Rocky had always valued peace. Nestled in the quiet valleys of his homeland, he lived surrounded by the creatures he summoned—spirits of wind and fire, ethereal beasts that answered only to him. For years, he kept to his routine: morning meditations, summoning exercises, and quiet walks through the forests. The world beyond his borders was distant, almost unreal, a place of wars and rulers.
Until the day the sky turned crimson.
It began with the distant sound of drums, echoing across the mountains. Birds scattered in panic. Rocky's instincts, honed over decades of summoning, tensed his entire body. He climbed to the highest ridge, peering down at the valley below. Smoke curled into the sky. An army—massive, disciplined, and merciless—marched toward his home.
And at the front of it rode… someone he would never forget.
Her eyes, sharp and unwavering, met his from across the battlefield. The same eyes that had haunted his dreams for years, that had left his heart hollow the day she disappeared. The woman who had stolen his heart—not an enemy by nature, but a soldier now, sent to conquer and to hunt him down.
"Rocky," she called across the wind, her voice carrying clearly despite the chaos. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. A declaration. She had come for him.
Magic stirred within him. The creatures he had summoned over the years sensed his rising pulse, appearing around him like a living storm. Flames coiled, wind spirits swirled, and shadowy forms shifted with predatory grace. He had always hoped never to use his powers for destruction—but now, with the one he loved standing at the spearhead of an invading army…
Rocky stepped forward, summoning his guardian beast, a massive ethereal wolf that radiated both strength and loyalty. The ground trembled beneath its paws.
"I don't want to fight you," he shouted, his voice carrying over the battlefield. "But I will protect my home!"
Her expression softened for a fraction of a second. Then steel returned to her eyes.
"I never wanted to hurt you," she said, her hand resting on the hilt of her blade. "But I've been ordered… and I cannot fail. You're the legendary summoner. I came to bring you in."
A hush fell over the valley, as if the world itself was holding its breath. Love and war collided in that silence. Rocky's heart hammered—not with fear, but with longing, with the unbearable ache of knowing that the person who could make his soul whole was now the person who could destroy everything he loved.
He raised his hand, and the wind spirits swirled around her like a cage. "Then you'll have to get through me first."
Her lips quirked into a bitter smile. "I hoped it wouldn't come to this…"
And with that, the first clash of their fates erupted across the valley, magic and steel colliding in a storm that would change both their lives forever.