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I wasn’t quick enough.

My breaths became heavy, panting with the concern for Aurelia, her figure dropping in front of my eyes. Fighting the urge to meet her at her side, I heard the scraping of metal from the other men behind me, pulling out their swords and knives.

Taking a deep breath, I heaved my body toward the men, kicking, ducking, and moving without getting a scrape.

Was Aurelia okay?

Swooping low, I barely dodged a dagger.

Would I ever forgive myself if she died by my hand?

The other man had scars arrayed all along his skin, purple fleshy marks. He was unsteady on his feet, rocking back and forth with the bow and quiver of arrows draped along his shoulder. The sword affixed to his belt had unclasped and clattered to the floor. Not paying attention to his sword that fell to the ground, he was trying to aim my way, missing multiple times, and drew the string again when I kicked him hard in his gut, sending him stumbling backward, slipping on the rocky terrain along the edge of the mountain. With a scream, he fell backward, his bow plummeting with him.

Lunging for the fallen sword, I grabbed the beige leather sheath, uncovering the bronze sword hidden inside it. The familiarity of it rang through my ears. Tybalt came up close and jabbed his sword, barely missing my side. I raised my sword high with the intent of bringing it down hard on his head, but our swords clashed together. I shifted my weight to bear down, but he was too strong.

Leaning backward, the pressure from our blades releasing, I instantly jabbed the sword to go through his stomach when he conveniently disappeared into a swirl of purple mist in thin air, just like he did the first time we met. However, I still felt a physical impact with my sword.

I still hit someone.

Hearing a loud gasp, I looked up to see the third man’s face, the sword deep in his chest, and his eyes opened wide. His skin was bronzed from the streaming light of the sun. He gasped for breath and fell to his knees, immediately falling over.

I didn’t have time to wade through my thoughts. I was already a killer. This was not my first kill, so what made this any different? I quickly approached Aurelia’s side, watching Belle fly over. Her wings were flapping, and she seemed large in the small area of the island’s peak.

“Aurelia!” I yelled, looking at the blood seeping from her side and underneath her body. I couldn’t help but think this was exactly how she must’ve felt when I was hit, but the difference was I didn’t have any healing abilities.

The puddle. Oh, my curses. It was so much of her golden blood.

“Aurelia. I am so sorry. This is all my fault.” My eyes burned, tears blurring my sight. Her hand, almost frail and weak, reached up, holding onto my own.

She said nothing, just struggled to breathe. Her wheezing gasps through each breath filled the silent air. A flurry of wind rushed behind me. I turned to find Belle landing, nearing close, and nuzzling into Aurelia.

Belle’s golden eyes watered, watching Aurelia take her deep gasps.

I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t lose her.

“Aurelia, stay with me!” Her eyelids started to flutter, then fell still. Her pulse stopped, her blood going cold. “AURELIA!” I shouted. An animalistic sound roared through the air next to me, and I looked at Belle in pain. She knelt her head down, a single golden tear dripping from her eyes and landing on Aurelia, soaking into her skin.

My own heart stopped in response. I had to physically grab where it sat to hold in the pain that I was experiencing.

Everything fell silent for a moment, and I felt defeated. Belle lifted her head, looking over to an area of jagged rocks and moss about a few yards away.

Belle raised her body and started to move toward where she had been eyeing before. Curiosity arose in me but didn’t cover the pain that I felt.

Sebastia was my everything, and then I lost her. I then met Aurelia, and she taught me more about myself than I could ever learn. She taught me how to find happiness in the little things. She taught me that life was about more than death, killing, and murder. She taught me to live in the moment, taking in every precious one I had.

And that was what I did. I lived because of Aurelia. But I wouldn’t let her teachings go in vain. She wasn’t ready to meet the gates ofEzu1. The night of holding Sebastia in my arms became clear in my mind, the way she grazed her fingertips with my own, placing her necklace in my palm, enclosing my hand. Her smile lifted upward, and in pain, telling me it was going to be okay. She was ready. She wasn’t needed here anymore.

Aurelia still had so much she needed. She had a kingdom she had to protect. She was the only one that they could rely on. She needed to become heir to the throne to change the course of the future for the better.

My heart throbbed with the pain of losing her, losing our past, present, and future. Everything that we were and would have become. But she taught me to live.

The desire thrummed through me, electrifying my veins. I was going to live. I was going to do what she wanted to accomplish, but couldn’t.

I moved my head near hers, knowing that I would never be as close to her as I had wanted and dreamed, but I took this moment to tell her my feelings all the same.

“You’re gone, Aurelia,” my voice cracked through the hurt. Memories of us flashed through my mind. The memories of saving each other countless times, bantering, arguing, our kisses, everything. “But you taught me that sometimes you have to share what’s dear in your heart to move on.” I wasn’t sure if I could continue my thoughts. My body was going to collapse on itself. I wiped the tears from my eyes, wincing from the pain, unable to make it stop. “So here I go,” I breathed, my breaths jagged, my chest shakily moving up and down. “I told myself I wouldn’t ever find love again, but you proved me wrong, Aurelia. You have proved me wrong in so many aspects of life, and I was so stubborn that you were the only one in the world that could change my view of it. I care for you so much. I will always have a place in my heart for you. Because of how deeply I care for you, I am going to finish your dream.” I thought of the dragon relic. Her one goal in life was to save her kingdom, but she was the one who needed to do it. She needed to finish her quest.

I looked over to where Belle was and saw her head poking through some of the divots inside the large boulder a few yards away. I stood up, painfully leaving Aurelia to see what Belle was looking at.