Chapter Five:
The fairy guards raised their spears, their faces hard with anger. "Lyra, step away," their leader warned. "You don't know what demons are. He will destroy you."
Lyra shook her head. "You're wrong. He had the chance to harm me, but he didn't. He is not like the stories."
The guards didn't listen. They started to surround Kael, their crystal weapons glowing with blue fire.
Kael spread his black wings wide, his claws ready. His voice was low, dark, but calm. "I do not wish to kill your people, fairy. But if they strike first, I will not fall alone."
Lyra's heart pounded. She knew if he fought, blood would stain the forest. She stepped closer to Kael, her small hand brushing his arm. "Don't fight. Trust me."
Kael froze. No one had ever touched him without fear. The warmth of her hand burned deeper than fire. He looked into her eyes, and the rage in him slowly softened.
But the guards lunged.
Blue sparks shot through the air, striking where Kael stood. He shielded Lyra with his wings, the blasts bouncing off like rain against stone. The ground shook, the cracks in the sky roaring louder.
"Run!" Lyra cried.
Kael grabbed her hand, and with one powerful sweep of his wings, they soared above the trees. The guards shouted below, arrows of light chasing them, but Kael twisted through the air with speed and strength.
The forest spread wide beneath them, glowing rivers and silver peaks shining in the night. Lyra held tight, her hair flying in the wind, her heart racing—not only from fear, but from something else.
They landed far away, on a high cliff overlooking the mountains where fire still burned from the falling stone. Lyra's legs trembled as she stepped back onto the ground.
Kael folded his wings slowly. His red eyes glowed faintly in the dark. "You should not have done that," he said, his voice rough but softer than before. "You betrayed your people… for me."
Lyra looked at him. Her chest ached, but she didn't regret it. "I couldn't let them hurt you. Something in me wouldn't allow it."
For a moment, there was silence. The broken sky glowed above them, fire and light spilling through the cracks.
Kael stared at her, and his voice dropped low. "You are either the most foolish fairy I've ever met… or the bravest."
Lyra smiled faintly. "Maybe both."
Their eyes held each other's in the strange glow of the fractured heavens. Fairy and demon. Light and dark. Enemies by nature—yet pulled together by something neither could stop.
And though the world was falling apart, they both felt the same truth in their hearts.
This was not just survival.
It was the beginning of love.....