Page 10

They say we are different.

The only true difference I see is the one in which we are told there is a difference.

I am a witch.

He is a wyverian.

We both bleed. We both love. We both cry.

And yet, they keep telling us that we do not belong.

Tabitha Wysteria

Mal dreamt of fire.

Not the cold blue flames of her homeland, but something wild, something untamed—an inferno of red and gold that swallowed the sky.

Ash rained like dying stars, drifting through a world unfamiliar to her.

And in the heart of the blaze, a man stood.

His back was to her, his silhouette carved in embers, but the dagger in her hand whispered his name.

The one risen from the ashes shall unite them all.

She awoke with a gasp, her breath ragged, her skin damp with sweat. The sensation of the blade piercing his chest lingered in her bones, a phantom pain she could not shake.

Dawn crept over the horizon as Mal slid into her riding boots and hurried to the nearest window. The morning air kissed her skin, carrying the scent of the dark mountains and the whispers of restless wyverns. She gripped the stone pillar, leaning forward into the abyss beyond.

‘Nyx, venire!’ Nyx, come!

A moment of silence, then a mighty roar answered, reverberating through her very core. Mal smiled. Without hesitation, she leapt into the darkness below.

Her stomach lurched before strong, scaled flesh met her boots. Nyx’s wings spread wide, catching the wind, lifting them higher into the morning sky.

‘Volare, Nyx, volare.’ Fly, Nyx, fly.

She let the wind pull at her hair, let the cold bite into her skin, soaring for hours until the first blush of dawn spilt over the peaks.

When Mal finally returned, the castle's training yard was ready for the clash of steel.

Below her, Kai was adjusting his black armour, readying himself for his morning drills.

Nyx landed atop one of the castle roofs with a rumble that made him pause, his onyx eyes narrowing in mild irritation as Mal dismounted.

‘You look dreadful,’ Kai muttered, fastening the last buckle of his gauntlet.

Mal ignored him, striding to the weapons rack. Her fingers curled around the hilt of her short sword—black steel, forged in wyverian blue fire, unbreakable as the night sky.

‘What are you doing?’ Kai asked.

‘Training.’

‘Training?’ He scoffed. ‘In a few days, we leave for a royal wedding— your wedding, might I remind you. Shouldn’t you be off selecting dresses and jewelry, rather than sharpening blades?’

His twin hook swords gleamed in the dim light, weapons as deadly as their wielder. Mal had once attempted to use them and had failed miserably.

‘You act as though I asked for this!’ Mal spat, swinging her sword without warning.

Kai reacted instantly, blocking her strike with effortless grace. She dropped low, sweeping her blade towards his legs, but he was quicker, leaping back with a smirk of annoyance.

‘You haven’t exactly screamed against it either, sister.’

The rage inside her coiled like a serpent.

She lunged, striking with fierce determination.

Her blade scraped his shoulder, drawing a shallow cut—Kai only chuckled, infuriating her further.

Gritting her teeth, she kicked him, sending him stumbling back.

A dagger flew from her fingers, but Kai rolled aside, the steel embedding into the ground where he had stood.

‘What am I meant to do, Kai?’

He had been holding back, but now his stance shifted. His swords flashed, obsidian arcs slicing through the air as he advanced. Mal danced away, dodging every strike, her movements fluid, precise.

‘You are meant to fight!’

The next blow was not aimed at her sword but at her body—he slammed her against the stone wall, his dark eyes searching hers, breath ragged.

‘I am fighting, Kai,’ she whispered.

He pressed the tip of his hook sword to her throat. ‘This isn’t the way we fight, Mal. You cannot marry the Fire Prick. You've heard the rumours of his cruelty. You belong here, with your family. If you are there…’ His voice cracked, his grip tightening. ‘How will I protect you?’

Mal softened, reaching up to brush a finger across his cheek—a gesture from their childhood, when words had not been enough. He closed his eyes, leaning into the touch.

‘I can protect myself, Kai. I know it sounds mad, but… this is the path. The prophecy says—’

He flinched away as if burnt, his face twisting in disbelief.

‘You are doing this because of some ridiculous prophecy?’ His voice was sharp, edged with something like desperation.

‘Prophecies are lies, Mal. Nothing more than the fantasies of charlatans who prey on the desperate! There is no chosen one, no curse. There are only kings and queens who play their games, and we are the pieces they move.’

‘Kai, I’ve dreamt—’

‘Did the Seer make you drink her tea? Did she fill your head with this nonsense?’

Frustration burnt through Mal. She shoved past him. ‘The Seer did nothing. The prophecy states that the one risen from the ashes shall unite us all. I have seen it, Kai. I know what must be done.’

‘And what must be done, sister?’

Mal hesitated. The words tasted of iron. ‘I must marry the prince and then…’

‘And then what?’

She met his gaze. ‘And then I must kill him.’

For the first time, Kai faltered. ‘You truly believe killing the Fire Prick will unite the kingdoms?’ He let out a bitter laugh. ‘Breaking a marriage oath started the war, Mal. Do you think King Egan will kneel in gratitude when you slaughter his son?’

‘I don’t know…’ she admitted. ‘But the dreams—’

Kai seized her shoulders, shaking her. ‘Mal, listen to yourself. None of this makes sense!’

‘My eyes—’

‘Your eyes are just eyes, Mal!’

His words cut deep. ‘I am fourthborn, Kai!’ she roared. ‘With purple eyes! There has never been such a thing before!’

The ground trembled. A pulse of energy exploded from her, an invisible force slamming into Kai. He flew back, crashing into the stone wall. Dust and debris fell around him.

Mal’s breath caught.

She had spent years suppressing it, pushing it down, pretending she did not feel the surge of power curling in her veins. She had fought to be normal, to be like them.

But now Kai had seen.

He stood slowly, his expression unreadable. He scanned the empty balconies above them, ensuring no one had witnessed what she had done. Then he exhaled, voice eerily steady.

‘No one saw.’

Mal swallowed. ‘Why are you so calm?’

‘Trust me, Mal, I am not calm.’ He grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the training yard, guiding her through the castle’s shadowed corridors. His shoulders were stiff, his pace quick, his silence deafening. ‘How long have you known?’

‘I think I’ve always known,’ she admitted.

He sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. ‘Yes… perhaps we all have.’ His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘I have always felt how very dangerous you are.’

Mal froze.

The words cut her deeper than steel ever could. Dangerous. A word meant for monsters, not sisters.

Kai must have sensed her distress, because he softened. ‘I mean it in a good way, Mal. We were taught to fear magic, but you are my sister. I will always love you. However, we must ensure no one ever sees what you can do.’

They reached her chambers.

Mal hesitated. ‘I am to marry the Fire Prince in a few weeks, Kai.’

He nodded. ‘Then you must keep it hidden. Like you always have.’

Mal halted, her gaze drawn to one of the many arched windows to her right—empty of glass, yawning wide to the world beyond.

The temple loomed in the distance, a lonely sentinel upon the hill, its pale stone stark against the encroaching twilight.

A sanctuary, a place untouched by the weight of fate.

She longed to be there, wrapped in the hush of its hallowed walls, where the whispers of the gods might shield her from what was to come.

‘I can feel it, Kai,’ she murmured, her voice barely more than a breath against the evening wind.

‘My powers… shifting. Here, in our land of darkness, I have always been able to contain them. But that place, that kingdom of fire—’ she exhaled sharply, fingers tightening on the windowsill, ‘it is not my home. I don’t know what will happen to me there. ’

Her mind conjured an image of the Fire Prince, though it remained a thing of smoke and shadows, slipping between her thoughts before she could grasp it.

Surely, his face was cruel, sharp-edged and twisted with malice, just as the stories described.

What did it mean to belong to such a man?

To bear his name, to share his bed, to press her lips to the mouth of an enemy she had never even laid eyes upon?

The thought unsettled her, curling in her chest like an ember yet to catch flame.

Kai shifted beside her, his presence steady as the mountain beneath their feet. ‘We will find a way,’ he muttered, his voice weighted with a promise.

Mal scoffed, the corner of her lips quirking upward despite the storm inside her. ‘Well,’ she mused, the words tasting of bitter amusement, ‘hopefully, I’ll have killed him before he realises my eyes are real.’