“You look dreadful, my boy,” the General said, studying the young warrior’s face with a knowing smirk.

  The prince turned slowly, golden hair falling into tired eyes that had not slept for nights.

  “If you force me to stand watch alone,” he replied coolly, “that’s what happens, old man.”

  A few soldiers nearby stifled laughter.

  For eight days the Warriors of Light had traveled without rest.

  They had crossed the blistering desert where the sun scorched even steel.

  They had sailed the treacherous sea that swallowed lesser men whole.

  And now they stood at the edge of the forbidden forest — the last threshold before the Realm of Darkness.

  They were not here to reconcile.

  They were not here to negotiate.

  They were here to provoke the ancient enemies who shared their world — the Lords of Darkness themselves.

  The General folded his arms. “You forget your rank too easily.”

  “Oh, I remember it perfectly,” the prince said lightly. “I am the Prince of Light. You should be bowing. If my father hears I took night watch like a common guard, you’ll lose your head before sunrise.”

  There was mischief in his voice — but not cruelty.

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  The General’s smirk softened. “You would never allow that. You are not your father. You are… kinder.”

  The prince cut him off before the word lingered too long.

  “That’s enough flattery. Buy me time with him. Make sure he does not notice I’m missing.”

  “That is an order.”

  Before the General could respond, the prince was already gone — vanishing into the emerald depths of the forest.

  His Pegasus waited where moonlight touched the grass.

  White as snowfall. Silent as prayer.

  The creature lifted its noble head as the prince approached.

  “Ready to explore forbidden skies, my friend?” he murmured, mounting in one fluid motion.

  The Pegasus answered with a powerful cry and surged upward.

  They pierced the clouds.

  The wind tore through the prince’s hair as he crossed into the land no warrior of Light was meant to admire.

  From above, the Realm of Darkness was not monstrous.

  It was beautiful.

  Silver rivers cut through blackened earth. Forest canopies shimmered like obsidian. Mountains rose like sleeping titans.

  And then—

  A scream.

  High. Sharp. Desperate.

  The prince’s body went rigid.

  “Ascendunt, niveus,” he commanded, and the Pegasus dove.

  They descended through shadow and mist, landing beyond the treeline.

  Another scream.

  Metal clashed.

  A thunderous impact echoed through the forest.

  The prince dismounted, drawing his blade in one swift motion. His heart beat not with fear — but anticipation. This was what he had been raised for.

  To fight.

  To conquer.

  To defend.

  He moved silently through the undergrowth.

  And then he saw it—

  A flash of steel.

  Not crude. Not frantic.

  Precise.

  Beautiful.

  The sword moved like lightning splitting the sky.

  He stilled.

  Hidden behind the leaves, he watched.

  It was not a warrior of Light.

  Not a soldier of Darkness.

  It was her.

  A girl stood in the clearing, surrounded by fallen men. Her dark hair whipped around her like a storm. Her blade hummed in the air as though it answered only to her.

  She did not tremble.

  She did not hesitate.

  She fought like the night itself had chosen her.

  The prince forgot to breathe.

  For the first time in his life, he was not thinking of battle strategies, or glory, or his father’s approval.

  He was thinking of the way moonlight touched her face.

  The way power obeyed her.

  The way his world — his entire world — seemed to shift on its axis.

  The Prince of Light had crossed into enemy territory.

  And in that forbidden forest, beneath a sky neither realm truly owned…

  He fell.