We didn't stop running until the stars changed above us.
Out of the Obsidian Wastes.
Out of the death fog.
Into a sky I didn't recognize—one with two moons and a sun that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Aeris and I dropped to our knees on a cliff overlooking the world below. I could still feel the last blow vibrating through my ribs. My lungs burned, and the shard from the mirror embedded in my chest still glowed faintly like a dying star.
"That… was too close," I muttered.
Aeris didn't answer. She was watching the sky.
The clouds were moving wrong.
Not drifting. Falling.
"Look," she whispered.
I looked.
Above the horizon, in the highest layer of the sky, something glowed.
Massive. Distant.
A floating city.
No—not a city.
A fortress.
Held together by golden chains that wrapped the clouds like armor. Spires pierced the stratosphere. Lightning danced across runes the size of mountains.
"The Dominion of the High Gods," Aeris said. "Where they govern fate."
And where, apparently, they decided we'd lived long enough.
Because as we stared, the clouds above the Dominion shifted again.
Something was coming.
A spear of light shot from the highest spire straight toward the earth.
I stood fast. "Is that an attack?"
"No," Aeris said quietly. "That's an invitation."
The spear didn't crash.
It landed gently into the ground not far from us—embedding itself into a patch of glassy rock.
I approached it carefully. The energy coming off it was so thick it made my teeth ache.
Carved into the base of the spear was a message:
"Ascend, Bastard God."
Aeris hissed. "They want us to walk into their house."
I pulled the spear from the earth. The runes along its length glowed in rhythm with the crown on my head.
"They want to break us in public," I said. "On divine ground. So all pantheons know who's in charge."
"Then we give them something else," Aeris replied. "A war cry."
I grinned. "We take the fight to heaven."
---
Twelve hours later, the world beneath us shrank.
Aeris and I soared through the clouds, riding a divine path hidden from mortal eyes—an ancient skybridge lit by memories of forgotten gods. Wind didn't touch it. Gravity didn't own it. And every step forward made the energy in my bones hum louder.
The Dominion floated ahead.
Massive.
Impossible.
A city forged from stars and prayers, suspended by chains that reached down into the underworld. Buildings shifted like they were alive. Lights blinked like eyes. The gate itself was a titan's mouth held open.
A thousand angels floated outside—winged, armored, faceless.
Waiting.
I slowed.
"Do we fight them all?"
"No," Aeris said. "We don't need to."
She held up a small, flickering flame.
"The Beacon of the Twin Flame. One light for each of us. If we plant it inside their core tower… it'll awaken our parents' final protocol."
I raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"
She looked at me.
"Collapse the Dominion from within."
That got my blood moving.
I cracked my knuckles, sword sheathed on my back, the mirror shard still pulsing in my chest like a second heart.
"Let's crash heaven."
---
We landed at the base of the Dominion.
Immediately, angels formed a perimeter.
They didn't speak.
They just moved, fast—too fast for mortals to follow.
We stood back-to-back.
Aeris twirled her spear once. "No negotiations."
I nodded. "No survivors."
The first angel dove.
I caught it mid-air, slammed it into the golden stone.
Another came from above—I spun, blade slicing upward, splitting it clean through.
Then all hell broke loose.
A swarm of divine soldiers fell on us like a tidal wave.
We danced.
Aeris spun like a thunderstorm given form, her spear dragging lightning in arcs that vaporized armor and bone. I followed the rhythm, blade flashing like starlight, parrying wings, severing arms, cutting down giants one after another.
Every blow I landed made the crown burn hotter.
The shard in my chest synced with my heartbeat—each pulse faster, stronger.
"Left!" Aeris shouted.
I dropped low, kicked one angel in the knee, then drove my blade through its gut. Another tried to pierce my side—Aeris fried it with a bolt.
A wall of golden fire rose to block us.
She pointed.
"To the core!"
We sprinted through the storm.
As we passed, angels fell like comets.
But something changed.
I felt it in the air.
The ground beneath us rippled.
The golden stones cracked.
A massive foot slammed into the road in front of us—followed by a beast.
Half machine, half god.
Twelve arms. Two heads. Wings like molten glass.
It screamed our names.
Literally screamed them.
"VALEN. AERIS."
I stopped cold.
It wasn't a guardian.
It was a prison.
Trapped inside the metal shell, bound in chains, was a woman.
Our mother.
Eyes glowing, mouth sealed, arms crushed under divine locks.
Her voice echoed in our minds.
"They used me to fuel this machine. To keep you away."
My vision turned red.
Aeris stepped forward.
"No more."
She raised her spear.
I raised my sword.
The beast lunged.
So did we.
---
The battle wasn't fair.
It was chaos.
I leapt onto one of its shoulders, stabbing deep. The machine roared and flung me off—but Aeris caught me mid-air and threw me back with a burst of wind.
I plunged my sword straight into its second heart.
It bled golden steam.
Chains rose to stop me—I blasted them apart with a pulse from the mirror shard.
Aeris cut through the wing joint, snapping one side off completely.
The beast stumbled.
Screamed.
I leapt again—this time with her beside me.
Twin strike.
My blade through its skull.
Her spear through its core.
The explosion blinded the sky.
When it cleared… it was over.
The beast collapsed.
Our mother's spirit lifted from the wreckage, eyes soft, glowing.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "We never wanted this for you."
I stepped closer, trembling. "We don't blame you."
Her hand touched my cheek.
"You must finish what we began."
Then her form scattered into divine ash, rising into the sky like stars returning home.
---
We reached the core.
A tower of light wrapped in vines of law.
Aeris stepped forward.
Lit the Beacon.
The flame surged through the tower like blood.
Runes woke.
Chains snapped.
Sirens screamed across the Dominion.
And then… the ground shook.
A golden bell rang out across the sky.
The voice of Aithon echoed from the heavens:
"You dare defy the throne?"
I stood atop the tower, the flame burning behind me.
I looked up into the sky where his voice had come from.
And I smiled.
"We're not done yet."