onto my left shoulder.
The impact was strong enough to make me take a step back and grit my teeth, but I held my stance.
Odássio let out a booming, deep laugh that seemed to make the very clouds beneath our feet vibrate.
"You bore the weight of our forge courtyard, boy!" the veteran's voice echoed, full of brutal, honest pride.
"You went in there as a swordsman and came out as a child of the wind, a spearman! Use that spear to carve your own path now. And try not to die before visiting us in Dhyriel."
My chest tightened slightly.
That middle-of-the-night training in the Black Forest had been a true baptism of blood and sweat, but that was where I truly understood what it meant to be a complete warrior.
I aligned my feet, raised the spear vertically, and bowed my body in a short, deep, silent reverence—the absolute respect of a student before his masters.
"I promise that the next time we cross spears, I won't fall so easily," I said, lifting my face with a confident smile.
"Thank you... for everything."
The three captains exchanged satisfied glances.
Vandashi nodded, Kanzo gave a cynical half-smile, and Odássio struck his closed fist against the silver crest on his own chest.
It was then that Sillys stopped before us.
"It's going to be deafening not having you guys in my kingdom," Sillys said, a sad but genuine smile completely breaking the untouchable facade of royalty.
"I never would have made it out of the mud without you."
I took a step forward, closing the distance, and squeezed her shoulder with my free hand.
The fabric was soft, but the posture underneath was pure steel.
"You are the leader now. But you're still our friend. And you always will be."
Laura didn't have the same diplomatic patience.
She advanced like a runaway tractor and hugged Sillys tightly, squeezing the new Queen and lifting her off the ground for a second while laughing loudly.
Arthur remained still, but the slow, confident nod the granite giant gave was worth a long, exhausting speech.
"When you return... I want to show you the empire we've built," Sillys promised, adjusting her tunic.
"And maybe... be ready for whatever comes next."
She began to descend the celestial stairs of solid clouds alongside her captains and Lucas.
We waved as the silhouette of the Queen and her guard disappeared, slowly swallowed by the misty clouds in the sky.
I let out a long sigh, feeling the thin air calm my lungs, and finally let my shoulders drop.
The duty was done.
I felt my heart lighter than it had been in months.
Laura leaped from the gates laughing, free-falling before gliding toward the lower levels of the clouds.
Arthur followed her in silence, gliding through the air like a reliable shadow.
*They're heading back to Silver's house,* I thought.
I bent my knees, tensing my muscles to detonate the jump, feeling the different wind of Lavinsk.
*Before you go, come here.*
The words didn't vibrate in the wind.
They detonated directly behind my eyes, cold and surgical like an ice needle piercing the base of my skull.
The oxygen fled my throat in a mute gasp.
My knees, which were already bent for the jump, locked violently, paralyzed by an invisible weight that crushed the gravity around me.
I didn't need to look back.
That cosmic, lethal, and non-negotiable pressure belonged to only one entity in the universe.
The Queen.
I spun on my heels and ran back through the golden corridors.
The fine clothes Sillys had given me rippled in the wind, and on my back, the weight of the spear beat rhythmically.
Upon entering the Throne Room again, I threw my body into an immediate bow, my knee cracking against the marble.
"What a beautiful chaos you orchestrated, didn't you?" the Queen of the Gods asked, with a slight, amused smile on her face.
"You didn't just deliver the letter... you dethroned a goddess."
I kept my head down, my gaze fixed on the polished floor.
"I only did what I thought was right, Your Majesty."
She evaluated me for a long moment, her eyes like ancient, distant stars.
"You know that she will harbor the darkest of grudges against you, correct?"
"She is imprisoned eternally, Your Majesty," I replied softly.
"She can no longer hurt me."
The Queen let out a low, breathy laugh.
"Never underestimate a God, boy."
The metallic taste of nervousness flooded my mouth.
I swallowed hard, a chill running down my spine despite the heat of the room.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Now..." The Queen leaned back, intertwining her fingers.
"Tell me your version of the story."
And I spoke.
I didn't spare the shattered bones in the war, the smell of blood and death, the desperation of ringing that bell with my own torn fist, the alliances forged in pain, or the hope of a newly freed people.
The Queen listened in absolute silence.
Every word of mine seemed to sink into the vastness of the hall like the very first page of a new era.
When I finally finished, her pale, slender fingers stopped tapping on the armrest of the galaxy throne.
She broke into an enigmatic, terrifyingly calm smile.
"Perhaps..." her voice slid through the hall, soft as silk but lethal as poison.
"Just perhaps, my initial judgment of your existence was premature. You've proven yourself an incredibly lethal piece. You might turn out to be more useful than I imagined."
The smile vanished.
The air around me froze instantly, crushing my lungs.
"But do not confuse utility with acceptance, boy," she whispered, her pupils, black as the cosmic void, piercing my soul.
"The leash around your neck is still there. A single slip-up... a single loss of control over the abomination running through your veins, and your death will be absolute. Silver won't be able to protect you from my hand. Have I made myself clear?"
I ground my teeth together, swallowing dryly.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Excellent. Leave my presence. And do not return until I summon you."
I rested my hands on the cold marble floor to push myself up.
But my legs didn't move immediately.
*What runs through my veins...*
The adrenaline of the war in Dhyriel and the blind survival in the Black Forest had managed to bury that doubt deep in my mind.
But walking through the castle corridors today, feeling the palpable disgust and authentic terror throbbing in the eyes of every divinity that looked at me, unearthed the ghost violently.
*They are terrified of me. Why?*
I slowly raised my eyes.
My heart beat hard against my ribs, pushing courage up my throat.
"Your Majesty..." I began, my voice dangerously faltering against the crushing pressure of the hall.
"About what you said last time. About my blood being cursed... What exactly do I—"
Her gaze cut off my words like an invisible guillotine.
The silence that fell upon us wasn't just quiet; it was aggressive.
The gravity around my body doubled.
My bones cracked slightly, and the air vanished completely from my chest.
It was a pressure screaming silently that, if I finished that sentence, I would be reduced to cosmic dust right there.
Cold sweat ran down the side of my face, dripping onto the shiny marble.
The courage simply evaporated.
"Forget it," I murmured, hastily bowing my head.
"Excuse me."
I stood up with trembling knees, turned my back on the galaxy throne, and walked at a fast pace out of the hall, feeling the asphyxiating weight of that doubt driven even deeper into my spine.
As soon as I crossed the exit doors of the palace and reached the open skies, the wind blew violently against my face.
*Wind Transformation.*
I activated it. The white, translucent marks bloomed across my skin, radiating a cold light beneath the fabric of the tunic.
The air around me swirled, creating an invisible cocoon, and I simply let myself be pushed upward.
My body floated lightly, cutting through the atmosphere and leaving the bureaucratic, heavy world of Lavinsk small down below.
But I didn't head straight home.
I directed my flight even higher, tearing through the thick ceiling of clouds until I emerged into the clean, silent, untouchable immensity of the upper sky.
The absolute cold of the altitude cut my skin, helping to cool the furnace of frustration, doubt, and pressure that still burned in my chest.
I floated there in the void for a few seconds, staring at the sea of white clouds that hid the divine city beneath my boots.
The memory of my mother's majestic face and that last desperate request she made within my subconscious tightened my throat.
*Staying by Lavinsk's side is becoming an increasingly difficult promise to keep, Mom,* I thought, remembering the palpable disgust and terror I saw in the eyes of every god in those castle corridors.
I clenched my fists so hard my knuckles popped.
The energy of my aura pulsed in response to my frustration.
"I'm going to prove them all wrong," I declared, my voice coming out hoarse and immediately being carried away by the wind.
I leaned my body forward, tucked my arms close to my torso, and threw myself into a vertical dive.
I fell in freefall, tearing through the clouds at absurd speed, aiming like a missile toward the surface.
*The wind guides me home,* I thought, feeling the adrenaline of the descent push away the dark weight of the Queen.
*To our home.*
Silver and Kânia's dwelling appeared amidst the mist, revealing itself delicate and solid at the same time.
A structure of white marble with golden veins that gleamed under the suns of Lavinsk.
The columns sang when the wind passed, and the vines with translucent leaves climbed the walls, releasing a fresh scent of herbs, fire, and home.
I decelerated sharply before impact and landed softly in the courtyard.
Laura and Arthur, who had arrived moments before me, wasted no time and had already crossed the entrance of the house.
I, however, froze.
I stopped at the threshold of the immense double doors blown open by the wind.
My boots felt leaden against the white marble.
From inside, the warm sound of a living, safe house spilled out.
Laura's loud, wide-open laugh echoed through the corridors, filling the air.
Right after, I heard Silver's ironic, deep tone throwing out some provocation, and even Arthur's low, constant murmur answering him.
My fingers tightened around the shaft of the spear Lucas gave me; the knot returning to my throat.
The memory of the gods' disgusted glares in the castle, the weight of the Queen's lethal threat, and the shadow of the "abomination" running in my veins seemed to stick to me like dirty mud that I didn't want to drag inside that clean place.
*Do I really belong in this place?* I thought, my breath hitching.
*Or am I just a ticking time bomb waiting to destroy them?*
The instinct to take a step back and isolate myself again in the freezing altitude screamed in my chest.
I even pulled my shoulder back.
But the soft rustle of leaves and fabric moved in the garden, right behind my back.
"Welcome back, Suki."
The sweet, serene, and unwavering voice made me spin on my heels instantly.
Kânia stood there, walking across the illuminated lawn toward the porch.
Her long, blonde hair floated like living mist.
There was no judgment, fear, or revulsion in that ocean of calm in her brown eyes—there was only the certainty of someone waiting for family to return.
The shadow suffocating my mind shattered right then.
I loosened my grip on the spear handle and let out the air trapped in my lungs.
A contained, genuine smile broke the rigid tension on my face, the urge to run simply evaporating.
I took the final step and crossed the threshold of the door.
Without a second thought, Kânia walked past me and, before I could even take off my dirty boots, wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug.
The warmth of that embrace seemed to heal the phantom pains in my ribs that not even magic could touch.
"You're too skinny," she said, firm and protective, like a true mother.
"And you smell like a wild wolf."
I laughed, a bit awkwardly, letting myself sink into the safety of that moment.
She kissed Laura on the forehead, and then we went inside.
Silver was already there, arms crossed, cutting gaze, straight shoulders.
The same as always.
And yet, there was something different.
A slight smile lifted the corner of his mouth.
There was pride there.
"Seems you didn't die," he said, the irony bathed in rare humor.
I locked my spine in an erect position out of pure military reflex, raising my chin instinctively.
"And we won, Master. Sillys is the new Queen, and Elfhing was defeated."
He approached slowly.
The calloused hand of the god slapped my shoulder firmly.
"Good job. All of you."
That simple, direct sentence was worth more than any divine medal.