"If I didn't put him on the throne—I would've been alive."
Those were the words that kept ringing in my ears as my head fell off. I can still feel the blade drop clean on my neck, and I saw him actually smile in triumph, my King, the very person I swore to protect, the son of my saviour, was the one who killed me. I, his assistant, his mage, his childhood friend, and…he was someone I greatly loved. Even now, in my old age, with my wrinkled face and almost blind eyes, I see him as the same child who picked me to be his aide, the one who danced with me, even with the work piling on his desk. If only he knew, I became a mage just for him, to protect him, yet I was the one who was not protected.
Kneeling in the court was an old man, frail and thin, his hair disheveled and his spirit seemingly broken. He looked as though every shred of hope had long since left him. The King regarded him in silence, a faint smirk curling at his lips, "Any last words, Theron Draven? Ah, no, just Theron. The name my father granted you is now stained by your sins. Dark magic, the murder of a neighboring kingdom's heir… Did you truly believe I would protect you? Such arrogance". The nobles burst into laughter, their voices echoing through the hall. Theron remained silent at first, then slowly parted his lips. Hesitation flickered across his face before he fixed his gaze directly on the King. "You shouldn't have chosen me as your aide, Aldreich." The audacity of speaking the King's name aloud was nothing short of open defiance. Rage flickered in King Aldreich's eyes as he rose from his throne, his voice thundering through the hall. "Guards! Behead this man at once!"
Well, yeah, that happened—I died. Now I'm just waiting for the Creator's judgment.
"Oh, my dear… how unjust, how cruel of that King to cast you aside so mercilessly. I gave you the strength to stand by his side, even for his children who would follow in the future, and still they betrayed you. Listen to me now: you don't have to let this be your end. You may live again as you were, or… if you wish, I will grant you a new body, a new beginning. The choice is yours."
"I'm tired…" The Creator took my arm. In a kind, quiet voice, they whispered,
"You have two choices. Pick one." Their tone left no room for refusal.
I looked down at the world below, the people the King had sworn to protect, now left to starve and shiver in the cold. "Give me a new body." The Creator blinked, surprised; they had expected me to choose otherwise.
"I shall grant you a new body, one filled with the essence of divinity. In that form, you will be my son, and I will keep you safe."
A sense of familiarity washed over me, a family. What once was only a dream, an unreachable illusion, now stood before me as truth. This was no ordinary bond of flesh and blood; it was divinity itself, woven into immortality. A family not destined to fade with time, but to endure forever, untouchable by death or decay. It was overwhelming, like holding eternity in my hands, and I could hardly grasp the magnitude of what I had been given.
The Creator said nothing. Their expression was unreadable as they lifted a hand, and with a single motion, the world around me collapsed into light. I felt myself fall, as if being pulled through endless currents, until the brilliance gave way to darkness and rain.
I woke in a forest, the downpour cold against my skin. My body felt… different, smaller, fragile in ways I did not recognize. Slowly, I pushed myself up from the mud, every raindrop echoing the truth of my rebirth.
A shallow puddle caught my gaze. I leaned closer, heart unsteady, and the reflection that stared back was not my own. White, ruffled hair clung to my face, and bright blue eyes, vivid, almost glowing, peered back with a childlike sharpness. My limbs were thin, my frame delicate. I looked like a boy.
And for the first time in centuries, I was something new.