The Blade That Burned (part II - The Fear That Never Fades)

The night was thick with blood and fire.

As I ran, carrying Princess Annya in my arms, the bitter wind of betrayal and ash clawed at my face. Behind us, the echo of clashing steel, snarling magic, and the groans of the wounded grew fainter—yet it tore deeper into my chest than any blade ever could.

Jonathan…
The Blade Demon…
My teacher… My family…

He was still fighting. Still standing. Even with blood pouring from the gaping hole in his chest. Even with one eye crushed and his arm ripped from its socket.

He had become a wall between death and the girl we both swore to protect.

And I… I was the coward who ran.

No.
No—I wasn't a coward.
I was doing what he ordered.

But that didn't stop my legs from trembling. It didn't stop my heart from fracturing with every step I took away from him. Away from the man who taught me to wield a blade, not as a weapon—but as a will.

“Don’t look back,” he had shouted—his voice breaking through the chaos like the last toll of a funeral bell.

But I looked back anyway.

For one second.

Through the smoke and flames, I saw him—still standing. Knees buckling. Sword dragging through stone. Surrounded. Battered. Broken.

But not defeated.

He looked at me with that one remaining eye—filled with rage, sorrow, and pride—and mouthed something I’ll never forget:

“Live. For her.”

And then… the flames consumed him.

A dozen mages struck at once. A single explosion lit up the courtyard like a second sunrise—searing everything in white fire.

My legs gave out.

If it weren’t for Annya softly whispering my name, I think I would’ve crawled back there…
…and died beside him.

But I didn’t. I held her tighter and ran. Through torn gardens. Through splattered halls. Past the corpses of the servants who had once smiled at us.

The palace was falling.

Every scream was a nail in the coffin. Every collapsed pillar was a memory crushed. Every step forward felt like walking over shattered glass barefoot, but I kept going—because his last order still rang in my bones like thunder:

Protect her.