The sky split.
Not in sound, not in fury—but in light.
A gold-white rift opened above the citadel as the blood moon turned pearl, and the heavens bled like open eyes. The world felt it—the storm of something ancient, something forbidden: Lucian's soul calling Kyrell's name.
---
Inside the Citadel
Lucian sat with Kyrell in the stillness after ruin, the scent of blood and old magic lingering in the air like incense. Kyrell's chest was marked with glowing sigils now—Lucian's soul-bond etched into flesh with passion, not pain.
Kyrell lay half-sprawled against him, flushed, lips parted, one leg hooked lazily over Lucian's thigh.
"You knew what you were doing," Kyrell whispered, voice hoarse from the night's hunger.
Lucian tilted his head, eyes flickering red. "You let me."
He trailed a finger down Kyrell's ribs, pausing where the soul-mark pulsed.
"You're mine now."
Kyrell smirked. "I always was."
Lucian leaned in, kissing him again—slower this time. Worshipping. The taste of their bond deepened everything: every touch, every gasp, every curse against the gods.
When Lucian moved inside him again, it wasn't lust—it was claiming. Divine.
And the earth trembled beneath them.
---
Far Above – In the Realms Between
Damien hovered midair, wings of bone and ash spread wide, watching the light rise from the citadel. But he didn't flinch.
He turned to the entity inside him—his master now. His curse.
"You said I'd break them. That I'd take him back."
"You will," it rasped. "But first, you must become what they fear most."
Damien fell to his knees midair. A crown of black fire rose from his skull, and his eyes melted into obsidian.
He screamed.
---
At the Council Temple
The chamber doors blew open, slamming with such force the stained glass shattered.
Silas stepped inside, trailed by Mara—silent, wide-eyed, her lips stained crimson from ancient rites.
"Your hour is done," Silas said coldly.
The Council drew their weapons, old magic curling at their fingertips. But Renak… he didn't move.
He stared at the sky.
"At last," he whispered, his voice trembling. "They've done it. They've awakened the fire."
Mara turned her face toward the sky, a single tear of blood tracing down.
"Let them burn for it."
---
Back in the Citadel – Final Scene
Lucian held Kyrell in the quiet after their second storm, heart pounding like war drums. Their bond now anchored through body and soul—irrevocable.
"You feel it now," Lucian whispered. "The power. The hunger."
Kyrell nodded. "I feel everything."
Their hands clasped over Kyrell's chest, over the mark.
Lucian whispered an incantation in an old tongue, one no longer spoken by gods.
And the room ignited.
Every torch flared, every stone hummed, and in the heart of it—Kyrell rose from the bed glowing. Wings of light unfolded behind him, mirrored in shadow by Lucian's own.
They stood naked, marked, god-touched.
And above them, the sky shattered completely—
revealing not stars…
…but the truth.
---