"Sorry, ma'am, but no one can see the heir until King Greyoll permits it."
The gatekeeper's voice was firm yet tired, as if he had said these words a hundred times before. He was one of the many stationed at the gates of Rakiel, the land that housed the Clan of Ra.
Erenyx slammed her fists into the counter between them, her sharp glare cutting through the man.
"Goddammit, I don't care what he has to say! Bring Loretta out here!"
The man exchanged a glance with the nearby guards. One of them, an older man with a weathered face, placed a hand on Erenyx's shoulder. "Listen, this is what, the hundredth time you've come here? The answer hasn't changed. No one is allowed to see the prince."
Erenyx slapped his hand away. Her body tensed, but instead of pressing the issue further, she turned on her heel and stormed toward the exit. With a single leap, she shot into the air just as a crack of thunder split the sky. From the heart of the storm, her thunderbird, Astrapheon, burst forth, its massive form illuminated by flickering lightning. As if responding to an unspoken command, it caught her mid-air and took flight, its wings slicing through the clouds with blinding speed.
Below, the guards exchanged weary glances. One of them sighed. "So… which one of us is breaking the news to the Court Angels?"
A heavy silence fell over the group before the shortest guard muttered, "Who's on duty today?"
The fat one groaned. "The worst one, of course. Lazarus."
At that, the other guards visibly tensed. "You can't be serious," one of them whispered. "That crazy bastard?"
The fat guard just shook his head. "Better you than me."
With a defeated sigh, the short guard turned and started toward the first major building in the city.
Miles Away – In The Open Sky
The wind howled around Erenyx as she flew, her grip tightening on Astrapheon's feathers. Frustration burned in her chest, her mind a storm of questions.
"Just who the hell does he think he is? Leaving me like this without even telling me why!"
She poured more energy into Astrapheon. The thunderbird ruffled its feathers before speaking, its voice calm yet knowing. "Maybe the boy didn't have a choice. Did you consider that, Erenyx?"
She froze, Astrapheon's words settling deep in her chest. Memories surfaced, something Loretta had once said, months ago, about leaving his clan. Had they come back for him?
A somber look crossed her face as she slumped into Astrapheon's jet-black feathers. Flipping onto her back, she stared at the sky, her thoughts a tangled mess.
"Are you okay, Loretta?" she whispered.
Astrapheon remained silent for a while before finally speaking. "Hold on to something."
Erenyx barely had time to react before Astrapheon dived toward the ground. The impact hit like thunder, sending shockwaves through the small town below. Dust and debris scattered as Erenyx rose from the crater they had left behind.
From across the town square, the mayor stormed out of a nearby building, his face already red with frustration. "Dammit, girl! What did I tell you about breaking my city's floors?!"
Normally, Erenyx would brush him off with a smirk or a half-hearted excuse, but today, she didn't have the energy. The mayor's expression softened as he took a closer look at her.
"Look, just help out with tonight's guard team, and I'll forget about this. But get some rest first, you look like you need it."
Erenyx simply nodded before making her way toward her apartment.
This city, sitting just on the border of Rakiel, had become her temporary home after Agheel had broken the news about Loretta's return. She had stayed here ever since, waiting for the chance to drag him out of that damn place and knock some sense into him.
The idea that he couldn't leave had never once crossed her mind.
Erenyx collapsed onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. With a slow, tired breath, she pulled out her phone and opened her messages with Loretta.
The chat was filled with angry texts, curses, threats, and demands for him to respond.
But tonight, for the first time in months, she typed something different.
"I hope you're okay."
She turned off her phone and tossed it aside, watching as the last sliver of sunlight disappeared beyond the horizon.
For hours, she laid there, unmoving, her mind strangely blank. Until finally, she remembered what the mayor had told her.
"Dammit, Zeke."
She forced herself up, stretching as she prepared for the night ahead. Guard duty was usually a dull task, but tonight, beneath these full moon, something felt… wrong.
A sick feeling churned in her stomach.
"Shiki," she murmured.
From the ground, shadows twisted and rose, forming the sleek shape of a massive serpent. The Great Serpent coiled before her, its silver eyes glinting in the dim light.
"I need you to scout the forest. Go as far as you have to. I don't have a good feeling about tonight."
The serpent dipped its head in understanding before vanishing into the abyss.
Erenyx sighed, rubbing her temples as she leapt onto the massive wall that surrounded the town. The other guards greeted her with smiles and waves. She returned the gesture with a tired wave before perching at the edge, pressing two fingers to her temple.
"Anything?" she asked.
Before she could even exhale, Shiki's voice cut through her mind, panicked.
"Massive horde!"
Erenyx shot to her feet. Her voice carried across the wall.
"Everyone, on your feet, now! We have a massive horde heading toward us! Archers, Essentials, ready your spells and arrows! Conserve your energy and take out as many as possible!"
The soldiers scrambled into position, following her lead. Her time under her Uncle Benimaru and her grandfather had molded her into a leader, one who thrived in the face of battle.
But nothing could have prepared them for what emerged from the treeline.
At first, a flood of harmless creatures burst from the treeline, deer, rabbits, bears, natural wildlife, yet something was wrong. This couldn't be what Shiki had warned her about. No, they weren't part of the threat.
They were running from it.
A moment later, the forest convulsed as something far worse emerged. Trees snapped like twigs as monstrous beasts, warped by an obscene overflow of Essentia, charged forward. Their eyes glowed with unnatural light, their bodies swollen and twisted by raw energy.
"Fire at will!"
Arrows and spells rained down, wind, water, fire, earth, each strike shaking the battlefield, carving craters into the earth, but the horde pressed on.
Erenyx exhaled sharply, then leapt from the wall. Her boots barely touched the ground before she extended her hand, a weapon materializing in her grasp, a scythe of haunting beauty, its blade gleaming like the moon itself.
She swung once.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then, light flashed, wind howled, and the world split apart.
Trees collapsed in an instant. The beasts before her were eviscerated, their bodies reduced to halves. The guards erupted in cheers.
"Shut your mouths!" Erenyx snapped. "That wasn't all of them."
The younger soldiers stared, awestruck. Her strength eclipsed that of an entire small military force.
Then, from the ruined treeline, a second wave emerged. Smaller, but stronger.
Erenyx lifted her scythe above her head. "Prodigy Team, fire!"
The city's elite forces unleashed devastation. Magic rained from the sky, piercing through the beasts like arrows through parchment.
"Great work! Recoup!" she commanded. Support Essentials rushed in, restoring drained Essentia pools.
Erenyx exhaled, relaxing her grip. It seemed the worst was-
A chill crept through her spine.
An aura of death rolled over the city, thick and suffocating.
Erenyx pressed two fingers to her temple. "Shiki, report!"
Nothing.
A sharp pain lanced through her skull.
"Everyone, behind the wall! Now!"
A Prodigy Team scout shouted from above. "Lady Erenyx, the enemy is a Lich!"
A Lich? Here?
Before she could process the information, something drifted from the forest shadows, a robed figure, hovering inches above the ground. Its skeletal hands clutched something tightly.
Shiki.
The Great Serpent writhed in its grasp, constricted by bony fingers.
"Is this toy yours?" The Lich's voice was a rasping chuckle, bones clattering as it moved forward with a hover.
"My name is Tonero. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"
Erenyx's grip tightened on her scythe. "Erenyx Tsukari."
If Tonero had eyes, they would have widened in shock.
"T-Tsukari? Oh, what luck!" His manic laughter rattled through the air.
The ground split open, bone spikes shot from the earth, aiming to impale her. Erenyx twisted away with ease, landing atop one and using it as a springboard to propel herself toward Tonero. She swung her scythe in a deadly arc.
Tonero raised a single finger.
The blade stopped.
"You're telling me this is the power of a Tsukari?" He sneered. "Tell me you're holding back. Otherwise, I'll make your death excruciating for lying to me."
Erenyx smirked. "You caught me."
Power surged through her. The next swing nearly cleaved him in two. Tonero tilted back just in time, but the force of her attack left a hairline fracture across his skull.
"Better."
Lightning crackled at his fingertips, point-blank.
The blast swallowed her in a blinding flash.
Tonero drifted backward. "Come on. I know that didn't kill you."
A chuckle echoed from the smoke.
Erenyx stepped forward, spinning her scythe, clearing the haze. Electricity crackled along the blade's edge. "My favorite element. Thanks."
Tonero tilted his head. "What is that weapon?"
A pulse of force surrounded Erenyx, a spell meant to strip the scythe from her hands, but it didn't budge. Instead, Tonero jolted, clutching his skull.
"I don't even have a brain, why does it hurt?!"
He slammed a fist into the earth. The ground trembled, rupturing toward her, but Astrapheon swooped down, lifting her into the sky.
"You'll have to try harder than that." Erenyx leveled her scythe, a storm of electricity building around its blade.
A bolt of thunder crashed toward Tonero.
"You can't be a true Lich," she muttered. "Otherwise, I'd be dead already."
The dust cloud dissipated in an instant.
"Watch your damn mouth!"
Tonero twitched at the words, his frustration boiling over. With a sharp swipe of his hand, an arc of dark energy shot through the air. Erenyx instinctively prepared to cut through it, but as it neared, something told her that was a mistake. She dodged, barely avoiding the attack as it struck the ground behind her. The earth corroded instantly, turning to nothing but blackened ash. A shiver ran down her spine. She had to be careful.
"You're dead, Tsukari!" Tonero roared. His skeletal hand crackled with the same dark energy as he lunged.
Erenyx ducked under his grasp, twisting behind him with a fluid motion. She jammed the blunt end of her scythe's staff into his spine, sending him lurching forward.
"Wretched impudent fool!" Tonero snarled. At his call, the ground split open, skeletal minions clawing their way to the surface, their hollow eyes locked onto Erenyx.
Erenyx barely spared them a glance before stomping into the earth, a shockwave rattling the battlefield. The vibrations shattered the skeletons instantly, their brittle forms collapsing into heaps of bone.
"You talk a lot for someone who can't even keep a summon standing," she taunted.
Tonero's jaw clattered, muttering incomprehensible words under his breath. His aura thickened, suffocating the air around them. Trees withered and died in mere seconds.
Erenyx narrowed her eyes. No time to waste. Spinning her scythe, she funneled Essentia into the blade until it crackled with electricity. Then, with a single sweeping arc, she launched a massive crescent of lightning at Tonero. The sheer force of the attack shook the battlefield, the bright flash illuminating the deadened land.
The impact struck Tonero head-on. The explosion sent dust spiraling into the air, obscuring him from view.
Erenyx exhaled, waiting.
As the dust settled, she clenched her teeth.
He was still standing.
Tonero's skeletal frame was cracked, his ribs damaged, but his fury was undiminished.
Damn it. I don't think I have enough firepower to take him down alone.
Gritting her teeth, she raised her scythe again, sending wave after wave of electricity at him, but they barely left a mark.
"Astrapheon!" she called, forming a quick hand sign.
Above them, the colossal thunderbird screeched, its dark feathers crackling with stored lightning as it soared higher into the sky.
"Build up some energy for me! I have a plan!"
Astrapheon rumbled in acknowledgment, gathering Essentia as electricity surged through its body.
Erenyx tightened her grip on her scythe, planting its blade into the earth as she dropped into a battle stance.
Tonero, now fully descending into madness, cursed under his breath. He raised his palm to the sky, and the earth beneath her trembled. Jagged spikes of bone and rock erupted upward.
She moved in an instant. Using the sudden burst of terrain as a launch pad, she propelled herself high into the air.
Then, something new ignited within her.
A smile tugged at her lips as a pair of enormous black wings unfolded from her back, their translucent edges shimmering and forged from Essentia. The inner portions were a softer grey, but the outer wings were a deep, abyssal black.
Her arm darkened to match them.
With a single powerful flap, she rocketed downward, a blur of motion. The earth shattered beneath the force of her descent as she drove her fist straight into Tonero's skull, sending him hurtling into the ground. A crater erupted upon impact, dust and debris scattering like shrapnel. Around them, tiny black butterflies of Essentia flickered and dissolved into the night.
But even that wasn't enough.
Tonero clawed his way out of the wreckage, more furious than before. His skeletal fingers curled, coated in his corrosive black energy, reaching for her head.
She saw it coming and dashed away just in time.
"Art of Rage: Blistering Roads!"
Slamming both fists into the earth, she fractured the battlefield even further, jagged stone jutting upward in uneven formations, terrain perfect for her.
At blinding speed, she launched herself from rock to rock, striking Tonero from all directions. Her attacks weren't meant to deal heavy damage but to disrupt him, to force him into reckless aggression.
It worked.
Tonero snarled, his movements becoming sloppier as he swung wildly, his acid splattering the battlefield in all directions.
A sharp buzzing sound sliced through the chaos.
Erenyx smirked.
Perfect timing.
She accelerated, vanishing in a blur. One second, she was behind Tonero; the next, she slammed her foot into his back, sending him flying. Before he could recover, she appeared above him, driving him straight down toward her scythe.
Her feet touched the ground, her gaze locked onto his sprawled form. A cruel smile crossed her lips.
Raising a single hand to the sky, she spoke.
"Heaven, hear my call, Art of the Storm Emperor: Thor's Light! Lightning Rod!"
Astrapheon shrieked.
The night became day.
A monstrous bolt of lightning, larger than reason itself, descended from the heavens. The moment it struck the embedded scythe, the battlefield exploded in a deafening roar.
Tonero's scream of agony was swallowed by the storm.
When the dust settled, nothing remained of him but faint traces of ash.
Erenyx exhaled, brushing stray strands of hair from her face. She reached for her scythe, letting it sink into the shadows at her feet.
Above her, Astrapheon loomed, its massive wings folding slightly.
She glanced up, a smirk on her lips.
"Thanks, Astrapheon."
Erenyx coughed into her hand. Blood. It pooled in her palm, dark and warm.
"Still weak. Dammit."
She wiped it away and steadied herself before leaping over the town's wall, landing amidst a raucous crowd of knights. Their cheers and shouts filled the air, but she ignored them, pushing through the mass of bodies with singular purpose. She made straight for the mayor's office.
Erenyx didn't bother knocking. She walked past the reception, kicked open the mayor's door, and slammed a hand down on his desk.
"Who the hell sent a Lich after you?"
The short, blonde man, Zeke, feigned surprise. His mouth opened to protest, but before he could utter a word, the cold steel of her scythe was at his throat. She tilted his chin up with the gleaming edge.
"Don't bullshit me," she warned, her voice void of patience. "I'll kill you right here."
Her eyes were dead, devoid of anything but the promise of violence. A bead of sweat rolled down Zeke's temple.
"L-Look, I don't know exactly who," he stammered, "but I've pissed off a lot of people in my lifetime. It could be anyone!"
Erenyx's grip tightened. "Pissed them off enough to send a fucking Lich after you?"
She pressed the blade closer.
"Zeke, do you take me for a joke?"
He flinched. "No! I swear! Listen, okay, okay! It was probably King Greyoll. They've been trying to push me out for years, man!"
She lowered her scythe, but didn't dismiss it. "And what, exactly, is here that's so valuable they'd send a Lich after you?"
Zeke hesitated. "It's not what, it's who." He exhaled sharply. "There's a woman here who can read and speak Elder Dragon Tongue."
Erenyx's expression didn't change, but something inside her tensed.
Zeke continued, "Ever since Greyoll got his son back, he's been hunting for more power. I guess they have some kind of tablet written in Dragon Tongue, and they need her to translate it."
The mention of Loretta twisted something unpleasant in her gut. She kept her voice steady.
"And this woman. Where is she?"
Zeke swallowed. "The city's librarian." His voice was dry. "If you want answers, talk to her, she's who they're after."
Erenyx released a slow breath, then turned on her heel and walked out.
She clenched her fists as she stepped into the cold night air. This wasn't just about the Order attacking some backwater town. This was about Loretta. Maybe, just maybe, she could find out what really happened to him.
She reached the library and found it dark. A quick glance at her phone explained why, 2 AM. Of course it was closed.
Erenyx sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Shiki was still recovering, so calling him was out of the question. She resigned herself to heading back to her apartment, where exhaustion finally caught up to her. Within minutes, she was asleep.
While she slept, Zeke was very much awake.
In his office, he paced furiously, rubbing his temples.
"Shit," he muttered under his breath. "I don't know if I can handle another attack from those Order bastards."
His breath came quicker. His hands trembled.
"They brought him back. The Devil's Child. It might already be too late."
Zeke swallowed hard. His mouth was dry.
"Who the hell could stop them now?"
His voice cracked.
Only those in the Order, or those unfortunate enough to have survived their attacks, knew the name well.
Loretta Ra.
The Devil's Child.
Ruthless. Unforgiving. Determined.
Once he had a target, nothing stopped him.
Zeke clenched his jaw, whispering a desperate prayer.
"I hope to the heavens that what Lady Azmiel told me is true," he murmured. "I can't deal with that crazy bastard and his brothers coming after my head again."
The sun rose. The twin moons sank.
Erenyx stirred, pushing herself up with a groan. Morning already?
She didn't waste time. A quick stretch, a quick meal, pancakes. Then she was out the door.
The library wasn't far, and this early, it would be empty. Perfect.
She pushed the doors open, and stopped.
A woman stood behind the counter.
Tall. Beautiful. Long jet-black hair cascading down her back. Eyes of deep, gleaming violet.
Erenyx found herself staring.
There was something… otherworldly about her.
The woman smiled, waving with an effortless grace. Her voice was like silk.
"Welcome, darling."
Erenyx snapped out of it, forcing herself to move forward.
"I'm Ms. Azmiel," the woman continued. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Erenyx stepped up to the counter, locking eyes with her. She had intended to ask about the Order, but instead-
"Tell me," Azmiel said before she could speak, "what is it that you truly want to know?"
The question caught her off guard.
She had only meant to inquire about the town's troubles. But the words slipped from her lips before she could stop them.
"Please, tell me what happened to Loretta Ra."
Azmiel's smile widened, as if pleased by the question.
"It's a long story," she said, her violet eyes gleaming. "I'll start by telling you about the boy lost in the cosmos."
Her voice held a weight, a promise.
Erenyx listened.
And the story began.