The wind whipped the falling snow into blinding white sheets. Every step higher into the thin air felt like a challenge to the heavens.
Sylaris led the way, a small blur of blue. She was bundled in thick furs that made her look like a round cub, her little elf ears-sharper and more defined with every passing moon-protruding from her blue fur hat. Her cheeks were the color of crushed winter berries, bitten red by the frost, and her gloved hands gripped the icy stones with surprisingly steady strength.
Behind her, Zaliyah climbed Elegantly. Unlike his daughter, he was dressed in light, flowing silks of silver and deep violet. Ever since he had mastered his core, the internal furnace of his Celestial power did the heavy lifting. He no longer felt the bone-deep bite of the cold or the humidity of the heat.
Often, he wore furs just to match his daughter, but today, he wanted to feel the air against his skin-to let the elements know he was no longer their victim.
Sylaris stopped, her breath coming out in a cloud of steam. She turned, her pouty cheeks puffed out in protest. "I wish we were home, Da-da. The castle has fire. This mountain just has... more mountain."
Zaliyah didn't break his stride. "You just have to listen to me and focus. Do the work, and we'll be home in no time."
"We are still climbing," she grumbled, her voice small against the roar of the wind. "We won't be home soon. My legs feel like they're made of ice."
Zaliyah rolled his eyes, his silk sleeves snapping in the gale. "Sylaris, less talking and more climbing. Save your breath for the peak."
The child let out a dramatic groan, rolling her crystalline blue eyes-eyes that were a haunting, constant reminder of the man Zaliyah had left behind in the human realm.
"Why didn't Aunt Iruna or Harun come?
They make the walking less boring."
"It's Uncle Harun, Sylaris," Zaliyah corrected for the thousandth time.
"No," she insisted, turning back to the climb. "It's just Harun."
Zaliyah pressed his palm to his temple, letting out a weary sigh. He was exhausted by her bullshit. She was five years old yet the child possessed a wit that suggested she was far older.
They finally reached the summit, a flat plateau of ice that overlooked the entire Northwest Territory. The view was breathtaking, a sea of white clouds pierced by black mountains but Sylaris didn't care for the scenery. The moment her boots hit the level ground, she collapsed dramatically onto the ice, limbs sprawling as she pretended to be dead.
Zaliyah stood over her, silhouetted against the gray sky. He didn't offer a hand. Instead, he scooped up a handful of snow, molded it into a perfect, hard sphere with a flick of his will, and dropped it directly onto her face.
Sylaris bolted upright, sputtering and giggling. "Dad!"
She lunged for a pile of snow, and before Zaliyah could react, a slab of ice began to float. It hovered for a second before hurtling through the air and landing on Zaliyah's nose.
"Oh, no you didn't," Zaliyah said, a smirk spreading across his face.
The lesson was forgotten for a moment. They sprinted across the plateau, their laughter echoing off the peaks. Zaliyah chased her through the drifts, using the wind to trip her up, while she used her raw telekinesis to build walls of snow to block him.
It was a beautiful, rare moment, two Celestials playing at the top of a world that wanted them dead.
Eventually, Zaliyah "tripped" and fell back into a deep bank of snow. Sylaris dove onto his chest, both of them breathing heavily.
Zaliyah reached up, caressing her silver-white hair, tucking a stray strand behind her pointed ear. He looked at her , really looked at her and felt a pang of such fierce love that he wished the sun would simply stop in the sky. He never wanted this moment to end.
Back in the castle, the atmosphere was far more stifling.
In a grand bedchamber draped in Red curtains, Iruna lay naked across the bed, her skin glowing like amber in the candlelight. Thalassa sat beside her, dressed only in her loose trousers and an unbuttoned blouse that hung off her shoulders. Multiple hickeys stood out against Thalassa's neck, an evidence of their recent passion.
Thalassa held an ornate smoke pipe, taking a long drag before blowing a thick cloud of sweet-smelling smoke over Iruna's face. She twirled a lock of Iruna's brown hair between her fingers, her gaze soft and filled with love.
"I wish nothing more than for this moment to last until eternity," Thalassa spoke lovingly.
Iruna moved forward, purring as she rubbed her cheek against Thalassa's hand.
"I wish I could paint," Thalassa whispered. "You look so beautiful in this light. I want to capture your beauty in a timeless painting-something I could take with me everywhere, even to the battlefield."
"If you want, I could invite a painter here so we can have our portraits done together," Iruna suggested, her eyes bright with affection.
"But aren't you going out with Zaliyah tomorrow?" Thalassa asked, her thumb tracing Iruna's lower lip.
"Yes. I wish you'd come along," Iruna said, leaning into the touch.
Thalassa leaned down, pressing a kiss to Iruna's lips. "I wish so too, my darling. But I have work tomorrow. The border scouts are restless, and Xulthas is in a foul mood."
"A shame," Iruna said, plopping back onto the pillows in disappointment.
"We can always go out another time," Thalassa promised. "Just the two of us. Or with Harun, or Zaliyah... with whoever you want." She paused, her brow furrowing as she looked toward the door. "Wait, where is Sylaris? I haven't heard her running in the halls today. It's too quiet."
"His Highness took her to the mountains," Iruna explained. "He intends to teach her how to control animals. He says her focus is too scattered."
Thalassa frowned, tapping her pipe against the bedside table. "I fear Zaliyah is overworking that child. She's only five, hybrid or not."
"No," Iruna countered softly. "It's for her own good. His highness knows what's coming. He's making sure she's a predator, not the prey."
Back on the mountain peak, the playful warmth vanished in a heartbeat.
The air, already cold, became strangely, unnaturally still. The wind ceased its howling, and the falling snow hung in the air as if frozen in time. Zaliyah stood up abruptly, his internal alarm bells screaming.
He could feel a ripple in the ether-something hungry was approaching.
"Stay where you are. Don't move," he commanded his daughter.
Sylaris froze, sensing the shift in her father's energy. "Yes, Daddy."
Zaliyah turned his back to her, closing his eyes. He let the wind talk to him, extending his consciousness into the white void. Everything was eerily quiet. Then, at the almost silent sound of a single snowflake hitting a frozen leaf, Zaliyah's eyes snapped open.
A huge snow monster-a creature of matted white fur, ice-shard claws, and hollow eyes-was charging toward Sylaris at an incredible speed.
Zaliyah didn't panic. He looked annoyed, as if the creature were a mere fly. He slowly lifted his fingers to the left, flicking his wrist elegantly.
The massive beast was yanked sideways as if caught in a hurricane, slammed with bone-crushing force against the jagged rocks to the right.
Sylaris watched from the snow, her eyes wide with awe. "Yayyy! Da-da is so cool!"
Zaliyah rolled his eyes, his gaze still fixed on the mist. "Sylaris, you are here to learn, not to be a fan girl. Focus."
The little girl rolled her eyes right back at him. "You don't appreciate me enough."
Zaliyah sighed, but his body went rigid as more shapes emerged from the white. At an incredible speed, a dozen more snow monsters began running toward them from all sides, their growls muffled by the snow.
Zaliyah straightened his back, his silver hair beginning to lift and swirl around him. The wind became deathly still, as if the very atmosphere of the mountain now only answered to him.
"Watch," Zaliyah whispered.
As the monsters lunged, Zaliyah gripped the air. The creatures jerked mid-air, their bodies twisting and contorting as if they were being blood-bended from the inside out. Zaliyah seized their internal structures.
"Kneel," Zaliyah commanded.
The monsters that were closer to him crashed to their knees, their wills overrided by his psychic pressure. But the more aggressive ones in the back tried to leap over their kin to get to his daughter. Zaliyah's expression went cold. He twisted his hands, and the sound of snapping bones filled the air. The monsters bodies began to deform, their own bones protruding out of their flesh as they shrieked in agony.
When it was over, and the snow was stained with dark, steaming blood, Zaliyah exhaled. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and turned to Sylaris, fearing for a moment that he had shown her too much, that she would be scared out of her mind.
Instead, the little girl was jumping up and down, screaming in happiness.
"Do it again! Do it again, Dada! Make them go crunch crunch !"
Zaliyah stared at her, a mixture of pride and concern swirling in his chest. "So," he spoke, his voice regaining its composure. "What did we learn today?"
Sylaris stopped jumping and looked at the carnage. "That stubborn animals should be killed."
Zaliyah sighed deeply. He had spent weeks in the castle teaching her about the "liberation of the mind," hoping to make this lesson about empathy and connection. "If that is the case, Sylaris, then you should be killed."
The child giggled, but then her face transformed into something melodramatic.
"Oh no! Dada hates me! He wants me to die! I knew it! I knew you never loved me!" She fell to her knees, rolling on the floor and wailing at the sky like a tragic actress.
Zaliyah rolled his eyes. "Get up. We're going home."
It was dark when they finally made it back to the castle gates. Zaliyah entered the main hall, the exhausted child sleeping soundly on his back, her head resting on his shoulder.
Xulthas stepped forward from the shadows of the doorway. "Is she asleep?"
The "sleeping" child immediately roared, her eyes snapping open. "No! No! Uncle, carry me!"
Zaliyah reached back and lightly slapped her questing hands. "Where are your manners? You act no different from an animal."
Sylaris rolled her eyes, but Xulthas reached out, a rare softening in his green eyes. He lifted the girl with ease and placed her high on his broad shoulders.
"Look, Dada! Now I'm taller than you!" she shouted, swinging her chubby arms in the air.
Thalassa and Iruna entered the hall from the side corridor. Thalassa took in the strange scene, the powerful Warlock who hates children and consider them parasites carrying a toddler? She was going to tease him about him for years .
She smirked. "Zaliyah, aren't you ashamed? Your daughter is finally taller than you."
Sylaris pointed a chubby finger down at Zaliyah. "Yes, Dad! You should be ashamed of yourself!"
Everyone in the hall giggled.
"So, what did you learn today, little warrior ?" Xulthas asked as he looked up at the girl on his shoulders.
"That stubborn animals should be killed," she answered with confidence.
Zaliyah rolled his eyes as Thalassa stepped forward, her expression turning critical.
"Zaliyah, did you really make this child spend all day in the freezing cold just for that?"
"Come now, dear," Iruna asked gently, stepping closer to the girl. "What did you really learn today?"
"I already told you!" Sylaris yelled.
Zaliyah looked around the room, his brow furrowing. "Where is Harun?"
Xulthas's face hardened instantly at the mention of the name. A possessive wall went up behind his eyes. Thalassa noticed the shift and immediately moved to de-escalate.
"Come now, Sylaris," Thalassa said, extending her arms and grabbing the child from Xulthas's shoulders. "Let's go find those honey cakes before they vanish."
Iruna followed, and they retreated into the darkness of the inner halls. As soon as they were gone, Xulthas moved with lightning speed. He pulled Zaliyah by the waist, slamming him gently against his body. He pressed his hand to Zaliyah's neck, his palm hot against the pale skin, checking his body temperature.
"Are you okay?" Xulthas asked, his voice low "You've been in the peaks for ten hours."
Zaliyah didn't pull away. He looked up at the Warlock, "yes," Zaliyah replied, his voice a soft purr. "I am just tired... and I had like to be carried."
With no hesitation, Xulthas swept Zaliyah up into his arms, carrying him like a bride. Zaliyah's fine silks rustled in the wind as Xulthas began the long walk toward the bedchambers.