At the Edge of the Heart

The once-grand stone courtyard of the castle had fractured into floating cliffs, some the size of temples, others barely larger than stepping stones. Each trembled under the weight of godly fury, drifting like shattered glass across a sky now painted with blood-colored lightning. Orion and Terran leapt from stone to stone, their battle echoing like war drums across the void.

Terran was agile – his feet gliding over unstable ground, swords flashing like moonlight in a storm. Orion kept up, but preferring to steel himself into defensible positions, letting Terran come to him. He slammed down with the weight of mountains, his mace creating shockwaves with every strike. The air howled between them, bent and warped by the ferocity of their blows.

The cliff beneath Orion split again, forcing him to leap just as Terran’s blade whistled past his head. He countered with a wide arc of his mace, shattering part of the outcrop where Terran stood.

But the elf was already gone, disappearing into the smoke.

And to Orion’s shock – a voice cut through the carnage. Just loud enough for him to hear.

“Orion!”

It was distant, but unmistakable.

His eyes darted toward the voice – it was Emi. She had made it back, sprinting across the edge of the collapsing battlefield, her eyes wide, her arms outstretched in desperation. Her presence was like a miracle…

And a curse all at once.

For Terran had noticed her as well.

And he acted quickly on his instinct. Knowing deep inside – it was not personal.

With a grunt, Terran swept his leg at a pillar-sized boulder nearby, slicing a chunk from its base with one sword and kicking it with all his might. The jagged mass flew like an arrow toward her – spinning through the chaos, a heat-seeking missile that hungered for blood.

“No!” Orion roared.

In a blink, he was gone from his ledge – instantly appearing between Emi and the stone like a flash of silver fire. He raised his shield, and the ancient metal expanded in a hum of power just in time. Just enough to shatter the boulder into a million harmless specks of sand.

The impact shook the whole field, debris exploding outward. Emi hit the ground with a cry, shielding her head. Through the smoke, she looked up…

And there he was – standing above her, shielding her completely, his white hair fluttering like a flag of defiance.

For her, just seeing him here – was all that she needed.

And for him, just seeing her safe – gave relief to his heart.

But from behind him…

A sharp gasp synchronized with the cut.

Terran had moved like a ghost through the smoke – both hands on the hilt of his sword, plunging it straight through Orion’s back. Reveling in the depth of the steel.

The blade burst through the front of his torso, glinting just inches from Emi’s face.

She held her hands over her mouth, eyes widened, not daring to even make a sound as Orion’s black blood dripped from his wound.

Finding her courage inside, she reached her hands up to him, her fingers trembling beneath his short breath, but she still felt the resolve beating inside. He did not falter, he did not buckle.

For her courage had transferred over to him, allowing him the grit to grip straight onto the sharp blade coming out of his chest.

Terran's eyes widened.

A burst of starlight erupted from Orion’s chest, and with a mighty roar, he turned. His fist, clothed in cosmic flame, collided with Terran’s gut.

Terran was launched backwards like a comet, flying across the cliffs and crashing through one, then another, each impact leaving smoking craters in stone. His sword – still impaled – remained where it was, buried in Orion’s torso.

“ORION!”

Emi’s hands trembled as she grasped the hilt of Terran’s blade, slick with blood and still warm from Orion’s body. Without hesitation, she pulled it free.

A choked sound escaped Orion’s lips, not out of agony, but something closer to laughter. One of his rare, quiet laughs that stirred like the wind through winter trees.

“Gently now,” he said, and smiled.

“You’re hurt!” Emi cried out, her voice cracking. Her hands reached for him, for his wounds, for anything she could do.

Tears welled in her eyes as she dropped to her knees beside him.

But Orion raised a hand. Calm and steady.

“I’m fine,” he said softly.

And strangely, it was true.

He breathed in once, then summoned a glow from his chest. His fingers flicked through strange runes, and in an instant, the gaping hole in his side began to seal. Muscles reknit. Flesh returned. The bleeding stopped. His cloak fluttered as though restored by unseen hands.

Still, he exhaled slowly, wincing.

“That… still did a number, though.”

They sat together in the aftermath – among cliffs torn from the earth, the sky warped with apocalyptic fire. Though she knew nothing of the specific forces at work, Emi could feel it in her bones:

The end was creeping in. Not just here – but everywhere.

She could hear the tears in the multiverse, see the crimson fractures in the very air. Earth, Gigas, perhaps even worlds unnamed. All shuddered with the weight of what was coming.

Orion looked around them. His eyes, ancient and unreadable, now slowly growing soft and gentle as they landed back on her. For a long time, he said nothing. Thinking of everything that had happened.

And so, he realized – the time for thinking was over.

It was time to speak.

“Emi.”

She looked up, surprised.

“You… said my name,” she whispered, as if afraid to shatter the moment.

He nodded slowly.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” he said, eyes never leaving hers. “I’m sorry for what I said. Ever since we first met… you’ve shown me what a beautiful person looks like. You've shown me joy. The simple life. All the things I have long forgotten when I took up this mantle.”

He paused. The storm around them swirled, waiting.

“You… you were too good to me. So I told myself…” He looked away, ashamed. “I thought to myself… how could someone like you… ever love someone like me?”

With that, Emi instantly broke down.

Tears spilled from her eyes. Her arms wrapped tightly around him, as if to shield him from his own sorrow. She buried her face into his chest, gripping his armor with both hands.

And he, quietly, let her.

The indulgence of a steel warrior – now allowed a moment of comfort.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, resting his chin on her head. “I’m sorry for the things I’ve said. For the ways I treated you. The only reason the Evil inside me is even leaking out in the first place…”

He pulled back just enough to meet her gaze.

“Is because of you.”

Emi was stunned, not knowing what to say.

“You,” he said, “are the light of my heart.”

His hands reached out, finding hers. They were calloused, worn from battle and time, but gentle now. He held them as if they were something sacred. Something fragile, yet more enduring than all the weapons in the world.

Not so long ago, those same hands had crushed life like a cruel child squeezing a bird, mistaking control for care.

But now…

Now they trembled slightly, letting the moment consume any pride he had left.

His thumbs caressed the backs of her hands in slow, deliberate circles. A silent apology written through touch.

He looked at her, eyes shadowed with memory but brightened now with something soft – something new.

“Emi…” he said again, her name foreign on his lips but perfect all the same.

“I love you too.”

Emi’s eyes widened, her breath close to getting caught in her lungs, unable to exhale.

And then he leaned forward.

Their foreheads touched, the space between them thinner than air. Feeling the warmth of skin, heart – all things that were slowly turning him human once more.

Closing his eyes – Orion whispered to her, a song:

“You are precious to me.”

A vow, a promise, a truth. Buried deeper than any magick he had written on his heart, things he thought he could never find in his life with the heavy gravity of his Destiny.

But now, with the universe trembling at the edge of collapse, transforming in and out of colors, sounds, and clashing soils breathing lightly of pains and healing seeds. At the center of all things coming together.

The two of them kissed.

Not as warlock and mortal.

Not as king and maiden.

But humans who had found each other.

In this small place – there was only warmth of wind.

Only the stillness, time seemingly halted.

Here – there was only their love.