Eryndor's eyes snapped open.
For a heartbeat, he couldn't tell if he was still in the astral sky or the waking world. The air smelled faintly of smoke and rain, his body heavier than stone. His vision swam, but the faint warmth of a hand resting against his own anchored him.
"Eryndor…?"
Her voice.
He turned his head slowly. Lyanna sat beside him, hair unkempt, exhaustion plain on her face. Her eyes, however, were brighter than he remembered, lined with tears she refused to let fall.
"You're back."
He exhaled, the weight of the astral training, of the storm, settling into something steady inside him. His hand tightened over hers. "I told you… I'd always come back."
Lyanna's brother and father gave them space, though their presence lingered in the next room. Kael stood at the doorway, leaning against the frame with his usual smirk, but even he looked relieved.
"How long was I out?" Eryndor asked, his voice rough.
"Four days," Lyanna answered. "You scared us half to death."
He sat up carefully, though his body protested. He was still battered, but compared to before, he felt sharper, stronger — alive in a way that wasn't just physical. The astral storm hummed inside him like a tamed beast.
Then his eyes flicked to Lyanna's hand. She wasn't just holding his — she was resting her other palm lightly against her stomach. His gaze softened, his throat tightening.
"You weren't dreaming," she said quietly, as if reading his thoughts. "It's real. I… I'm pregnant."
The words hit him harder than any blade, any monster. His heart hammered, but not with fear. With awe.
"How far along?" he whispered.
"Only weeks," she admitted. "But it's there. Our child."
He leaned closer, resting his forehead against hers. "A storm can't be tamed… and yet here I am, terrified, because this means more than any battle."
Lyanna smiled faintly, her own tears finally slipping free.
Eryndor was twenty-one now, though the weight on his shoulders made him feel older. Lyanna, just twenty, still carried that quiet warmth, but her resolve had hardened in ways he hadn't noticed before. They weren't children anymore. They were about to become something more — a family.
Kael coughed from the door, breaking the silence. "Don't get too sappy, storm boy. The old man and I have been keeping the house from being eaten while you've been napping."
Eryndor shot him a look, half-annoyed, half-grateful. Then his gaze softened again, falling back to Lyanna's stomach. He reached out, placing his hand gently over hers.
"I don't know what kind of world this is going to be," he said. "But I swear… our child will see something better than monsters and endless war."
Lyanna pressed her forehead against his shoulder. "Just don't break yourself again before you meet him."
Eryndor froze. "…him?"
She blushed. "I don't know. I just… feel it."
For a moment, he allowed himself to imagine it — a boy with his storm and her fire, or perhaps something entirely new. It scared him as much as it thrilled him.
Outside, the wind carried the faint scent of ozone. The storm wasn't done with him. Not yet. But in this moment, as he held Lyanna close, he found something rare in his life: peace.
And yet, somewhere on the horizon, monsters stirred again.
The calm wouldn't last.