The battlefield was still burning.
Smoke curled into the sky like the ghosts of the fallen, thick and choking, swallowing screams that had long since faded into silence. Steel clashed somewhere in the distance, but the war no longer had shape or meaning.
Because Selara had arrived.
And Selara was no longer human.
Her horse tore across the ruined ground like a storm unleashed.
Eyes wild.
Heart unraveling.
Soul splintering with every second.
She did not slow.
Did not think.
Did not breathe.
All that existed was one desperate, terrifying thought—
Aren.
She leapt from her horse before it had fully stopped.
And then—
She saw him.
Aren stood amidst chaos.
Surrounded.
Outnumbered.
A medic, not a knight, gripping a fallen soldier's blade with trembling but determined hands.
Fighting.
For survival.
For others.
For her.
"AREN!"
Her voice ripped from her throat.
Raw.
Broken.
Alive with terror.
Aren turned.
And in that single moment—
Everything else disappeared.
He saw her.
Not the commander.
Not the warrior.
But her.
Relief flooded his exhausted face.
That familiar softness returning like sunlight breaking through a storm.
He moved toward her.
Stumbling.
But smiling.
Always smiling.
Then—
The world changed.
An arrow sliced through the air.
Silent.
Cruel.
Unavoidable.
Selara saw it.
Too late.
Aren's body jerked violently.
His steps faltered.
And then—
He fell.
"NOOOOO!"
The scream shattered the battlefield.
A sound so primal, so violently torn from grief, that even the clash of war seemed to freeze beneath it.
Selara ran.
Time collapsing.
Reality dissolving.
She caught him as he collapsed, his weight crashing into her arms, dragging her to the ground beneath him.
"Aren!"
Her hands trembled violently, clutching his armor, as though force alone could anchor him to life.
Aren's breathing was shallow.
Fragile.
Painfully uneven.
Yet—
He smiled.
Even now.
Even like this.
His trembling hand rose slowly, weak fingers brushing against her cheek.
Selara froze.
Shattered.
"Don't speak," she choked desperately.
Tears blurring the world.
"You're fine. You hear me?"
"You're fine."
"A medic!" she screamed.
Voice cracking violently.
"MEDIC!"
But Aren's fingers tightened faintly against her face.
Drawing her back.
Holding her there.
"…Selara…"
Her name left his lips like a fading whisper.
"Quiet!" she sobbed.
Frantic.
Terrified.
"Save your strength!"
"Please… Aren… please…"
His gaze softened.
That same warmth.
That same impossible gentleness.
Even as life slipped through trembling fingers.
"…It's too late…"
Selara shook her head violently.
"No."
"No, don't say that."
"Don't you dare say that!"
"…Maybe…"
His voice wavered.
Fragile.
"…maybe our daughter…"
"…has someone to accompany her now…"
Selara's breath stopped.
Her heart splintered.
"…Promise me…"
Aren's fingers trembled against her cheek.
"…you won't let this guilt…"
"…swallow you…"
Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
She could barely see him.
Barely hear.
Barely exist.
"Stop talking!"
Her voice broke into sobs.
"You're not dying!"
"You hear me?!"
"You are NOT dying!"
"MEDIC!" she screamed again.
Desperate.
Terrified.
Broken beyond reason.
But the battlefield remained cruelly indifferent.
Aren's breathing grew weaker.
His grip loosened.
Yet his eyes…
His eyes never left her.
"…Live…"
A whisper.
Barely there.
"…Selara…"
And then—
Silence.
His hand fell.
His gaze stilled.
His eyes slowly… gently…
Shut.
Selara's world ended.
"…Aren?"
Her voice trembled.
Small.
Terrified.
No response.
"…Aren…"
A desperate whisper.
Nothing.
"…Aren."
Her voice cracked.
Stillness.
And then—
The scream came.
"AREN!!"
It tore through the battlefield like something unholy.
Something shattered.
Something that should never have been heard by human ears.
Selara clutched him violently, shaking, trembling, breaking as reality finally crushed her.
"No… no… no…"
Soldiers gathered slowly.
Silently.
One by one.
Helmets removed.
Heads bowed.
Not for a commander.
But for grief itself.
Selara's body shook violently with sobs.
Her tears falling against Aren's lifeless face.
Her hands trembling as they cradled him desperately.
As though love alone could drag him back.
"…I'm sorry…"
Her voice shattered into broken fragments.
"…please…"
"…open your eyes…"
Nothing.
"I'll change…"
She choked violently.
"I swear I'll change…"
"Just…"
"Please…"
Silence answered.
Cold.
Merciless.
Absolute.
Selara's sobs became something else.
Something darker.
Something terrifying.
She slowly lifted her gaze.
Eyes burning.
Soul collapsing into something unrecognizable.
The sky stretched endlessly above her.
Cruel.
Mocking.
"No…"
Her voice trembled.
Low.
Shaking with something far more dangerous than sorrow.
"…No."
Her tears still fell.
But her eyes…
Her eyes now burned with fury.
"I will kill them."
A whisper.
Deadly.
Certain.
"I will kill them all."
The air itself seemed to recoil.
The soldiers froze.
Because something had changed.
Selara was no longer crying.
She was awakening.