A faint cough.

He jolted. The sound was so weak that it was almost drowned out by the horror surrounding him, but clear enough to make his heart stop.

He turned sharply to the left, throwing himself against a pile of debris.

He pushed aside a large feather encrusted with blood, and there, curled up inside a rusted suit of armor, he saw Gelsomina.

Dirty, covered in scratches and blood, but alive.

“Gelsomina!”

Aster hastily picked her up, yet with extreme gentleness, holding her in his hands like the most precious treasure. There was no time to lose. Carefully, calculating every step to avoid new dangers, he left the nest as quickly as possible and returned to Valantz.

As soon as the vampire saw the nymph in that state, he did not hesitate. He opened the sack and quickly took out a vial, pouring a few drops onto the creature’s wounds.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, slowly, Gelsomina opened her eyes.

She rubbed them, confused and tired. Her gaze settled on Aster… and she saw his face, streaked with tears of joy.

Despite her exhaustion, she found the strength to smile at him.

“Thank you…” she whispered weakly. “Thank you for saving me.”

Aster held her gently, unable to say anything. Words were not needed. In that moment, all that mattered was that Gelsomina was alive.

But the moment of respite was short-lived.

Valantz stretched his shoulders, making his armor creak, and turned to Aster with a resolute expression.

“If we’re done here, we might as well leave. I still have unfinished business to settle.”

Aster, still holding Gelsomina, who was sleeping deeply in his hands, raised his gaze toward him, curious.

“Unfinished business?” he asked. “If I can help you in any way… I want to repay you.”

Valantz smiled. But it was not a friendly smile, nor one of gratitude. It was the confident smile of someone who does not ask for help, who is used to solving things alone and does not want interference. A firm smile, with a slight hint of challenge, as if any intrusion in his affairs was unnecessary, even annoying.

“I appreciate the thought,” he replied firmly. “But Nyxial and I don’t need help, do we?”

At the sound of his name, Nyxial neighed. But it was not an ordinary neigh.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

From his nostrils, shadows emerged, swirling like thick, living smoke, writhing in the air before dissolving into nothingness. At the same time, from the cracks of his open mouth, tongues of twilight fire emerged, dancing like ghostly flames in the wind. The sound that accompanied that gesture was a deep, guttural growl, which transformed into a hoarse and menacing neigh, similar to distant thunder announcing a dark storm.

“I’d say we agree,” Valantz concluded with an amused smile.

Then he approached Aster and lowered his gaze to Gelsomina, who rested in his hands, her breathing slow and barely perceptible. He observed her for a moment, then, in an almost playful tone, said: “She’s cute.”

Aster turned toward him, surprised. Valantz, however, without waiting for a response, turned to Nyxial with a smirk.

“Come on, come see how cute she is.”

Nyxial snorted in displeasure and, along with the hot air of his breath, small incandescent flames erupted from his nostrils.

“I don’t like cute things,” he grumbled, his deep voice resonating in the minds of those present like a distant echo.

Valantz laughed and ran a hand affectionately through the pegasus’s mane.

“Then you don’t even like yourself,” he remarked mockingly. “Because in your original form, you’re cute too.”

Nyxial instantly stiffened and stood still for a moment. Then, despite being a dark and majestic being, with his coat as black as a starless night, he seemed to blush.

His fur, thick and velvety, had no reflections: it absorbed light like a bottomless abyss, deep and unfathomable. Every movement of his body made his mane sway, dense like living shadows, seeming to shift shape with the wind. Even his wings, powerful and sculpted from the night itself, shuddered slightly, as if trying to shake off the embarrassment.

Aster observed the scene and smiled. But not to mock them, not because he was laughing at them. He smiled because he found them close. Two beings so different, yet bound by a deep and genuine bond.

Nyxial noticed and stared at him with his cold, glowing eyes.

“And what are you laughing at?” he asked in a low, almost menacing voice.

Aster felt a shiver run down his spine, but he found the courage to respond with a shy smile.

“It’s just that… being with you is nice,” he said quickly. “And… you put me in a good mood.”

Valantz burst into laughter and clapped him on the shoulder.

Too hard.

Aster, caught off guard, lost his balance and nearly fell, almost dropping Gelsomina from his hands. He straightened just in time and shot Valantz an irritated look.

“If I had fallen, Gelsomina would have gotten hurt,” he scolded with a glare.

Valantz raised his hands in surrender.

“You’re right, my fault,” he admitted with a half-smile.

After carefully placing Yvrathis’s horn back into his sack, Valantz mounted Nyxial with his usual ease. Then, he extended a hand to Aster to help him up.

Nyxial took off with a powerful beat of his wings.

The wind whistled around them as they rose above the tower, but the flight did not last long. After just a few moments, the pegasus glided gracefully and landed not far from the base of the tower.

In front of them, among the rocks and dust, lay the colossal body of the Shyvrakth.

As Valantz had suspected, the monster was not dead.

It was still alive.

But on the brink of death.

The gigantic, cursed raptor was slumped on one side, its breathing labored and uneven. Its beak, shattered by the impact of Valantz’s hammer, was reduced to a horrible mess of splintered bone and dried blood. Its black plumage, once imposing and menacing, was now dirty with dust and torn in several places. One wing lay bent at an unnatural angle, proof that the fall had broken more than one bone.

But its eyes were still burning. Not with fear. Not with plea.

But with a fierce and indomitable hatred.

Valantz dismounted from Nyxial with a cold and calculating smile.

“Now, let’s settle the score.”