The night faded, and morning broke.
Keal and Kieran arrived at the rim of a deep gorge. Below, a vast green lake stretched out, its surface calm and reflective. Sheer cliffs rose around it in a curved wall, and on one side, layered rock faces showed where the water had once reached higher, a silent record of drier times.
Jain and his team were still chasing from behind, but then a shadow blurred past them. With Arthev's assistance, Lira and her officers had overtaken the pursuit and now stood ahead, blocking the brothers' path. Keal and Kieran skidded to a stop.
The crunch of gravel underfoot was the only sound as Keal stopped. His eyes, sharp and calculating, swept the scene. Before him, Lira and her officers stood firm, their forms silhouetted against the pale light of dawn. Behind him, he could sense the approaching footsteps of Jain's team they were well and truly cornered. The high cliff walls rose like a stone cage, and the still, green lake below offered no escape.
For a long moment, the only movement was the wind stirring the dust between them. Keal's shoulders, usually set with defiant energy, slumped almost imperceptibly. It was not a posture of surrender, but of final acknowledgment. He let out a slow breath, the kind that carries the weight of a long struggle. He knew, there would be no running this time.
His gaze settled on Lira. There was no anger in it now, only a weary intensity. Without a word, he took a step forward.
Across the barren stretch of rock, Lira watched him. She saw the resignation in his step and the clarity in his eyes. She mirrored his movement, stepping away from her team to meet him halfway. Each footfall was deliberate on the rocky ground. The officers watched, tense and silent, as the distance between the hunter and the hunted closed. They stopped when barely an arm's length separated them.
"I am done running, Lira," Keal said, his voice tired but clear.
"And there is nowhere left to run," Lira replied, her tone firm.
"You can arrest me. But you have no proof that will satisfy anyone. It would take you a lifetime to prove." He held out a small, crystalline device. "Here is all the proof you need. It details how and when I pulled off every vault job. Everything. Take me in. But... you must let Kieran go."
"The guilty must be punished," Lira stated, her principle unwavering.
"Not my brother," Keal pleaded, his voice intensifying. "Not Kieran. It was all me, Lira. My planning. I did everything. You have the thief right here. What more do you want? Kieran is innocent... let him go."
Lira's eyes flicked toward Kieran for a brief moment, assessing him, before returning to Keal. The silence stretched between them.
"Come on, Lira," Keal urged, his voice dropping to a whisper. "It's a good deal."
After a pause, Lira reached out and cautiously took the device from his hand. "It is a deal."
"You give me your word?" Keal asked, needing the final assurance.
In response, Lira gave a single, slow nod.
With the agreement settled, Lira and Keal shook hands. Lira then walked back to join Jain and the others, where Sylia now stood with them. Keal moved to his brother's side.
From a distance, Arthev watched quietly, not interfering.
Lira had accepted the deal not because she trusted Keal completely, but because she understood him. They had been on opposite sides for a long time, and she knew he wasn't purely evil....just driven. He was a man of his word, even when his methods were crooked.
Keal approached Kieran, who looked at him with that familiar, almost childlike innocence. Keal managed a smile. "From today, you don't have to pretend to be me anymore."
Kieran looked slightly confused, but Keal continued, his voice soft but firm.
"You're not a shadow now. You're Kieran. You're not weak. The time for hiding is over. Now your life, your chance to live and dream begins."
Though he didn't fully grasp the weight of the moment, but the words brought a small smile to his face. He had always wanted to be himself, not just a shadow. He had never had his own identity to the outside world, except with Kael.
Keal's own smile was strained with emotion. "We were two, but we lived as one. From today… one will live for us both."
Then, before anyone could react, Keal turned and leaped from the cliff's edge, toward the exposed, terraced rock far below.
But in a flash, Kieran lunged forward, catching Keal's wrist with one hand while the other gripped a jagged outcrop of rock. He held on desperately, his body straining at the edge.
A gasp rippled through the group. Lira and Sylia started running toward them, but the distance was too great. They were too far away to help.
"W-where to?" Kieran stammered, his grip tightening on Keal's wrist.
"Let go of my hand!" Keal struggled, stunned by his brother's action. "They cannot touch you now, Kieran. All the responsibility ends with me. You will be with Sylia. You will be free."
"I-I will not let go," Kieran insisted, his voice strained.
"Let go, brother," Keal said, his tone softening. "This world is not for me."
Kieran, his face contorted with effort but still wearing a faint smile, managed to say, "F-father said... n-never leave his hand... n-never leave his side...."
"Leave my hand,please." Keal whispered.
"W-we b-belong to H-him…" Kieran began, his words faltering but determined, "w-who can o-overpower us…"
Listening, Keal let out a soft laugh and continued the old, familiar verse, "The sun of hope rises in every direction…"
"Intentions a-are of steel," Kieran continued, his smile growing.
"Steps full of courage…" Keal joined, his own smile matching his brother's.
Then, together, their voices merging, they finished the phrase they had known since childhood, "Today we march to carve our destiny with our own hands."
For a short moment, they simply stared at each other, a world of brotherly affection passing between them in the silence. Then, Kieran let go of the rock.
Hand in hand, side by side, the two brothers fell. The height was over ten kilometers, the ground below a brutal expanse of rock. The chance of survival was zero. But as they fell, the only thing visible on their faces was a shared, peaceful smile.
Lira and Sylia, still too far away to reach them, could only watch, frozen in helpless silence.
"They... jumped," Arthev muttered from the sidelines, a note of stunned surprise in his voice.
Lira and Sylia rushed to the cliff's edge, arriving just in time to see Kael and Kieran falling, their hands clasped together, a shared, peaceful smile on their faces as they vanished into the mist-shrouded depths. Sylia watched, her expression a mask of disbelief and profound sadness.
---
On the roof of the sky,
Is our own world,up high.
Where laughs our joy...,
As the stars their riddles sing.
Holding the moon, a silvery net,
We gather stars the night will give.
This is a world of magic glow,
Where there is no place for sadness or woe.
The words echoed in both keal and kieran's mind.
-----
The next day, a large crowd gathered outside the Skyhaven Vault for its final closing. The financial crash was a disaster for the nobles, and the mood was somber.
Lira's POV
Today, the vault closes forever. It can no longer trouble anyone. Some people break the law to fix what is broken inside them. It is difficult to say who was right or wrong in all of this. All I can say is that you won, Kael and Kieran. But true victory belongs to dreams, not to revenge. Those dreams will flourish forever, live forever... always bringing joy. Like the greatest show in the world.
The Great Starlight Circus.
Jain and I found Sylia standing in front of the circus . I handed her a small, worn diary. She opened it carefully. Inside was a photograph of Kael and Kieran as young boys, standing beside their father, all three smiling with a warmth that seemed to defy their harsh fate. From now on, Sylia would carry their will forward, running the circus that was their one and only dream.
Lira's POV Ends
They walked back to where Arthev waited.
"So, I guess I am free to leave?" Arthev said.
"Kid, I have to say, you are quite impressive," Jain said, his tone unusually light. "Only ten years old, and already that strong."
"I appreciate your words," Arthev replied politely.
Lira studied him. "Where will you go next? I believe you are not from this city. Wandering alone, even for someone as strong as you, is dangerous at your age." She paused, then offered, "I suggest you find a place for your growth. An academy, or something like that."
"I will think about it," Arthev said.
With a final nod, they parted ways.
And so, the tale of the Skyhaven Vault drew to a close, not with a Victorious arrest, but with a quiet, profound understanding. The ledgers were balanced, the gates sealed, but the true account of what was gained and lost could never be measured in gold. The imprint of the brothers' final, shared smile lingered in the mountain air, a bittersweet victory craved not in law, but in memory.
For Arthev, who had stepped into their story as a mere spectator, it was a lesson written in a language of sacrifice and dreams. He had witnessed the end of one story, and in doing so, felt the quiet beginning of his own.
As he turned from the city, its spires fading behind him, the road ahead stretched out, empty and full of promise. The curtain had fallen on this act, but the journey was far from over. A new page was waiting to be written.
To be continued....