The light had returned

The light had returned
“Where is he? Where the hell is Avaris?”

Dyvian’s voice cracked through the silence like lightning splitting the sky. His rage wasn’t just anger, it was something like grief with nowhere to go. The air crackled with tension as his jaw tightened, muscles twitching with every suppressed urge to lash out, his eyes blazing with fiery indignation.

He had just learned what Xaren had done, how he had played a part in everything. His fists trembled at his sides. His chest burned with too many feelings to name... anger, grief, something twisted and sharp that might have been understanding. Because, deep down, he knew why Xaren did it.

If Lucifer were to rise again, there would be no mercy. The world would burn, witches hunted to extinction, humans reduced to ash. Xaren had acted to prevent that horror. But that didn’t make it right. It didn’t bring Avaris’s peace back.

Dyvian’s thoughts raced. How could Avaris ever forgive him for all the pain he’d caused, or forgive Xaren for betraying him so completely? How could either of them walk through that much blood and still find forgiveness waiting on the other side?

Xaren was kneeling, his shoulders slumped, eyes hollow like there was no life left in them. His tears had long run dry; his face looked carved from regret. His lips moved as if repeating an apology too many times to count.

“I’m sorry,” his voice cracked, breaking apart in the air. “Avaris is safe… but I don’t know for how long.”

Dyvian’s jaw tightened. “Just tell me where the fuck he is.”

“In Myur. A small village near Tevo Woods,” Xaren said quickly. “But you’re still recovering, you can’t—”

Before he could finish, Dyvian shut his eyes and tried to teleport. A jolt of agony tore through him. Dark and thick blood spilled from his mouth. His body twitched violently, refusing to obey him.

Xaren lunged forward to steady him, but Dyvian shoved him back with a glare that could have burned through stone. He stumbled toward the stables, dragging one foot after another, each step more stubborn than the last.

“Let me help you!” Xaren called out.

But Dyvian didn’t look back. He threw himself onto the horse, his breath ragged and his vision blurring. The beast reared slightly, sensing the weight of its rider’s pain, then galloped into the distance.

Nana had been watching all along, hidden behind the stacks since Xaren decided it was best to come true to Dyvian. She stepped out now, her cloak brushing the dirt while her eyes were fixed on the empty path Dyvian had taken.

“I hate that he took after his father’s stubbornness,” she muttered, almost fondly, almost with dread.

She drew in a long breath, whispered a spell, and flicked her hand. A soft shimmer of light rippled across the air. “He’ll get there safely,” she said under her breath, though her eyes betrayed worry.

When she turned, her gaze fell on Xaren. He couldn’t meet her eyes. He looked like a child caught stealing from a grave. She walked up to him and, without a word, pulled him into an embrace.

Xaren froze. Nana had never hugged him first. Never.

But her arms were warm and firm, despite the tremor in her fingers. Xaren’s throat tightened, and the tears he thought he no longer had began to fall again, slowly and without sound. He clung to her as if afraid she would disappear.

He had loved her all his life, this woman who had taken him in when the world spat him out. Even when she scolded, even when she turned away, he knew she’d saved him. And now, to stand before her as the cause of so much pain, he could hardly breathe under the weight of it.

“Can I…” his voice shook. “Can I call you mother now?”

Nana was silent for a long while. Her eyes softened, but her lips stayed firm. “Do what you like,” she murmured.

He hesitated, then whispered, “Mother… what do I do now? Will Avaris ever forgive me? Will Dyvian ever think of me as someone he can trust again? Will there ever be peace again? Can we stop Azrakel?”

Nana’s hand rested on his back. She looked past him, past the walls, past the smoke rising from the far hills, as if she could see the storm building in another world.

“It will be okay,” she said finally.

But her voice was heavy with uncertainty. And Xaren knew... she didn’t quite believe it herself.

...

The mornings in Myur were always coated in snow. Only a handful of families remained in the small village, their lives simple, their routines unchanged. But this morning, the silence felt brittle and tense.

Prince Theodore hadn’t seen Avaris look this fragile in years. Even as the young man tried to carry himself with composure, the subtle tremor in his hands, the careful way he avoided letting his gaze linger on the world, told Theodore everything. The faint light in his eyes, the spark of life, the curiosity, the mischief had dimmed.

Perhaps it would never fully return.

Three days had passed, and Avaris had spent most of them wandering the village in silence, watching children roll snow into imperfect spheres, stacking them haphazardly, laughing when the cold pinched their noses.

Today, for the first time, he allowed himself to watch, really watch.

Theo exhaled softly, a warmth rising in his chest at the sight. He wanted to tell Avaris everything would be okay, but the words stuck like ice in his throat. He didn’t know what the future held.

At that moment, one of his men approached, bowing low. “Your Highness, we’ve received a message.”

Theo gestured for him to speak.

The man’s voice was cautious. “Lord Callum has been arrested. The Emperor is preparing for an upcoming battle. Reports indicate unusual disturbances across the kingdom.”

Theo’s brow darkened, but he remained silent, listening as the soldier continued. He had sent urgent messages to the Emperor and the Grand Kingdom days ago, after Xaren’s warning and what he had witnessed with his own eyes.

It was delicate, he couldn’t speak of demons openly, not without proof, but he had no choice but to prepare.

He assumed the man was finished, but the soldier stayed, fidgeting as if weighing his next words.

“Your Highness… there’s more,” he said, his voice low. “There was a strange attack in the capital. Witnesses describe creatures… with dark wings, scales, and shadows moving unnaturally. It… it doesn’t look like anything ordinary.”

Theo’s face tightened. He rose to his feet, his gaze snapping toward Avaris, his mind racing with possibilities, worry prickling at the edge of his focus.

But before he could speak further, a commotion broke through the calm. Chaotic and panicked shouts erupted, filling the whole space.

“Don’t let him in!” one man yelled. “Someone stop him!”

But the sound of hooves drowned out the voices. A horse barreled into the small courtyard, nostrils flaring, hooves striking snow and stone alike.

Theodore’s breath caught. He drew in a warning, panic obvious in his voice, “Avaris!”

The animal skidded to a halt directly in front of Avaris, sending a plume of snow into the cold air. Silence fell, broken only by the sound of the horse’s labored breathing.

Before anyone could move, a figure dropped from the saddle. The hood covering his face slid back, revealing his features.

Theo’s fear didn’t dissipate despite seeing who the person was, it increased instead. But beneath it, he felt something unexpected: a spark, like sunlight breaking through storm clouds.

Avaris’s eyes, the ones he had feared extinguished... blinked, widening. The spark of life, of recognition, of hope, flared within them vividly.

Dyvian stood there, snow clinging to the dark folds of his cloak. The air around him seemed heavier. His gaze locked on Avaris, filled with every unspoken thought, every sleepless night, every burden he had carried to reach him.

Avaris’s lips parted but not a single word came out of him. He looked like he just saw a ghost and for a moment, he could only breathe heavily.

Theo exhaled slowly, his heart thundering in his chest. For the first time in days, he dared to hope.Because now, Dyvian was here.

And the light in Avaris’s eyes had returned.