Orion's POV
"NO!"
My hand shot out and knocked Nyx's spear aside a split second before she released it. The weapon veered off course, embedding itself in a stone pillar instead of the girl's chest.
Nyx whirled on me, her amethyst eyes wide with shock. "Commander, what are you—"
"Stand down." My voice came out harsh, unfamiliar. Because for the first time in three hundred years, I felt something other than cold emptiness.
Fear.
Raw, terrifying fear that this mortal girl was about to die, and the thought of it made something inside me want to tear the world apart.
The golden thread connecting us pulsed with each beat of her racing heart. I could feel her terror, her confusion, her pain. Every emotion she experienced echoed through me like I was living it myself.
This was impossible. I made a pact three centuries ago. I traded my ability to feel anything in exchange for the power to protect both realms. I became a weapon—perfect, emotionless, unstoppable.
But now, staring at this girl with silver light pouring from her skin and constellation marks glowing across her body, I felt EVERYTHING.
And it was destroying me.
"Commander Orion," Captain Theron landed beside me, his sword drawn. "The soul-bond is forbidden. Protocol demands—"
"I know the protocol," I snapped, my hand instinctively moving toward my own sword before I forced myself to stop.
Kill her. That's what protocol demanded. Sever the bond before it could fully form. Quick. Clean. Merciful.
My hand wouldn't move toward my weapon.
The girl—Celeste, I somehow knew her name through the bond—collapsed to her knees, gasping for air. The silver light was fading from her skin, leaving behind intricate constellation marks that looked like they'd been painted with liquid starlight.
She looked up at me, her eyes filled with tears and confusion and something that made my chest ache.
Hope.
She was hoping I'd help her.
"Please," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the crackling energy still pouring from the portal above us. "I don't understand what's happening. I just wanted—"
"You tore open a gateway between realms," I said, keeping my voice flat even though emotions were screaming inside me. "You called down forbidden power during a Celestial Convergence. And you somehow..." I gestured at the golden thread between us. "You bound yourself to me."
"I didn't mean to!" She tried to stand but swayed dangerously. "I just made a wish. The stars—they answered. I didn't know this would happen."
Nyx moved closer, her hand reaching for another weapon. "She's a threat to both realms, Commander. The Celestial Court will demand her execution. If you don't do it, they'll send someone who will."
I knew she was right. The Court didn't tolerate soul-bonds between mortals and celestials. The last time it happened—over five hundred years ago—both parties were executed publicly as a warning.
"Lower your weapon," I ordered.
Nyx's jaw dropped. "Commander—"
"That's an ORDER, Lady Nyx." I let ice creep into my voice, the cold commander persona I'd worn for three centuries. "All of you, lower your weapons. Now."
Around the clearing, two dozen Celestial Knights slowly lowered their blades, but their expressions showed clear confusion. I'd never countermanded protocol before. I'd never questioned the Court's laws.
I'd never felt anything strongly enough to care.
Captain Theron stepped forward. "Orion, the bond is affecting your judgment. You need to let us handle this while you still can."
He was right. The bond was changing me—changing me back into someone who could feel, care, hurt. Someone vulnerable.
Someone weak.
I looked at Celeste again. She was watching me with those wide, hopeful eyes, still believing I might save her.
"Why?" I asked her. The question surprised even me. "Why did you make that wish? What could drive you to use forbidden magic?"
Her expression crumbled. Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, and through the bond, I felt why. Betrayal. Humiliation. Years of being treated like she was worthless, culminating in one devastating night where everything she had was stolen from her.
I saw flashes of memories through the connection—a man's cruel smile as he rejected her, a woman's cold eyes as she disowned her, a crowd of people looking through her like she was invisible.
My hand curled into a fist.
"They broke you," I said quietly.
She nodded, her voice thick with emotion. "They took everything. My work. My home. My name. I had nothing left. So I came here and I wished for power. I wished to be seen. I wished..." She looked down at her glowing hands. "I wished to make them pay."
Revenge. She wanted revenge.
I understood that. I'd made my pact for similar reasons—to gain the power to prevent what happened to my kingdom from ever happening again.
"And now?" I asked. "Now that you have power, what will you do with it?"
She met my eyes, and I saw something shift in her expression. Determination replacing despair.
"I don't know," she admitted. "But I'm not going to apologize for wanting to matter. For wanting to be more than what they said I was."
Behind me, Nyx muttered a curse. "She's not going to survive the Court's judgment, Commander. You know that. They'll execute her for this."
"Then we don't take her to the Court," I heard myself say.
Silence fell over the ruins.
Captain Theron's eyes widened. "You're suggesting we hide her? Orion, that's treason."
"I'm suggesting," I said carefully, "that we handle this situation before involving the Court unnecessarily. She's clearly a Constellation Heir—look at those marks. That bloodline was supposed to be extinct. The Court will want to study her, understand how she survived."
It was a weak excuse, and everyone knew it.
Nyx crossed her arms. "And the soul-bond? How do you plan to explain that?"
I had no answer. The bond was already strengthening, weaving itself deeper into both our souls. Soon it would be permanent. Unbreakable except by death.
Celeste suddenly gasped, her hand flying to her chest. Through the bond, I felt it—a sharp, warning pulse.
"They're here," she whispered.
"Who's here?" I demanded.
Before she could answer, the shadows at the edge of the clearing began to move. Dark shapes oozed out from between the trees—creatures made of corrupted starlight with glowing red eyes and too many teeth.
Void Hunters.
But these weren't wild rogues. These were organized. Controlled.
Which meant someone sent them.
"Defensive formation!" I barked at my knights. "Protect the girl!"
The Void Hunters attacked in a wave of snarling darkness. My knights met them head-on, their celestial weapons cutting through shadow and flesh. I moved in front of Celeste, drawing my sword as it ignited with white fire.
A massive hunter lunged at us. I cut it down, but three more took its place.
Too many. There were too many.
"Commander!" Nyx shouted. "They're specifically targeting the girl! Someone WANTS her dead!"
Of course they did. Someone knew what she was—what she could become. Someone who'd been waiting for her to awaken her powers so they could eliminate her before she became a threat.
The same someone who'd probably cursed her bloodline into dormancy in the first place.
A hunter broke through our defensive line, heading straight for Celeste. I spun, knowing I couldn't reach her in time—
Silver light exploded from Celeste's hands.
The hunter disintegrated into ash before it touched her.
She stared at her glowing palms in shock. "I... I did that?"
"Yes," I said. "And you're going to need to do it again. There are more coming."
More hunters poured from the shadows—dozens of them, maybe hundreds. This wasn't a random attack. This was an assassination attempt.
My mind raced through options. We could fight, but we'd be overwhelmed eventually. We could retreat through the portal, but taking Celeste to the Celestial Sanctum would expose her to the Court.
Through the bond, I felt her determination crystallize into a decision.
"Take me with you," she said, stepping up beside me. "To your realm. Train me. Teach me to use this power. Because whoever sent these things isn't going to stop, are they?"
"No," I admitted. "They won't."
"Then I need to be ready." Her jaw set with stubborn resolve. "And you need me alive, or that bond kills you too."
She wasn't wrong. Soul-bonds were permanent. If she died, I died.
I'd accidentally tied my immortal life to a mortal girl's survival.
Nyx appeared at my other side, cutting down two hunters with one swing. "Decision time, Commander! Fight or flight?"
I looked at Celeste—this impossible girl who'd somehow broken through three centuries of emotional ice in a single moment. This girl who was probably going to get us both executed.
I grabbed her hand. "Hold on."
"Wait, what are you—"
I pulled her against me and jumped backward, straight into the portal leading to the Celestial Sanctum.
Behind us, I heard Nyx shouting orders to the other knights to follow.
We tumbled through swirling starlight, dimensions bending around us. Celeste screamed and clutched my armor.
The moment we crossed the threshold, I felt the portal begin to close.
And on the other side, I saw something that made my blood turn to ice.
Standing at the edge of the ruins, watching us escape with cold satisfaction, was a figure I recognized even after centuries.
Lord Cassius Void.
The fallen celestial prince who'd been banished for trying to merge the realms.
He smiled and raised one hand in a mocking salute.
The portal snapped shut.
We crashed onto the crystal floor of the Sanctum's entry chamber. Celeste rolled away from me, coughing and disoriented.
I stood slowly, my mind racing.
Cassius was alive. More than alive—he was active. Planning. And he wanted Celeste dead.
Which meant she was far more important than even I'd realized.
Nyx landed beside us, followed by the rest of the knights. She took one look at my face and cursed.
"You saw him too," she said. "Cassius."
I nodded grimly.
"Commander?" Captain Theron approached cautiously. "What are your orders?"
I looked down at Celeste, who was staring around at the impossible architecture of the Celestial Sanctum with wide, overwhelmed eyes.
I'd just committed treason by bringing her here. I'd defied protocol, broken centuries of precedent, and tied my fate to a mortal's survival.
The Court was going to demand answers.
And I had no idea what I was going to tell them.
"Lock down the Sanctum," I ordered. "No one in or out without my direct authorization. And someone find out everything there is to know about Constellation Heirs."
I reached down and helped Celeste to her feet. Through the bond, I felt her terror mixed with awe.
"Welcome to the Celestial Sanctum," I said quietly. "Try not to die. Because now, if you do, I go with you."
Her eyes widened as the full weight of what that meant hit her.
We were bound. For better or worse.
Possibly forever.