-Year 7335, Decatry Island – Dennis Decatry Port-
The sky was still golden when I knelt beside Ana. Her blood no longer gushed from her chest — the wound had closed, leaving only a red, glowing scar, as if a branding iron had been pressed into her skin. Her golden hair remained darkened at the tips, burnt, but she was breathing. That was enough.
"Will she be all right?" I asked Lindériu, who approached with calm steps.
The boy in blue and gold armour looked older than me, but there was something in his eyes — green, tired — that made him almost familiar. He knelt on Ana's other side and touched her forehead with his fingers.
"She will. Her body is adapting to the divine power. Anorys is not a gentle god. The first blessing is always the most violent."
"Anorys?"
"God of destruction." Lindériu raised his eyes to me. "Your friend has been chosen. That doesn't happen every day."
"Chosen for what?"
"To destroy. To burn. To end everything that stands in her way." He said it as naturally as if he were talking about the weather. "That's what Anorys does. That's what his chosen ones do."
I looked at Ana. At her pale face, her parted lips, her closed eyes. *Destruction.* That word didn't fit her. Or maybe it did. I didn't know her well. No one did.
"And you?" I asked. "Which god are you from?"
Lindériu hesitated. His green eyes drifted toward the Aryster ship, which burned silently offshore.
"I have three."
"Three?"
"Zitrinus, Desty and Anory." He counted on his fingers, one by one. "The first god who chose me was Zitrinus. Justice. Then Desty, love. And finally Anory, destruction."
"The same god who chose Ana?"
"The same. But she is stronger than me in that aspect. My destructive power is limited. Hers..." He looked at Ana. "Hers will grow. A lot."
Sara and Ariny approached, staggering. Sara cried quietly, her hand over her mouth. Ariny was pale but steady. She grabbed Sara's arm and pulled her back.
"Let her breathe," Ariny said, her voice tense. "Ethan is taking care of her."
"Are you all right?" I asked Ariny.
"No." She looked at the destroyed port. "But I'm alive."
Gustavo, leaning on a soldier, limped over. His twisted leg didn't stop him from grumbling.
"The ship burned," he said, pointing at the *Wind of Derylini*. "The monster broke it in half. We're not going anywhere today."
"The Aryster ship burned too," Sara added, her voice choked. "We're trapped."
"We're not trapped," said a voice behind us. "Just delayed."
King Arésyu of Aryster descended from the burning ship, walking over the wreckage as if it were carpet. Princess Livia followed behind him, her black eyes fixed on Ana. Her pale face was impassive, but there was something in the way she looked — curiosity? fear? — that made me shiver.
"The monster is dead," King Arésyu said, stopping beside us. "That's what matters."
"Killed by her," Lindériu added, pointing at Ana. "Alone."
King Arésyu looked at his daughter. Livia looked away.
"Chosen of Anorys," the king murmured. "Not every day you see one."
"We've seen one," Lindériu said with a tired smile. "In the mirror."
The king didn't reply. He just nodded once and walked off to speak with Gustavo about the boats, the wounded, the logistics of getting all those people off the island.
Livia stayed.
"Will she wake up?" the princess asked, her voice low.
"She will," I replied. "Lindériu said so."
"Lindériu is an optimist. He's not always right."
"He is this time."
She looked at me. Her black eyes were icy, but not hostile. Just... empty.
"You're Macano's chosen, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"And you couldn't do anything."
The truth hurt. But it was true.
"No," I admitted. "I couldn't do anything."
"You learn fast. That's good." She turned and followed her father, leaving me with the question hanging in the air.
---
The aftermath lasted hours. Soldiers counted the dead. Civilians wept over bodies. The wreckage of the port smoked under the grey sky.
Ana didn't wake up.
Lindériu examined her twice. The first time, he said she was in shock. The second, that the fever of divine power was subsiding.
"She needs rest," he said. "And a doctor. No external injuries, but her body has undergone a radical change."
"Change?"
"The mark of Anorys isn't just a symbol. It's a rewriting. Her body is now partly divine. It will take time to adapt."
I looked at Ana's chest. The red scar glowed through her torn clothes.
"And the mark? Will it disappear?"
"No. It will stay forever."
---
Gustavo found a solution. A small, dirty fishing boat, still intact. The owner, an old man named Remus, offered to take us to the Derylini peninsula.
"It's not comfortable," he warned. "But it will get you there."
"It will," Gustavo agreed. "That's what matters."
We carried Ana onto the boat with care. Sara sat beside her, holding her hand. Ariny stood at the bow, looking out at the sea.
Lindériu said goodbye on the pier.
"I'm staying here," he said. "The king needs me. And the Aryster ship won't repair itself."
"Thank you," I said. "For helping."
"I didn't help. Your friend did everything alone." He looked at Ana. "Almost everything. The monster was already weakened. I noticed right away. Someone had wounded it before us."
"Weakened?"
"The skin wasn't as hard as it should have been. The regeneration was slow. If that had been an adult..." He didn't finish the sentence. "Tell your friend, when she wakes up, to be careful. The real danger is still out there."
I shook his hand. Then I boarded the boat.
Old Remus raised the sails. The wind filled the cloth. The boat pulled away from the destroyed pier, leaving behind the smell of smoke and blood.
---
The sea was calm. The dark, almost black water reflected the grey sky. Ana slept a few feet from me, her face still. Sara had also fallen asleep, leaning against Ariny. Only Gustavo and I were awake.
"The duke will be furious," Gustavo said after a long silence. "The port destroyed. Ships lost. People dead."
"It wasn't our fault."
"It doesn't matter. There's always someone to blame. The duke needs a scapegoat."
"It will be me?"
"You'll be the hero, if you have any sense. Ana killed the monster. You were there. That's enough."
"I did nothing."
"You did. You stayed alive. Sometimes that's enough."
I looked at my hands. The ice had melted, but the skin was still red, irritated. The sword... the sword was at the bottom of the sea. Lost.
"Andy's sword," I murmured. "I lost it."
"Andy's sword will be found. The sea returns what belongs to it, sometimes." Gustavo sighed. "Or not. But don't worry about that now. Worry about what you're going to say to the duke."
"The truth."
"The truth makes enemies. Choose your words well."
---
The boat sailed for hours. The sun hid. The sky darkened. Stars appeared, cold and distant.
Suddenly, a red glow lit up the boat.
Suddenly, a red glow lit up the boat.
I looked at Ana. Her eyes were open. Red. Glowing. Her dark blonde hair lifted slightly, as if the wind blew only on her.
"Ana?"
She blinked. Her eyes returned to normal — brown, warm. But as soon as she saw me, her expression hardened. A muscle in her jaw twitched.
"What are you looking at?" she asked, her voice cold.
"You were glowing. Your eyes were red."
"I don't care." She tried to sit up, winced, and touched her chest where the scar glowed faintly. "Where are we?"
"On a boat. Heading to the Derylini peninsula."
"The monster..."
"You killed it."
She stared at her hands. Her palms were clean, but she looked at them as if something foul clung to them.
"I feel... strange. There's something here." She touched her chest again. "Hot. Like fire."
"The mark of Anorys. God of destruction."
"Anorys?" She frowned. "Never heard of him."
"Lindériu said you're chosen. Like him."
Her eyes snapped to me. There was something in them — disgust, perhaps. Or irritation. "Don't compare me to him. Or to anyone."
"I wasn't comparing."
"You were." She shifted on the wooden bench, putting more distance between us. The boat was small, but she managed to create space. "Where's Sara? Ariny?"
"Asleep. Over there."
She looked at her sisters. Her face softened for a moment — just a moment — then hardened again when her gaze returned to me.
"You should sleep too."
"I'm not tired."
"Then stare at the sea. Not at me."
I looked away. The sea was dark, the waves low. The silence between us was heavy, uncomfortable.
After a long minute, she spoke again.
"You stayed."
"I stayed."
"Why?"
I thought about it. "Because running wouldn't have helped."
She almost smiled. Almost. "That's the first sensible thing you've said all day."
She turned her back to me and closed her eyes. The glow of her scar pulsed faintly in the dark.
I looked at the horizon. Far, far away, a light shone in the darkness. The Derylini peninsula.
The academy.
The future.
She hates me, I thought. I don't know why, but she hates me. And I don't even care.
The boat sailed south, taking us away from the destroyed port, away from the dead, away from the monster.
Ana slept — or pretended to.
And I stayed awake, watching the sea, wondering why being near her made my skin crawl.