(Ezra POV)
The rings of suns from my Celestial Domain radiated and hummed with power. Their golden-orange hues flooded every remaining crevice of this devastated battlefield—scorching light pouring over the wreckage from my clash with Yggvalk.
With every passing second, I felt the surge of solar energy flood through me, my body passively absorbing the energy released by the miniature suns.
"You feel it, don't you, Yggvalk? Or Malakar—whichever one of you is still watching," I muttered coldly. "You speak down on me and the path of my clan, but you fail to understand the kind of strength it takes to show restraint. Conquering this world would've been simple. But that's not why we were gifted this power. Our duty was to maintain peace… to be the supporting light for others."
I tightened my grip on Dawnbringer.
"Now step into my inferno, let me show you the power of the sun, the strongest symbol of power in the entire universe."
"Ignite," I commanded, my voice echoing with divine intensity.
The ring of suns around us expanded and linked together, forming a dome of solar energy. We were now encapsulated—trapped in a miniature star, mimicking the sun that our planet orbits. The solar energy pooled and condensed around us, light bouncing endlessly off the dome's inner surface. This was nuclear fusion incarnate.
"In my domain… my reserves are infinite. My power, cataclysmic. My regeneration—instantaneous. I am immortal… just like you." I proclaimed, allowing the rays of light to engulf my body, shifting my astral form into a radiant being of pure solar energy.
With the speed of light itself, I pierced through the guardian before it could comprehend what happened. It staggered, attempting to heal, but the process was sluggish now. My domain disrupted all cosmic energy not attuned to the Solaris Constellation. Its once-seamless regeneration now stuttered with weakness.
I could feel the grin on my face stretching wide.
That dormant part of me—the prideful one—awakened.
The rush was intoxicating. For the first time in what felt like forever, I stopped thinking… and started doing.
I unleashed a maelstrom of attacks. My blade carved arcs of searing light through the battlefield, each strike creating blinding afterimages. I moved too fast for my own thoughts to catch up—led by instinct, power, and an unshakable desire to dominate.
I laughed as I watched the guardian crumble—reborn, burned, and reduced to ash again and again. It couldn't keep up. Each time it reformed, it came back weaker, slower—until even its regeneration faltered. The sound of its moans, once thunderous, now whined like a dying wind.
Its once-endless cosmic energy was now reduced to a few grains of sand in an hourglass.
My task was almost complete.
Funny, isn't it? The things we once placed on pedestals… the creatures we feared as children… now nothing more than inconvenient obstacles. I thought to myself
"Look at you, Ezra," I muttered, "You've achieved more than most in your clan, let alone the world."
And yet... all I truly recognized were my failures. The things I didn't have. A wife. A clan. The love and trust of many.
As the guardian crumbled into a pile of ash, I noticed the petals of Arya's towering flower begin to wilt and collapse—shrinking rapidly.
"I guess the five minutes are already up. My job's done," I said, deactivating my domain and letting the solar dome vanish.
The corrupted aura that had tainted the air dissipated quickly. The seal was restored. Arya had completed her part.
With one last gesture, I condensed a solar beam in my palm and launched it at the sapling form of the guardian—destroying it entirely.
"I hope you return anew, Yggvalk," I whispered before making my way toward Arya.
________
(Arya POV)
Repairing Malakar's seal was a sacred process—one passed down only to the matriarch and heir of the Syltharion Clan. It was a safeguard, ensuring the knowledge never reached the wrong hands.
But this was the first time I had to do it alone.
Mother was away tending to diplomatic relations in the southern nations. Until she returned, this task was mine alone.
It started off rough. My focus wavered as I struggled to control the cosmic energy needed to fill the fractures—fault lines that crawled like growing roots. But once I found my rhythm, the rest followed. What helped most was sensing Ezra nearby. His presence brought me calm. With him watching over the battlefield, I was free to be vulnerable.
The tomb that held Malakar's body was hidden in the open—only accessible by those with the blood signature of the Syltharion matriarch. The seal itself, though ominous, was oddly beautiful. A fossilized body suspended in a glimmering amber-like material, shimmering with ancient power.
"You must have truly been a worthy adversary," I murmured. "To force the old heads to sacrifice their lives to seal you away. But as long as I live, you will not awaken."
I turned from the tomb and made my way toward the flower I had used to signal Ezra.
That's when the voice came.
"You and your predecessors… always so confident in my prison," a calm, eerie voice echoed in my mind. One I had never heard before.
"You can speak?"
"I can now," it replied. "Over the years, my essence has become more conscious—revived, slowly, by those within your grove who sparked a flicker of my being. But recently… one boy rekindled the fire entirely."
A chill crept down my spine.
"I assume you're Malakar."
"That I am," he said with a calm, almost curious tone. "And no, it's not your guards or cultists who awakened me. It was that boy in the forest… quite similar to me, actually."
I froze.
"You're talking about Ezra's son, aren't you?"
"Yes. The thirst for power. The hunger for revenge. He tries to hide it, but it leaks from him like a cracked dam. At his age, his conviction might even surpass mine. I only wish I could be free to see the destruction he'll one day cause."
"You won't," I snapped. "His father won't allow it."
"Oh, Lady Arya… you're still so young. You haven't seen what I've seen. People like that boy? You don't mold them. The world molds around them. Everything bends to them in time. I would bet my very existence on it."
"Enjoy your imprisonment," I said, ignoring his warning as I stepped outside the tomb and commanded the vines to seal it shut once more.
But before it vanished underground, his voice whispered one last time:
"You'll see me again. Soon. And when you do… I hope you're ready. Your lives will depend on it. The seal gets weaker and weaker every time you fix it. In time it will be weak enough for me to breakout"
The ground closed over the tomb as the voice of the ancient starbound faded out of my head.
"I really didn't ask for all this," I muttered under my breath, resting my hand on the stem of the giant flower. It dissolved, becoming a network of roots once more—signaling Ezra that my task was complete.