Chapter Fifty-Seven: Flames in the Snow
The clearing felt smaller than it was, as though the trees had drawn close to witness. The fire pit burned low, casting long shadows over Kael, Druaka, and Lyria.
Druaka's words still lingered in the air, hot and raw: "My heart belongs to you. Out of love."
Kael could feel the tension building in Lyria like a storm. Her bow hand twitched at her side, her silver eyes flashing sharp as a blade.
"You—" Lyria's voice broke sharp, almost a growl. She stepped forward, boots crunching on frost. "You love him? After everything? You've barely been here long enough to understand what we've built!"
Druaka rose to her feet, towering over Lyria by a head. Her tusks gleamed as she bared them, not in anger but defiance. "And yet I do understand. More than you think. I know what it is to lose everything. To fight with nothing left but the fire in your chest. He saved that fire in me."
"You don't know him like I do!" Lyria's voice cracked, her jealousy spilling over into rage. "I've fought at his side since the Hollow was nothing but mud and fear. I've bled for him. I've—" she faltered, her cheeks flushed hot, "—I've given him more than you could ever imagine."
Druaka's eyes narrowed, but she didn't flinch. She stepped closer, their breaths frosting together in the cold. "Then maybe you're afraid. Afraid that what you've given is not enough."
Lyria's hand shot out, gripping the ogre's wrist hard enough to draw a growl from Druaka. The ogre's other hand balled into a fist, her massive frame taut with barely restrained strength.
Kael stood in a heartbeat, shadows rippling from his shoulders like wings. His voice boomed, half-human, half-dragon. "Enough!"
Both women froze, but their glares stayed locked on one another. The firelight painted their faces in fierce strokes — Lyria's sharp with jealousy, Druaka's bold with newfound fire.
Kael stepped between them, his gaze cutting like molten gold. "You would come to blows over me? Over something that should never divide us?" His chest rose and fell sharply, his voice lowering. "You both matter. You both fight for me, stand for me. Do you not see the strength in that unity?"
Druaka's jaw clenched. "I will not deny my heart. Not again. I won't hide from what I want."
Lyria's hands trembled at her sides. She swallowed hard, her voice raw. "And I won't lose him. Not to anyone. Not after everything."
The silence that followed was suffocating. Kael looked from one to the other, his own heart pounding as though the battlefield had come to him here in the snow.
Finally, Druaka spoke, her tone softer but still edged. "Then perhaps… there is no need for losing. Perhaps we can both stand at his side. He is more than one man. He is Kael."
Lyria's eyes flicked to Kael, then back to Druaka. Her lips pressed thin, her chest heaving with restrained fury. For a moment Kael thought she would refuse, thought she'd storm away and leave this rift to fester.
But then she exhaled sharply, a bitter laugh breaking from her throat. "Gods help me… you're as stubborn as he is."
Her hand rose, brushing Kael's wrist, lingering on the bracelet Druaka had made. "If this is what it comes to… then so be it. But understand this—" she turned her sharp gaze back to Druaka, "—if you betray him, if you bring him pain, I will cut you down myself."
Druaka bared her tusks in something like a smile. "I would expect nothing less."
Kael looked between them, stunned at what had just unfolded. Two women who had nearly come to blows over him now stood—tense, wary, but aligned. His chest swelled with something deeper than pride, deeper than desire. For the first time in years, he felt whole.
He placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Then it's decided. I will not choose between you, because I cannot. You are both my strength. And together, we will build something greater than any kingdom."
The fire crackled, sending sparks spiraling into the night sky. The pact was uneasy, fragile, but real. And Kael knew, as he looked into the eyes of both women, that the Hollow's future had just taken a new and uncharted shape.