I found myself on a balcony, looking out into the distance, a whole bottle of wine in hand, slowly sipping the enchanting liquid. The night sky above Fek’Toran was truly a sight to behold.

I paced my thoughts, letting each one take its time as it moved across my mind, each thread slowly unwinding before dissipating into the void.

I thought about what just happened. ‘I have a son? A real, alive, well, son? With… her?’

I took another swish of my wine, indulging in the sweetness, losing myself in the floatiness it gave me.

‘I have a son.’ The realisation hit me like a Hellboar headbutting me in the gut. It seemed surreal, that I would be in this situation. I looked at the drink in front of me, tracing my fingers across the glass.

‘How do I… proceed?’ I had so many questions, so many worries, and not an answer in sight. I glanced around me, the balcony devoid of life and light, and leant on the railing in front of me, my arms hanging lazily. I looked down, to spot the faraway ground, when dizziness made me look away again.

“So, I heard congratulations are in order,” the gruff voice made me flinch and look around me, searching for the source. A coarse touch across my left shoulder made my head turn. I looked into the eyes of the stranger I once knew.

“Berthurok.” I had called upon that name a long time ago. It sounded so mighty at times, fitting a person unmoved by life, steadily walking his own path and making his own destiny. Maybe he truly was like that, or at least a long time ago.

“It’s Dragon now,” his golden eyes gazed at me with the look he had a long time ago. I turned my head away, taking another gulp of the wine.

“So, Dragon Berthurok,” I quipped in mockery. Drakkar lost the use of their names upon ascension, only known by their titles, seldom going by their given names. But that wouldn’t stop me from calling him the way I used to for years.

“Berthurok,” he sighed in concession. “It’s always going to be just Berthurok for you, Cer.”

“Heh. Cer, how long has it been since I’ve been called that…” I let the question linger in the air, as the two relics of the past that we were stood alone on the balcony, joined by the wind and silence.

“So, you have a son now, I hear.” Berthurok’s sudden exclamation piqued my interest.

“How did you…”

“You do realise I reign over this country now, Cer? I have my eye on everything that goes on in my castle.” He gave me a mocking smile, then put an arm on my shoulder. I didn’t shrug it off or react to it in any way, just letting the fingers stay in place, as if the shoulder weren’t mine.

“Apparently, I do,” I turned to look him in the eyes again, the golden hues glowing against the dark. “I am a father… again.”

It stung. It bit. It hurt. But it somehow made me so proud as well. To be a father again. To be responsible for a child. To have someone next to you, someone bound to you in blood. It felt liberating in a way.

“So you are.” Berthurok just stated slowly, joining me in gazing into the night sky. “I guess that means we both got what we wanted all those years ago.”

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The past flooded, the memories overflown, the feelings burst.

“Although I recall wanting to have a family together, Cer. Not like this, separated by seas and castles. The two of us, with our own small brood of laughter.”

I laid my head on his shoulder, something I used to do a long time ago. “It’s better this way. Much easier. We’re both happy, and no one is suffering. What we had was in the past.”

“In the past,” he added, a small sigh escaping his toothy maw.

“And it’s good it stays there, I think. Things are less complicated that way,” I wiped a tear from my cheek, and took another swig of the sweet wine. I handed the bottle over to him, the Dragon beside me taking a gulp of his own.

“So, here we are, married… with children. Alone… together,” I smiled. Nothing was ever simple apparently. ‘The years make everything complicated.’

“Alone together,” Berthurok repeated, “sounds about right, old friend.”

“Heh, old,” we giggled.

“So?” Berthurok started with a question, getting us back into the present, where everything was messy. “You have a son.”

“Yes, I do.” I had a mangled mess of thoughts, all made simple by a single word. ‘Son.’

“What are you going to do?” he asked, the enchanting look in his eyes hitting the past again.

“I think I’m going to love him. Like a parent would. Like a father should.” I thought more about that line for a while. “That sounds good.”

“Indeed. Like a father should.”

We stood in silence for a while, slowly sipping on the wine, emptying the bottle. Someone brought another one, and we opened it as well.

“So, I saw Malkorok today,” I started.

“Ah, yes, the Elder Circle. He’s in it now,” Berthurok’s voice brimmed with pride. “He’s grown up.”

“Yes, he did,” I tapped on his thigh, “he reminds me of you when we first met. He has that same vigour you had.”

“Please don’t seduce my son, Cerolus,” he added, a slight hint of mockery traversing his tone.

“Of course I won’t.” I glanced at him. “What do you take me for?”

We laughed again.

“You going to go back to them?” he asked, returning to a more serious demeanour, more befitting a leader he was.

“I think so. I should,” I answered, not knowing what lay before me.

I stepped away from the balcony, looking up towards the Moons above us. The night was silent, and so beautiful.

“It’s been nice seeing you again, Berthurok,” I added, turning away from the man I once loved. Maybe who I would always love, and just learn to forget about loving eventually, when enough time will have passed.

“Take care, Cerolus,” he used my name in full. Maybe we weren’t meant to be after all, and me pushing him away was the right thing to do all that time ago.

“Good night,” we said to each other, parting ways again, for who knows how long.

I got back to my chambers, meeting a sight similar to what I left. Medusa laid across the floor, cradling a child. ‘No, our child.’

I stood in silence, just watching the two of them. She noticed my presence after a while.

I mouthed a short question. Something I should’ve known from the start. “Name?”

I got it across, and received a similarly silent answer.

It was a nice name. Fitting, for both a Demon and a Nazjar. Or someone else entirely, only time would tell.

I stepped slowly towards the two of them, a small tear once again making its way down my cheek. ‘I’m going to do this right this time.’

I tapped my son on his shoulder, and the child with a wetted face turned towards me. I put on my brightest grin.

“Hello, Korthonas. Look at how much you’ve grown.” I hugged him slowly, the child bawling in my chest. “Don’t cry now. Big boys don’t cry.”

I looked at Medusa and slowly took her arm, as I held my child in my arms. ‘Everything is going to be fine.’

I looked him in his bright red eyes, as a smile slowly replaced the tears. “Daddy, are you going to leave again?”

“No I won’t, my son. I’m not going to leave.”

He pushed his head into my chest again, and I clutched him harder.

“I’m never going to leave you.”