People live for an ideal. When that ideal withers, they wither with it. Parting is simply the end of a journey shared by two souls who once held something sacred. So, what happens when one must die and the other must remain behind?

  Everything changed in a heartbeat. Just as hope returned, I lost him again. I clung to his hand, begging him to stay. I told him with everything I had left that I needed him, that I would find a cure.

  But I failed. Kael gently pried my hands away.

  "I can’t go on with you anymore, Annie. Every road has its end," Kael said from the edge of the pier. "You have to continue to Ethar."

  "I—" I rushed toward him.

  But he silenced me with a kiss. My first kiss—the sweetest and the most agonizing. I wrapped my arms around his neck, trying to hold time itself in place, but he eased me back and whispered:

  "It’s time for me to go."

  "Where will you go?" I asked.

  "To do what I do best," Kael replied, a faint smile flickering on his face. "I’ll kill as many as I can on this peninsula... until I become one of them." He laughed softly, even as tears shimmered in his eyes. "Go north. Go to Ethar. Find the others. Don't ever give up. Stay strong, Annie. You are the Bane of Monsters."

  I let out a laugh, but the sound was hollow, swallowed by the heavy silence around us.

  He gasped, his breath hitching as his skin turned a ghastly gray. Thin blue veins surfaced beneath his eyes, blurring under the harsh sunlight. He was changing. I cupped his face, already turning cold, and kissed him one last time before leaving him to the dark.

  His fingers had blackened, his nails sharpening into claws, yet he gently brushed the tears from my cheeks.

  "I love you," he said.

  "I love you too," I whispered through the sobs.

  With a surge of terrifying strength, he heaved against the boat, pushing me out into the open water. That was the last time I saw him—Kael, standing alone on the Iberian pier, roaring in pain beneath a burning sky. The man I would love for the rest of my life.

  For days, I drifted inside the cabin, memorizing the maps of Ethar to keep from staring back toward the coast—the home I had abandoned, the land that now held him. The farther north I sailed, the colder the air became.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  On the eighth day, when the last speck of Iberia vanished below the horizon, I finally climbed to the deck and looked out into the endless, lightless distance. My gaze turned north.

  Where was Ethar? The promised land.

  Supplies were nearly gone. If Kael were here, he would know what to do. But I was alone, aboard a boat never meant for the open sea. The water was unnervingly calm. Not even a breeze touched me. Heat rose from the surface, and clouds swirled above as if I were the center of a dying world.

  It was strange. Very strange.

  That afternoon, when a large fish took the bait, I laughed like a child, running across the deck with my prize. It was the first time I had smiled in days. But the joy did not last. The stillness was a shroud.

  "Oh, Annie, you fool," I muttered.

  The sky darkened, spinning at an impossible speed. I had taken too long to realize the truth: I was in the eye of a storm.

  I rushed below deck, fumbling through the manual Kael had given me, and stared at the barometer. 719 mmHg. A violent gale was coming. Would she sink? Could she survive? I waited for someone to tell me what to do. But no one came.

  Only then did I truly understand—I was completely alone.

  I slumped onto the deck, ready to let go. A quicker end. But when I closed my eyes, a voice rose inside me, tender and urgent: "Don't ever give up."

  "I’m afraid," I whispered back.

  "You are the Bane of Monsters."

  "Only when you were beside me."

  "I'm still here."

  I sat bolt upright. He was right. I couldn’t surrender. He was still here—inside my heart—giving me the will to move.

  "I have to live," I said aloud.

  I untied the rigging and lowered the emergency sail. It took every bit of my strength to lash it into place. I cut the engine and let the vessel run under sail alone. It was my only chance.

  At 3:00 AM, the wind began to howl. The eye was passing, replaced by a freezing, violent gale. Soon, I would face the wall.

  By 5:00 AM, the sail billowed hard, hurling the boat forward. Waves rose, white and furious, crashing over the rails. I could barely hold control as the boat surged into the chaos.

  By 6:00 AM, darkness smothered the sky. The spare sail was shredded by the wind before a massive wave snatched it away. I clung to a post as the storm battered the hull and shattered the cabin glass. Without the sail, the boat slowed, and the sea toyed with me. Five-meter waves tossed me high and dropped me hard, but the ship was stubborn, fighting to stay upright.

  The storm raged for the next three days. The mercury fell further. The wind strengthened. The waves turned violent. I had to lash myself to a support pillar inside the cabin, using a length of rope to keep from being hurled against the bulkheads by the violent pitching of the ship. I didn't pray. I didn't despair. I simply waited for the end, whatever it might be.

  By the fifth day, the wind finally weakened. The mercury crept upward. The waves grew weary, their roars turning into hollow threats. By evening, the sky glowed gold. Sunlight finally found its way through.

  The next morning, the rain had stopped. A gentle breeze pushed me north. The storm had given me more than fear; it taught me that I could survive on my own.

  A week later, with my food gone and the air bitterly cold, I climbed to the deck and lifted the binoculars.

  White. A strip of white.

  Recognition struck me like a physical blow. It was the place Kael and I had dreamed of—the snow city of legend, Ethar.

  I gripped the railing and bit my lip until I tasted blood. Then, I broke down.