INICIAR SESIÓN(Ashlia)I sat in the chair beside Caliath's bed, my hands folded in my lap, and my eyes fixed on the door. I should have been out there. I should have been with them, celebrating and crying. I had dreamed of this day for years, when the Sunken Pit would fall, and the slaves would be freed, especially the day Caliath would finally pay for what he had done.But here I was. Sitting beside him and guarding him from the freed slaves who might want revenge? From the chaos that might consume him? From himself? I did not know anymore.I only knew that I could not leave him.Caliath sat by the fireplace, his hollow eyes fixed on the flames. The collar glowed faintly around his neck, the pendant embedded in its center pulsing with a soft, steady light. He had not moved for a while. He looked...empty and lost. Not the cruel, calculating emptiness I had seen in him for years, but the cold, hollow gaze of a man who had been broken and remade into something terrible. This was different. This wa
(Zorya)It was the largest gathering space within the Sunken Pit. Now it was filled with slaves. Hundreds of them, who had spent their lives in chains, and their own bodies were used as tools for the amusement of their masters.And now they were free.Xalik and I stood at the entrance to the hall, our hands clasped together; the golden threads of our bond still shimmered faintly in the air between us. Their voices joined together into a chant. "Zorya! Zorya! Zorya!"The chant spread through the crowd like wildfire, growing louder and louder until the very walls seemed to shake with the sound of it. Hundreds of voices, raised in unison, calling my name.I did not know what to do. I had never been celebrated like this before.But now, these people, these freed men and women, were looking at me like I was their salvation."Zorya!"They surged forward, a wave of bodies, voices, and outstretched hands. Before I could react, before I could speak, before I could even breathe, they had lift
(Zorya)We found Ashlia in The Clinic with Hadis, Tatiana and Rami. Ashlia rushed towards me, shock occupying every inch of her face. “Zorya!”Her arms wrapped around my neck, her body shaking with sobs. I held her, feeling her tears soak into my shoulder, but she was relieved. “You are alive,” she whispered. “You are alive. I thought, when you sang…when the light…I thought you were gone.”“I am here and I am not going anywhere,” I consoled her. She pulled back, her kind eyes searching my face.“What happened? What are you?” She asked, confused and in awe at the same time. “I am still figuring that out. But I know one thing: I am not a slave anymore. And neither are you.” I stared at her collar, knowing I would help take it off. “Nor are you guys.” I turned my head towards Tatiana and Rami. Both of them wholeheartedly smiled at me. Rami was sitting up in bed now, still covered in bandages but conscious. “Thanks, Zorya. I always knew you were special, but didn't know you were t
(Zorya)Picking up the chains I bound Caliath in them. “Stay, until we figure out what needs to be done with you.” Caliath stared at me with guilty eyes, a look I had never seen him possess before. That surety he always carried had disappeared, replaced by profound sadness. The madness and possessiveness he carried in his eyes for me had disappeared.“I am sorry for all the hurt I have caused. I wish I could take it all back, I never meant to hurt you.” “I know.” I kept my response short. “Don't ever touch me again.”He promptly nodded. “Can I see Ashlia?” He quietly asked, his voice riddled with pain. About time. But I had to ask her first if she wanted to see him. “I need to find Ashlia.” I turned to face Rumarian. He understood. Extending his long neck, he nudged at my face with his scaly maw. I reached with my fingers, and rubbed his scales. “We will meet again soon. Thank you for protecting me.” He closed his mesmerising eyes. I felt the fire inside him surge, shift and
(Zorya)I felt nothing, not even a shard of sympathy for that venomous woman who had raped Xalik for who knew how many times. Her screams echoed in this despicable place long after she was gone. A chaos had erupted all around us. People screaming, people being burnt alive, people trying to escape. And amidst it all I found Caliath on the ground, watching us with vacant and hollow eyes.He had not run and he had not screamed, nor had he shifted. He had simply watched as his sister was burned to ash, his face lacking any emotion, whatsoever. "Do it, I deserve it. I deserve worse. Burn me too," he whispered. Rumarian growled, a deep, rumbling sound that vibrated around the whole place. But he did not attack, knowing the truth. Instead, he turned away, his massive body lowered to the ground along with his great head. He spread his vast wing making a gliding pad for me to step down from his back. Carefully, I climbed down and patted his big head, feeling the rough skin under my palms
(Zorya)The light continued to pour forth.It wrapped around Xalik's naked torso like shining silvery threads, lifting him from the ground, cradling him, healing him and loving him. It bound us together with threads of pure affection and sacred feelings. Something that was only ours. The threads pulsed with every heartbeat. They sang with every breath, the song meant only for him while my screams were for others. I felt him, all of him, like I had never felt before. The world ebbed away, screaming and crying in the background. I didn't care. His fears and his pain. His desperate, burning love for me, his emotions and his torments. I felt everything in that moment. And I knew he felt me too.My terror along with my exhaustion. My agony and the overwhelming, consuming need for him."Zorya," he breathed with such gentleness. His voice was not just in my ears, it was in my blood, in my bones and in my soul."Xalik," I breathlessly murmured back. He stared at me, transfixed, his thre







