The world held its breath.
Sunrei knelt on the black sands, Kaelis's hand warm in his, the last echoes of the Maw's scream fading into silence. The brands were gone all but his. His mark burned gold now, the light softer, warmer, like the first rays of dawn after an endless night.
Kaelis's fingers tightened around his. Sunrei...?
Her voice was hers again. No whispers. No layers. Just Kaelis.
Sunrei opened his mouth
The sand shuddered.
Lithriel's body convulsed, her silver hair fanning around her like a broken halo. The brands that had once marked her skin were gone, leaving only pale scars in their wake. Her eyes flew open
Brown.
Not hollow. Not violet.
Human.
She gasped, her hands flying to her throat, her chest, as if she couldn't believe she was alive. When she spoke, her voice was raw, young.
What... what did you do?
Sunrei looked down at his golden brand. What I should have done a long time ago.
The shore was different in the daylight.
The black sand had lightened to a soft gray, the sea returning in gentle waves that lapped at their feet. The ruins of the city still stood in the distance, but the air no longer reeked of smoke and decay. It smelled of salt and something fresh something new.
Kaelis sat beside Sunrei, her knives cleaned and sheathed, her gaze distant. They're really gone. All of them.
Sunrei nodded. The Eclipse. The Maw. The endless cycle of brands and sacrifices.
Gone.
Lithriel no, Liri, as she'd asked to be called now hugged her knees to her chest, her brown eyes wide. I remember everything.
Sunrei's brand pulsed. So do I.
And he did.
The truth, unclouded by the Maw's lies.
The brands had never been chains.
They'd been promises.
Promises to remember.
Promises to endure.
Promises to one day break free.
The survivors found them by midday.
Marked ones, their brands faded to scars, their eyes clear for the first time in years. They came in twos and threes, drawn to the shore, to the golden light of Sunrei's mark.
No one bowed.
No one called him king.
But their gazes lingered on his wrist all the same.
An older woman, her face lined with scars both old and new, stepped forward. What now?
Sunrei looked at Kaelis. At Liri. At the sea stretching endlessly before them.
We live, he said softly.
And for the first time in centuries
He meant it.
Night fell gently.
The survivors built fires along the shore, their voices low but hopeful. Stories were shared of families lost, of battles fought, of dreams buried beneath the weight of the brands.
Kaelis sharpened her knives by the firelight, her movements slow, deliberate. You could leave, you know.
Sunrei frowned. What?
The power in that brand. She nodded to his wrist. You could go anywhere. Be anything.
Sunrei studied the golden mark. The Maw's essence still lived there, a quiet hum beneath his skin. It wasn't gone just changed. Like him.
Where would I go?
Kaelis's smile was small, but real. Good point.
Liri joined them, her silver hair gleaming in the firelight. She held out a small black flower the last one, plucked from the ashes of the Maw's reign.
For remembrance, she said softly.
Sunrei took it.
The petals crumbled to gold dust in his palm.
Dawn came softly.
Sunrei stood at the water's edge, the golden brand warm on his wrist, the sea breeze cool against his skin.
Kaelis joined him, her shoulder brushing his. You're thinking too loud.
He smiled. Just wondering what comes next.
She followed his gaze to the horizon, where the first true sunrise in centuries painted the sky in hues of gold and pink.
Whatever we want.
And for the first time in his long, long life
Sunrei believed it.