“Did the laws to play god change while I'm away?” laughing softly to herself, Esme took Eiden's hand in hers.

"No."

Eiden took his eyes from Esme to look at his mother.

"No," Mother said again.

"They didn't play God. They didn't. They gifted magic to us, they stayed away, they let us be ourselves. Humanity rose and fell, to rise again. They didn't interfere.

But, you. You wanted to control. You corrupted Nexus. There was no loyalty, you corrupted them and bound them to your will. You destroyed your word. You ruined our glorious past."

Mother's words were thrown at her like sharp spiky wedges of ice.

"Now you're taking the life of a child, Esmeralda is only a child, you destroyed her. Get your hands away from my son."

Esme's smile faltered as her grip on Eiden's hand tightened.

"Oh, Enya, what would Esrion think if he heard his precious little grandson freed me after he spent centuries trying to catch me." Esme crooned, but was interrupted by clattering of loud footsteps.

Eiden saw his father with his friends and Evan running towards them followed by a group of strange-looking people led by a beautiful armored woman. Some of them looked hurt and bloody, indicating that they must have fought with guards. They stared dumbfounded at the scene in front of them.

"Father…" Evan cried and fell to his knees cradling Uncle's lifeless body to his chest. Eiden's father attacked the protective barrier with fire but failed to do any harm.

"Oh, My dear brother. Aren't you happy? He's not going to treat you like a perfect son and soldier anymore. Too many expectations, nothing you do is good enough, etc etc. Haven't you been whining all the time? There, I took care of that business." Esme laughed.

Evan looked utterly shocked seeing his sister's sinister smile.

"Let them go, you, bitch."

With a loud clash, a flaming sword descended over the protective barrier and shook the earth. Suddenly, Eiden felt hot piercing pain in his heart, making him cry out loud and making his father freeze with the raised sword. He saw both his mother and papa too writhing in pain.

"Ah hah, no sharp things," Esme said in a disciplinary voice.

"I didn't even finish saying what a good boy Eiden is." She giggled and continued

"So, Esrion thought it's a genius idea to drain my power, my magic to these pretty little items." Esme picked up the previously broken halves of the crystal statuette. Eiden noticed it's slowly mending now.

"And he imprisoned me in this, where its heart is. Talk about the irony. It was his grandfather, my lover's blackened heart betrayed me.”

“I was helplessly waiting, again. Until a greedy human found me, but I was too powerless to get him to do my bidding, I couldn't get him to destroy my prison." Esme turned to Eiden, and put one hand on his cheek and kissed the other.

"This sweet boy destroyed my prison. In the heart of the statue that exploded by your spell, that's where the black crystal that Esrion made into my prison was hidden by the human who found it.

Perhaps it was for you I've been waiting, my love. You didn't only free me, but gave me a new body."

Eiden's shock and disbelief must have shown in his face.

"Aww, don't look sad, sweetheart." Esme tapped his nose.

“You…it's you behind the coup.” Eiden tried to process his mother's accusations in his slow and hazy mind. Did Esme manipulate lord Vincent to secretly plot the empress's demise?

“Love of Esrion's life. The one who heard his call. I was more than happy to let her go after him.” Her words were dripping with poisoned hatred. Esme set the beautiful statuette on the floor, carefully.

"Esmeralda, like my dear brother, gave such a fight. I was really angry when she warned you about the child. Oh. How much I hoped to have our child, Eiden. She just ruined it by planting a seed of suspicion. I recognized it at once in your eyes. Then, you ran away. Naughty boy." Esme lightly slapped his cheek.

"Stay away from my son." Mother gasped. Eiden realized his mother was much weaker, as the power kept draining. She was crying and her tears were failing nonstop, yet Eiden felt no sympathy, no need to console her. Everyone outside the protective barrier looked hypnotized by Esme.

"You dream of being married to me." Esme turned to him and whispered.

"Yes…" Eiden muttered watching her lips, and remembered the dream he had.

"I know how much you love me, Eiden Northstar. You think I'm beautiful beyond the words, even now." Esme wrapped her hands around his shoulders.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“We are destined to be together, my starlight. Our paths are meant to be crossed. You feel just like Sol.”

She had removed her robe before, and under that she was wearing shining black tights and a black silky shawl tied over her chest, revealing the runes written over the heart and hands. It was the first time Eiden had seen Esme with such radiating beauty. Her body was now glowing with power.

Eiden heard someone's enraged war cry and realized his father had attacked the protective barrier again, which showed a number of sizzling cracks. Esme's power held most of them dazed, but his father somehow had broken the trance.

"Oh, again? bad boy. You know, darling, I'm sick of people disturbing me when I'm in the middle of something important." Esme sighed.

"Don't look at them, darling…" Her sweet low voice didn't sound like a command, yet he instantly obeyed and turned back to her. Her lips looked inviting. In reality, he never had a chance to kiss Esme before. What's the point of waiting anymore? Eiden closed the gap between them and touched her full red lips with his.

“Arh…" someone cried out, and Eiden heard a roaring growl. He had to look, even though it was hard to take his eyes off Esme, he wanted to see. Blood splattered on Clade's face, and more blood dripped from his shoulder. Evan lay at his feet, unmoving. Clade bared his teeth at them and threw a bloody dagger to the ground.

"As useless as Father always said." Esme shook her head.

"You said you could beat him, any day. Didn't you, my love? So powerful. Do you know that Esme loves you, we aren't different, Eiden. I and Esme are the same." She took Eiden's face in her hands, looking directly into his eyes, and whispered.

"We are both powerful. It's our time now. Do you understand?" Eiden nodded. It makes sense. He's powerful. Esme too. He can feel that.

"We need people loyal to us. Let me call my people." Esme, who was standing in front of him, came to his side and Eiden turned as well. He saw the tree for the first time after the ritual started. Oh. Another leaf fell. With only a few dying leaves desperately clinging to twigs, it looked like it was struggling to survive through an unexpected sudden oncoming of a harsh cold winter.

Eiden watched as Esme started writing the runes in the air. He recognized them. Opening the way to the shadow dimension. He heard someone calling him. But, he didn't listen as Esme hugged his body to hers. She was scorching hot. Eiden shuddered. He felt his body melting in her embrace.

Then, Eiden felt something was gnawing at the connection between him with others. Over Esme's shoulder where he was resting his chin, he saw thin and small blades of ice trying to sever the magical thread connecting his mother and papa to him. He squinted at the sight.

How did Mother conjure ice? Why is she doing that? Then he saw where the ice was from. Her tears flew there one by one, Mother's white robe was red, and blood was dripping from her nose due to the strain. He thought his mother was crazy, the backlash of breaking the connection could kill her. He needs to tell Esme. They need the flow of power coming to them. But, he was too comfortable to bother. Then, Esme took him out of her arms, by holding his shoulders. He whined because of the loss of her warmth.

"See, now let me open this. My children of darkness will serve us, they are loyal, they are not weak like humans, and they won't turn their back to comrades." She smiled and kissed his forehead.

For a fleeting second, Eiden thought of a hill slope, on a bright spring morning, covered with endless meadows of little blue flowers. Hero's tears, he had heard somewhere. Graves of warriors who were slain by their comrades, their loyal brothers in arms who learned to swing their blades together, trusted friends who vowed to fight by their side, riding to the enemy fronts like a stormy gale…

Eiden felt the magical flow weakening The bond had finally given in and snapped. At the same time, the protective barrier went down with an ear-ringing blast. The backlash must have thrown everyone back, as Eiden heard painful cries.

Eiden looked at Esme. His Esmeralda. Eiden remembered her being angry, being scared, and crying on his shoulder. Eiden watched the bliss in her smile when she wrote the last rune. The breeze started. She giggled. That smile looked wrong on her small face. Very wrong.

Breaking the connection freed him. He saw someone attacking them, and he thought of shielding themselves. But, there was no need as he didn't feel any weapon hit them because he was enveloped in Esme's power field. The portal in front of them had opened. It looked like a huge black tunnel and Esme extended her hand to it.

Eiden didn't know he loved Esmeralda. But, he thought he might have.

When they built elaborate sand cities on the golden beaches of the Gallean Sea, when they sailed their little boats, waving bright colorful flags at the summer rush races, when they walked along the cherry blossom streets, eating pink candy floss, when the wind shook the flowery boughs covering them with rosy white petals, when she yelled at him for making Evan angry, when she threw her arms, shouting in desperation trying to stop the petty fights between Evan and him…

Somewhere along those times, he might have loved her and she might have loved him. Esmeralda, the princess of golden flames, one thing Eiden ever agreed with Evan, they called her so, laughing at her blazing anger when she chastised the boys for ruining her peaceful life with their constant quarreling, was precious to him.

Eiden summoned the dagger, which was on the ground, still covered with someone's blood, its red diamond tip glinting like a star. The dagger, forged from the fire burned deep into the core of their world and could pierce the corrupted hearts.

For Esmeralda, for their unknown, undiscovered, and unexplored love. The dagger flew like a bolt of lightning towards them, and midway it burst into flames. It pierced her back, at the left side, right where her blackened heart was. She screamed.

Eiden clutched her hand that extended at the portal. A wave of fire shot from it. For the first time after his wings were cursed by dark magic, Eiden summoned his broken wings and enveloped her within them.

He let them burn. Burn in a roaring inferno. His cleansing fire went through the portal, distant painful cries and screechings were drowned by unearthly screams from Esmeralda. Eiden didn't know whether he screamed or not, though he was in immense pain. Yet, he didn't stop.

He fed his fire with his love for his family, and his friends who he had no idea were alive or not. With his pain, as his once beautiful fluffy wings burned in red flames. With his remorse for he was the reason Esmeralda lost herself to the shadows. With his empathy for the lost souls that were corrupted in the darkness.

The portal was not black anymore, it was a swirling storm of fire. Esme tried to get herself out of his grip, but the hold of his wings and magic was strong. So they burned and burned together for eternity or Eiden thought it was. He watched the portal collapse and there was an unending flashy rain of white sparks.

Let go of your fire. It's over. Something whispered to him from an ancient, creaking deep voice.

Good idea. He laughed because he had no more strength to keep going.

Everything around him was on fire. Eiden dropped Esme's hand, and swiped his hand, summoning a wave of water. ‘Quench the flames’ he tiredly asked, letting them engulf in the cool rain.

Eiden closed his eyes. He thought just a second before the blackness overcame him, in the middle of the dying flames and wisps of white smoke, he saw Esme smile.