From the height of the hill, the sandy arena standed before me like an altar. The crowd's shouts poured into my ears like a turbulent sea—wild, thirsty, fierce. Thousands of throats called for blood, for victory, for spectacle. I stood beside him, motionless, hands humbly resting before my abdomen. My eyes did not seek out the warriors individually—I saw the whole, the whirlwind of bodies and weapons, the collisions of their strength and will. Each of them wielding powers and techniques of one of the Stars in the sky.
He was silent beside me, but the weight of his presence was like a storm contained around the throne. I was the voice of the invisible. Sometimes it seemed to me that it was not the people shouting, but the earth itself moaning and rejoicing at the same time. I was fed up with all of it. The years I had spent with him were now my only memories; nothing remained of who I had been before I arrived here. I simply knew I was not like the others. I was not human. I was a God trapped in a human cage.
And yet, despite the noise, despite the rage, I felt silence within myself—a wordless connection between the arena and the sky. And the sand—bloody, hot, alive—waited for the next victim. But it never came. It was strange. In such battles, everyone always died in the end, yet this time there was a victor. Everyone else has used all their powers granted to them by the Stars.. One survivor, one among many.
He stood alone in the arena, amid dust and bloody traces on the ground. His long black hair, heavy and matted, fell over his face, obscuring part of his grim expression, but his bright yellow eyes glimmered like embers in ash—cold, merciless, unyielding. From his forehead rose horns, rough and irregular, as if carved from a rock itself, a mark of something inhuman, a power beyond the human. My legs shifted slightly, my body trembled. I gasped. For the first time, I saw a being whose power had not been borrowed from the Stars above. It was a true power itself. Around him, the air vibrated and bent light, making me increasingly curious about him.
His shadow stretched long across the sand, and the crowd's shouts fell silent for a moment, as if the multitude itself sensed that there was something in this man more than mortal—something that belonged simultaneously to the earth and the abyss. Perhaps even a Star?! What deity would descend here??
"He is mine!" I clenched the ruler's hand and hissed at him.
The sudden movement made the crystal pendants on my crown tinkle. My blonde hair, braided in a long plait, slid over my shoulder, brushing against my white garments.The thin, elegant fabric stood in stark contrast to the grim black clothing of the emperor. I knew many eyes were on the ruler beside me, but I felt their gazes upon me now as well—on the image of a priestess, the Goddess fallen from the sky.
"For the first time, you want something, Vila. What's the occasion?"
His thin lips curved into a gentle smile, eyes squinting innocently, as if he did not know what I had just commanded him. The one who had survived. They would have killed him, because there could be no surviving victor. If he remained alive, he would be rewarded with a place in the royal court—a prize that had lured countless warriors to fight in this arena before. But no one had ever endured long enough to claim it.
The thousands in the stands were still frozen, neither shouting nor whispering. They waited for his words. And he was taking his time with his decision.
He was young, barely in his early twenties, yet bore a weight rarely found even in the aged. His face was carved in harsh lines, his gaze was firm, like steel that never bends. His body, lean and upright, spoke more of a warrior than a monarch, as if the God of Thousand Blades had sculpted his stance. His silence usually stirred unease in my heart, yet even that could not quench the flame ignited by hundreds of thoughts about this new warrior. They raged in my mind, making me want to consume him entirely. His body, his mind, his skills, his story. Hunger. I felt true hunger.
Though youth still showed in his features, there was no naivety in his eyes—only determination and a heavy chill that silenced even the loudest crowd. Standing, he might have been at least two heads taller than me, but his size had never frightened me. I kept staring at him without looking away even now, and he at me.
"You've never looked at me with such eyes, Vila. Your blue irises seem clearer than ever, almost white. I might even call them… terrifying."
He raised his left hand and gently stroked my cheek—a gesture that would usually make me recoil instantly, especially in front of so many people. The giggle that followed this action was unpredictable too. But it was all for the sole purpose to show the world that even a God could be tamed.
"Very well, my dear shining one, I will give him to you. But do not forget this gesture of mine."
"As if I would ever do it when you'll be reminding me all my life," I hissed in response.
I stepped aside, farther from him and closer to the terrace's edge. I wanted to see him again. And above all, to feel that earlier sensation. The hunger.
"Small details!" His voice cracked like a whip, accompanied by a short, sharp laugh that betrayed impatience. Then he turned to the two servants by the door. "You heard my dear Vilendra, right? Tell the guards below to bring him to the temple."
There were no guards near us. Why would he need them, this man who had subdued even a God? But I did not think of the invisible chains around me or my home—only of how I wanted to return tonight and see this being upclose.
The crowd came alive again, as if the very air was charged with electricity. Shouts rose to the sky—joyful, furious, a wild chorus that made the stones beneath my feet tremble. But I did not listen. My gaze was fixed on the being below. He did not look like a triumphant victor, nor a warrior proud of his dominance. No. His eyes burned with a strange fire that seemed to acknowledge no authority—neither king nor god. That was it.
The guards were already descending the narrow corridors to the arena, their spears glinting in the setting sun. But the man's shadow did not waver. He stood upright, motionless. I felt a thrill rise in my chest, one of those rare thrills that gods feel only when something unknown steps into their world. And this was a rarity. I cannot say for sure if I had ever felt such a thing before waking on this earth, but certainly not in the past ten years.
"The temple…" The king's words still echoed in my ears. Yes, there I would meet him again. My teeth bit my lower lip to hide my smile. I had long not felt such a thrill. It was hunger, it was thirst, I felt like one of those kids who tasted chocolate for the first time.
***
The temple was shrouded in half-light, illuminated only by the flames of torches on tall columns. The stone walls caught the light and refracted it, making the shadows appear alive, stretching like ghosts. The smell of incense hung heavy in the air, mingled with the coppery scent of blood—ancient rituals always left their mark. Rituals in my honor. But even the spilled blood could not sate me.
And then I saw him.
He stood in the center of the marble floor, chains wrapped around his wrists, but they did not appear strong enough to hold what he was. His hair still hid his face, and his horns cast a terrifying shadow on the wall behind him. He lifted his head from the ground. His eyes locked on mine—no submission, not even anger, only silent challenge.
My heart beat faster, not like when I watched the thousands slain in the arena, but as if the abyss itself had peered into me. My lips whispered: "You… are not like the others."
He did not respond immediately. He smiled faintly, lips curling in something closer to mockery than acknowledgment. The metal of the chains creaked slightly, as if his very breath could shake them.
"And you are not a simple priestess." he finally said. His voice was deep, raw, and dangerously close, as if it rose not from his chest but from the stone beneath us.
My breath caught. No mortal would dare say that. Everyone knew I was a God, but no one treated me this way. In that moment, I understood that my hunger was only beginning.
"Not a priestess…" he repeated, this time softer, almost a whisper, yet the words cut into me like a knife.
"That is merely the title the previous king gave me. I am everything people see," I replied, approaching slowly. "The face of the heavens. The voice of the gods. They believe I am the bridge to the other world because I am a Fallen Goddess..."
"I heard the story of you; I thought it was a myth until I came here," he interrupted, eyes gleaming like flames in the dark. "You are real. That pleases me."
The crystals on my crown tinkled again, as if they themselves recognized the truth in his words. I trembled inside, not from fear, but from… excitement. For the first time, someone spoke to me as an equal. I think even without memories, I would have recognized a God —but he was not.
"Who are you?" I exhaled, reaching a hand toward his face. The chains clinked as he made a barely noticeable move, as if to recoil. But he did not.
His smile returned, bolder, more frightening.
"Aletien, but to friends, I am Alet."
"Am I a friend then?"
"No, but you are not an enemy since I am still alive. Or do you intend to chain me to the altar and..."
"Oh, no. That is not my doing."
"Then what are you doing here? Surely not of your own will."
Around us, the temple's ritual hall darkened. The torches dimmed, shadows stretched, and for a moment I thought it was not we who were prisoners, but the world itself, trapped between the two of us. It feels like it was meant to meet him soon or later.
–We will see," I whispered. "We will see what you truly are."
"Priestess, it's time for dinner."
I looked back at my personal maid and companion, standing with her usual calm expression, not even glancing at the man sitting on the floor at my feet.
"Very well. Tell them to bathe him and bring him to the guest chambers, and prepare him a room there to sleep." I nodded to the girls gathered around the columns.
Two of them were brave enough to approach and escort the man to the baths. He didn't resist. He looked at the girls and obediently stood up. As far as I remembered, they were new servants, no more than two months in. They seemed too young to me, but didn't look inexperienced. Whatever. I will be back questioning him later.
I walked with Onet toward the one of the court buildings. The Crystal Veil was the usual dining hall for having meals with the royal family and it was one of the most beautiful places in the whole court. Onet looked a bit sad today, but I could care less why was she upset. I also didn't expect her to talk. She wasn't interested in anything here, she never questioned me, and maybe because I never did either, we ended up becoming each other's only consolations.