Raka Frozenlight lay unconscious, his broken form hidden behind the jagged boulders like a forgotten relic of war. Blood painted the frost beneath him thick, crimson trails carving grief into the earth. His breathing was faint, but steady a flicker in a storm.
Yet something else chilled the soul deeper than his wounds.
"B-Brother North..." Alexander stammered, his voice shaking. "Raka's hair… it's black now. The mark lust and greed corruption has taken root."
I knelt beside Raka, lifting him into my arms. His skin was cold, unnaturally so, but not lifeless. Closing my eyes, I reached into the divine my essence of Ice glowing with moonlight's purity as it flowed into him like winter's breath.
For a moment, silence. Then
Cough! Cough!
A sharp pain burst in my chest. Blood spilled from my lips, splattering onto the frost. The corruption had fought back. Greed lashed out like thorns, and Lust twisted around it like smoke. Their essence clawed at mine vile, relentless.
I released the connection.
The wound in my mouth stung, but it was Alexander's expression that made me chuckle his worry so pure it looked almost foolish.
"Raka's life is not in danger… for now," I said, wiping the blood from my chin. "But the corruption is growing. When I tried to suppress it, Greed resisted and Lust only amplified the decay."
I looked down at Raka, his face pale, his divine light dimmed and distorted.
"The corruption runs deep but it can still be cleansed."
Turning to Alexander, my tone hardened.
"Alexander Frozenlight, by my divine authority as Lord of the North, I command you seek the Goddess of Nature, Cedar Puregreen. Tell her what has happened. Beg her to come."
Alexander dropped to one knee, his fist over his heart. "As you command, my Eternal Lord."
"I will summon Saint Samuel to oversee Slumber Pit until your return," I added.
Without hesitation, Alexander rose and vanished into the mist, a streak of duty in the night.
I stayed behind a moment longer, cradling my brother, feeling the chill of his body fight against the warmth of my grief.
The stars above remained silent. The fireflies had fled. And the air smelled not of ice but of endings.
Saint Samuel approached, the moonlight cloaking his form in silver and shadow. Behind him, the soldiers stood in silent reverence, their breaths misting in the cold, blood-tinged air. The scent of ash and sorrow still lingered.
He knelt before me, his voice solemn.
"My Eternal Lord… your servant awaits your will."
I did not look up. My gaze remained locked on the broken form of my brother Raka, the Angel of Frost now silent and still, cradled in my arms like a fallen star. His once-pure aura tainted, his skin kissed by shadows that did not belong to him.
"Report," I said, the word barely more than a breath.
"Yes, my Lord," Samuel replied. "The survivors have been relocated. The girl was taken to the palace under protective ward. The pregnant women are receiving care in the holy sanctuaries. The dead…" he hesitated, "will be honored tomorrow beneath the mourning moon."
He saw it. Of course he did. The black strands of Raka's hair. The mark of corruption etched across his divine core. As a Saint, he didn't need words to know what it meant.
"I've sealed the corruption for now," I murmured, my voice more ice than wind. "But it festers Greed and Lust war within him. Twin poisons buried in divinity."
Samuel lowered his head, grief shadowing his face. He knew Raka not just as an ally but as a friend. We had all once stood beneath the same banners, laughed beneath the same stars.
But things change when godhood awaken within me.
"I'll take him home. To the Sanctum of Ice," I said. "There may still be time."
He nodded once. "As you will."
I stood, lifting Raka in my arms. His weight was heavier than it should've been. Not from his body but from the burden he now carried. A soul no longer only his own.
"Keep the soldiers safe," I commanded. "We've already offered too much to the void."
Samuel placed a hand to his chest in salute. "Until your return, Eternal Lord."
With nothing more to say, I turned toward the night. The fireflies had vanished. The stars held their breath. And as the frost bit deeper into the earth, I walked beneath a mourning sky carrying not just my brother… but the weight of a war yet to come.
.....
At the Same Time
Location: Elven Empire — Virelyndor
The Elven Empire, known as Virelyndor, was founded in the ancient age by the righteous goddess Sylvara Puregreen. Her most devout followers, blessed with her divine blood, transcended mortality and became the first elves.
When the heavens were finally forged in celestial balance, Sylvara chose eternal slumber over divine rule. Once revered as Mother of Nature, her final breath was taken at the heart of her empire. From her lifeless body sprouted the World Tree, a colossal monument of bark and soul, its roots entwined with the veins of the land itself.
Each bloodline born from the gods and goddesses carries a unique divinity and an equally potent curse.
Those who ascend through the Divinity of Ice slowly lose their emotions, becoming as cold as the power they wield.
And those who rise with the Divinity of Nature are burdened with the Curse of Obsession, a love so consuming it can unravel reason.
Sylvara chose death not for her people but for love. Her husband, one of the mighty Angels of the Titans, perished during the Chaotic Age. When the Titans vanished without a trace, she too withdrew from the world.
Now, in her place, Cedar Puregreen bears the mantle of nature's divinity. But unlike her predecessor, she is very much alive and dangerously obsessed with Raka Frozenlight.
Back to the present…
In a garden of impossible beauty, blooming in the eternal shadow of the World Tree, a young woman lay among the wildflowers. Her delicate features were untouched by time, and her eyes remained closed, serene.
Suddenly, they opened twin emerald flames flickering to life.
She turned her gaze westward, toward the Kingdom of Ice, Moon.
There, something had changed. Something had stirred.
A dark green glow began to pulse from her irises, growing brighter like a storm waiting to bloom.