The words of the Matrix continued to echo inside Caelmir's mind.
Survive the imminent genocide.
He stared at the space where the glowing message had disappeared, unable to understand what he had just heard.
Genocide.
The word felt absurd.
Too large.
Too horrible.
Too impossible to belong to his kingdom.
Celestia had stood for centuries.
Its armies were among the strongest in the world. Its barriers were legendary. Its knights were trained from childhood, and its royal family had never allowed a serious threat to reach the heart of the capital.
Yet now—
The screams outside told him otherwise.
Caelmir suddenly turned toward the doors.
"I have to go back."
The nearest knight immediately stepped in front of him.
"Your Highness, no."
Caelmir frowned.
"Move."
"We cannot."
"Move."
The knight shook his head.
"Your Highness, the royal wing is under attack. Returning there would be suicide."
"My family is there."
"We know."
"Then move!"
Caelmir tried to push past him.
The knight caught his arm.
Caelmir violently pulled away.
"Let go of me!"
"Prince Caelmir!"
Another knight stepped forward.
"We were ordered to get you out of the palace."
"By whom?"
"We don't know."
Caelmir stared at him.
"You don't know?"
"We lost contact with the command center."
That answer silenced him.
For a moment, Caelmir could only hear the distant chaos.
Explosions.
Screams.
Metal.
Then another scream echoed through the corridors.
This one was different.
It was longer.
Desperate.
And it ended abruptly.
Caelmir's chest tightened.
Someone had just died.
He knew it.
He didn't need anyone to tell him.
He looked toward the direction of the royal wing.
"I can't just leave them."
The knight lowered his voice.
"Your Highness, if you go back, you won't save them."
Caelmir's fists clenched.
"You don't know that."
"We do."
The knight looked directly into his eyes.
"Because the people who went back haven't returned."
Caelmir froze.
The knight continued.
"Please."
For the first time, there was something almost desperate in his voice.
"Let us at least get you somewhere safe."
Caelmir looked at the soldiers surrounding him.
They were terrified.
He could see it.
Even these trained knights were afraid.
And suddenly, Caelmir understood that forcing his way back would accomplish nothing.
His father had always told him that courage was not the absence of fear.
It was knowing when fear had to be ignored.
But this wasn't courage anymore.
It was desperation.
Caelmir slowly lowered his fists.
"...Fine."
The knights visibly relaxed.
"We'll take the emergency passage."
Caelmir looked back once more.
The palace seemed impossibly far away already.
"Let's go."
They moved.
The group began making its way through a narrow corridor hidden behind the ceremonial wing.
The beautiful marble walls of the palace had been replaced by rough stone.
There were no golden decorations here.
No crystal chandeliers.
No statues.
Only a narrow passage built for emergencies.
Caelmir walked in silence.
The further they went, the quieter the explosions became.
But the screams did not disappear.
They followed him.
Sometimes faint.
Sometimes clear.
A woman screaming for her child.
A knight shouting for reinforcements.
Someone crying for help.
Someone else begging for mercy.
Caelmir's breathing became heavier.
He wanted to cover his ears.
He didn't.
He forced himself to listen.
Because those people were dying while he was running away.
Every scream felt like a weight being placed on his chest.
He had never understood what it meant to be a prince.
He had thought it meant ceremonies.
Training.
Power.
Respect.
A crown.
But right now, being a prince meant hearing the cries of people he could not save.
His jaw tightened.
They continued.
Minutes passed.
Then they reached a wider section of the passage.
A knight suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
Everyone froze.
The knight raised his hand.
Something was lying ahead.
Caelmir looked.
Bodies.
Several soldiers were scattered across the stone floor.
Their armor was blackened.
Their weapons lay beside them.
Their bodies had been burned almost beyond recognition.
Caelmir slowly approached.
One of the soldiers still had the Crownveil emblem attached to his chest.
His stomach twisted.
"These were Imperial Knights."
The knight beside him nodded.
"They tried to hold the passage."
Caelmir stared at the bodies.
"How many?"
"At least twelve."
Silence.
One of the younger soldiers looked away.
Caelmir noticed his hands trembling.
He wanted to say something.
Anything.
But there were no words.
So they continued.
Not long afterward, the passage shook.
BOOM!
The soldiers immediately raised their weapons.
A section of the wall exploded.
A creature burst through.
A shadow.
A mass of claws and teeth.
The knights attacked immediately.
Steel collided with scales.
Caelmir stepped backward.
The creature screamed.
One knight drove his sword into its side.
Another struck its neck.
The beast collapsed.
But one soldier had already fallen.
Another explosion followed.
Then another enemy emerged.
The battle continued.
They won.
But they lost three more men.
Caelmir watched the surviving knights gather around the bodies.
Nobody celebrated.
Nobody spoke.
They simply continued.
By the time they reached the emergency exit, fewer than half of the soldiers who had started with Caelmir remained.
The massive door ahead was damaged.
Smoke seeped through its cracks.
One of the knights approached.
"We're here."
Caelmir looked at the door.
For the first time in several minutes, hope appeared in his eyes.
Maybe they could escape.
Maybe—
"CAELMIR!"
He froze.
That voice.
He turned.
A white-haired girl appeared at the end of the corridor.
Her clothes were torn.
Blood covered one side of her face.
Several soldiers followed her.
Caelmir's eyes widened.
"Célénia?"
She ran toward him.
"You're alive!"
Caelmir barely had time to react before she grabbed him.
He held her tightly.
For the first time since the attack began, he felt something resembling relief.
"I thought you were dead."
"So did I."
She pulled away.
Her breathing was heavy.
"How did you get here?"
"The emergency exit."
She looked toward the damaged door.
Then shook her head.
"Don't use it."
The knights frowned.
"What?"
Célénia pointed toward the door.
"I came from there."
Her expression became serious.
"It's blocked."
"By what?"
"I don't know."
She swallowed.
"We lost almost everyone."
Caelmir's expression darkened.
"How many?"
Célénia looked away.
"Too many."
She took a breath.
"It's impossible to cross safely."
The knights exchanged glances.
One finally spoke.
"Then we'll use another route."
Célénia nodded.
They turned around.
They hadn't gone far when everything became silent.
Caelmir stopped.
Something was wrong.
He could feel it.
A pressure.
Heavy.
Ancient.
The soldiers froze.
Then a shadow appeared above them.
A gigantic creature descended from the smoke.
Purple scales reflected the firelight.
Two enormous wings unfolded.
Its eyes were red.
Blood red.
Caelmir's heart stopped.
The dragon lowered its head.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then it roared.
The entire corridor shook.
"RUN!"
The dragon attacked.
A wave of golden fire erupted from its mouth.
The knights scattered.
The corridor exploded.
Caelmir was thrown across the floor.
He rolled several times before crashing against a wall.
"CÉLÉNIA!"
"I'm here!"
She emerged from the smoke.
"Move!"
They ran.
The dragon followed.
Every strike shattered stone.
Every movement generated a shockwave.
The knights attacked from every direction.
Their blades bounced against its scales.
One knight managed to cut its wing.
The dragon turned.
Its tail struck him.
He disappeared into the wall.
Another soldier attacked.
The dragon caught him in its jaws.
Caelmir froze.
The soldier screamed.
Then the dragon threw his body aside.
Caelmir's stomach turned.
Célénia grabbed his arm.
"Don't look!"
"We have to fight!"
"We can't!"
"We have to!"
Caelmir summoned his power.
Blue energy flickered around his hands.
He attacked.
The dragon turned toward him.
Its eyes locked onto his.
Caelmir felt something strange.
Recognition.
Then the dragon moved.
Too fast.
A claw struck his chest.
Caelmir flew backward.
Pain exploded through his body.
He crashed onto the ground.
His clothes were torn.
Blood immediately soaked his chest.
Célénia screamed.
"CAELMIR!"
He looked down.
Three deep cuts crossed his torso.
He could barely breathe.
The dragon approached.
Each step shook the ground.
Caelmir tried to stand.
His legs failed.
The dragon raised one claw.
Caelmir looked up.
The claw descended.
He closed his eyes.
But nothing happened.
He opened them.
The claw had stopped.
Only inches from his heart.
The dragon stared at him.
Caelmir couldn't understand.
Why did it stop?
Its red eyes seemed to examine him.
Then Célénia attacked.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
Her blade struck the dragon's face.
The creature roared and turned.
Célénia was already exhausted.
The dragon struck her.
She was sent flying.
She crashed against the stone floor.
"CELÉNIA!"
Caelmir forced himself upright.
The dragon opened its mouth.
Golden light began forming between its teeth.
Célénia tried to move.
She couldn't.
Caelmir saw the attack.
He didn't think.
He ran.
"NO!"
He threw himself between them.
The dragon released its breath.
Caelmir struck the attack with everything he had.
The blast changed direction.
But the force behind it was overwhelming.
Caelmir was thrown backward.
He flew through the air.
Then—
something opened behind him.
A portal.
Black.
Endless.
Caelmir's eyes widened.
"No..."
He fell backward.
Célénia reached for him.
"CAELMIR!"
He stretched out his hand.
"CÉLÉNIA!"
Their fingers almost touched.
Almost.
Then Caelmir disappeared into the portal.
Célénia screamed his name.
The portal vanished.
Caelmir fell.
There was no ground.
No sky.
Nothing.
Only darkness.
His body continued descending.
His chest burned.
Blood continued flowing from the wound.
His vision blurred.
His breathing became weaker.
He could no longer feel his hands.
He thought of his mother.
His father.
Célénia.
His home.
Celestia.
The memories blurred together.
His eyes slowly closed.
Then the voice returned.
Calm.
Emotionless.
Almost mechanical.
"Congratulations."
Caelmir's eyes barely opened.
"You have successfully completed your first Elevation."
He didn't understand.
Elevation?
What did that mean?
He didn't have the strength to ask.
His eyes closed completely.
At that exact moment, something appeared on his forehead.
A thin mark.
A line.
Then another.
Tiny thorn-like shapes began forming along it.
Slowly.
Delicately.
They curved across his forehead like an incomplete crown made of thorns.
Caelmir never noticed.
He continued falling.
His consciousness faded.
And the last thought that crossed his mind was painfully simple.
Celestia no longer exists.
Then everything disappeared.
Darkness swallowed him.
And Caelmir Crownveil continued to fall toward a world he had never seen before.
Toward a life he knew nothing about.
Toward a future that would begin without his memories.
Toward Earth.