As the tigresses reunited with their leader, tears of relief and joy streaming down their faces, Zira turned to me, her eyes filled with gratitude and a hint of disbelief. "Thank you," she said softly. "I never thought I'd see them free again."

I nodded, a determined glint in my eyes. "We have a lot more to do."

The tigresses murmured in confusion. "What do we do now?" one of them asked, looking down at me. With a swift leap, I jumped onto Zira's shoulders, causing her to jolt in surprise.

"Now," I said with a grin, "we ride."

Meanwhile, in the throne room of the castle, King Bali and Queen Silvia sat on their thrones with Ember standing between them. Orion observed as Lucian, Aurelius, and... Alden all trained together, their expressions filled with joy. "Don't hold back, you two," Alden said with a smile, and they resumed their sparring, laughter mingling with the sounds of clashing blades.

Ember chuckled at this. “Don’t go too hard against my brothers, Alden!” she called out, her voice carrying a touch of warmth.

Suddenly, the room was filled with the sounds of rumbling and frantic yelling.

“Too fast! Slow down!”

“What the hell is that?” Bali asked, his concern evident as he rose from his throne. The tension in the room escalated as the stomping grew louder. Without warning, I crashed through the door, tumbling to the ground and coming to a rest with my head awkwardly nestled in the queen’s lap. I groaned, looking up to find everyone staring at me in shock because of how bad I looked, my hair was wild, my feather weaved clothes were ripped and my blackened hands weren’t healed since it was from Ember’s ark crystals. Zira and the tigresses followed behind, their presence commanding attention. “Sorry, I didn’t say you could be on my shoulders,” Zira growled, crossing her arms with a mix of frustration and exasperation.

I glanced at Alden, who was clad in the winged knights' feather-patterned armor. “Uh, Alden, what on earth are you doing?”

Alden’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Gaian, Bali and Silvia said we could stay here! We could be winged knights ourselves!” I raised an eyebrow, puzzled by his enthusiasm. “What are you talking about?”

He grabbed me and dragged me to the window. “Look out there. You don’t really expect us to stay as vessels forever, do you? You know what happened in my past—I destroyed my parents and my kingdom because of how I was raised to be Nocturne Raven’s vessel. I’m done being that dark man.”

I took in the scene outside before turning back to him. “So, in the few hours I’ve been out, you’ve had a complete change of heart?”

Alden looked taken aback. “After Zira beat us, you’ve been knocked out for a couple of days, Gaian.”

“Oh.” I shrugged, then took his hand. “Whatever, we’re leaving.” As I started to walk away, Alden shifted into a shadow and rejoined Lucian and Aurelius.

“I’m staying here, Gaian,” Alden said firmly.

I wiped my face, and Zira moved to step forward, but I raised a hand to stop her. Turning back to Alden, I looked up at him and said, “It’s fine. We’re friends.”

Zira nodded in understanding as I approached Alden. “Alden, I’m going to get both you and Ember, and together, we’ll build a new kingdom. Stop being stubborn and come with me!”

I reached out to him, but with a swift move, Alden used his dark reflexes to flip me upside down. “I’m not coming,” he growled.

"Dammit!" I growled, springing to my feet and glaring at Ember. "What happened to you? Are your parents' approval really worth this? Does it mean that much to you?"

She stood and approached me, her eyes hard and unyielding. I crouched down to meet her gaze as she looked up. "You don't get it," she said, her voice trembling with emotion. "You have no idea how much we'd kill for parental validation. You can't possibly understand."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I buried my face in my hands, frustration boiling over. "Goddamn it, listen," I said, my voice rising. "I've been stabbed, handcuffed to a wall, smacked, beaten up by Zira, and burned by Ember's crystals at least 40 times. Now you two are coming with me, whether you like it or not!"

Suddenly, a loud boom echoed through the castle, followed by the terrified screams of the people of Glimmerfen. We all rushed to the window and saw Vex, Ravyn, and an army of shadow minions approaching.

"Zira!" I shouted, my voice filled with urgency. She turned to me, her eyes wide with shock. "Who are they?"

I pressed my hand against the glass and blasted it open. “I don’t know the girl, but the guy is the vessel of the Shadow Owl, Umbra!”

We leapt down in front of the minions, and I glared at Vex. He smirked and walked up to me. “Sagea’s vessel, can I call you Gaian? You look horrible,” he chuckled.

I stepped closer, my eyes narrowing. “You try spending days in a dungeon with a crazy friend, then getting beat up by a feisty tigress, and then spending more days in a dungeon without knowing it. Then getting stabbed, then frees said feisty tigress by burning your hand on painful crystals from a dangerous ark, and then freeing almost 30 cages with the same crystals again. Yeah, I probably look horrible!”

Vex’s smirk widened. “You’ve had a rough time, haven’t you? Well, it’s about to get worse.”

We approached each other and punched each other at the same time. “I have nothing to lose!” I growled, my voice echoing with fury.

Ravyn raised her palm, summoning bolts of lightning that shot down toward Zira. With incredible speed, Zira dashed out of the way, reappearing behind her. "You dare try to hit a queen?" she hissed, her claws poised to strike. But before she could land her blow, Ravyn activated a storm shield, encasing herself in a swirling vortex of wind and electricity.

Zira snarled, her claws striking the shield to no effect. Frustrated, she spread her silver wings and took to the air. Ravyn smirked and began launching lightning strikes in her direction. "I’ve heard of you," she called out, her voice dripping with contempt. "The tigress who killed the former king and queen after the previous vessel's demise. They said a tigress became the vessel of Zephyra, but I didn’t believe it. We Avian people rule the world."

Undeterred, Zira flew straight at her. Ravyn raised her sword and stabbed Zira in the head, only to find her blade passing through a mirage. "A-an afterimage?!" Ravyn's eyes widened in shock as Zira appeared behind her, moving at incredible speed. With a fierce cry, Zira delivered a powerful punch to Ravyn’s face. "Falcon Punch!"

The Falcon Punch is a devastating attack that combines the incredible speed and the power of Zephyra, the Falcon of Speed. By channeling Zephyra's energy, Zira can move at blinding speeds, creating afterimages to confuse her opponent. When she strikes, the punch is delivered with such force and velocity that it feels like a falcon's talon crashing into her target, causing significant damage.

Ravyn let out a blood-curdling scream as she was punched, the sheer force of the blow sending her sprawling across the ground. The impact left a visible dent in her armor, and she struggled to regain her footing, her face contorted in pain and shock.

“You...you’re a monster!” Ravyn cried, backing up against a building.

Zira faced her calmly. “I’m not a monster; I just want my kingdom back.” She turned and began to walk away. “I’m coming, Kira.”

Suddenly, Zira felt lightning chains wrap around her, tethering her to the small clouds hovering nearby. Ravyn's eyes gleamed with defiance. “Did you forget? Glimmerfen is a cloud kingdom, my domain as a weather manipulator.” She sent shocks of electricity through the chains, causing Zira to scream in agony.

Meanwhile, in my battle with Vex, we both panted heavily, our clothes and skin sliced by his shadow feathers and my golden ones. “You’re different,” he muttered, wiping blood from his lip. “You’re not even in your divine mode, yet you’re going toe to toe with me. The boss will be really thrilled to hear this. Damn, it’ll be really hard to fight you when I don’t have all of the vessels of the shadow flock yet.” He sighed, his eyes filled with frustration.

I took advantage of his momentary distraction, poking his eyes and driving my knee into his stomach. “Stop whining!” I growled, but he quickly recovered, grabbing my arms and slamming me into the ground.

I grunted, pain shooting through my back as I hit the ground. Rolling to the side, I avoided his next attack, a deadly slash from his shadowy talons. "You think this is hard?" I spat, pushing myself back to my feet. "Try living through the nightmares I've faced."

Vex snarled, his eyes glowing with malevolent energy. “You haven’t seen anything yet.” He launched himself at me, moving with blinding speed. I barely managed to parry his attack with my own golden feathers, the clash sending sparks flying.

We exchanged a flurry of blows, each strike more desperate and powerful than the last. The ground around us cracked and shattered under the force of our battle. Just as he seemed to gain the upper hand, I summoned a burst of energy, driving him back with a powerful wave of light.

“You’re tough, I’ll give you that,” he said, panting and clutching his side. “But you’re not going to win.”

“Watch me,” I retorted, charging forward with renewed determination. Our fight raged on, each of us pushing our limits, neither willing to back down.