CHAPTER LV
Celeste 's Point of View:
After spending the entire day with Cael — laughing, exploring, and momentarily forgetting the darkness that loomed over us — I returned to my chamber with a heart full of questions. As the moonlight filtered softly through the delicate silk curtains, I sat silently on the edge of the bed, staring at my hands.
"Is there truly no way to save Cael?"
That one thought repeated in my mind like a song stuck on loop, haunting, refusing to let me rest. Could fate really be so cruel? Could it truly be written that someone so full of life and light would fade away so soon?
Just then, the door burst open with a loud thud.
Flash stormed in, breathless and visibly shaken — something I had never seen him like before. His wings were trembling slightly, and his eyes… they held panic. Desperation.
"Celeste!" he exclaimed, his voice frantic. "There's no time — Cael's been betrayed!"
I stood up in alarm, my heart immediately thudding faster. "What are you talking about, Flash?"
He stepped closer, urgency pouring from his every word. "Cael has been lured away. It's a trap. Drakon… he's summoned her."
My chest tightened. "Drakon?" I barely got the name out. The very sound of it made the air colder.
Flash nodded quickly. "Yes. And if we don't act now, it may be too late. We have to save her, Cel. Right now."
I struggled to piece together what he was saying. Betrayal? Summoning? I had no idea what any of it meant, but I didn't need to. Not fully. One thing was clear — Cael was in danger.
Flash seemed to read the confusion on my face, and before I could ask anything more, he said gently but firmly, "I know this is a lot, and you don't understand it yet. But I'll explain everything on the way. Trust me. Just come."
Without hesitation, I nodded. There was no time to waste.
As we rushed out into the cool night air, I saw Chiko — our loyal, majestic winged beast — already waiting for us, his feathers shimmering under the moon. Rira sat steady on his back, prepared to fly through the darkness if it meant reaching Cael.
I climbed up behind Flash, my fingers gripping tightly, not just out of fear — but out of hope. A desperate hope that we weren't already too late.
As Chiko took off into the night sky, wings slicing through the clouds, I looked back just once — and there, standing by the edge of the balcony, were Olivia and Ivory. They had seen us leave. Their faces were etched with confusion, worry, and something unspoken — perhaps they, too, could sense that the winds had shifted.
But I didn't stop to explain. I couldn't.
Right now, only one thing mattered:
We had to save Cael — before the darkness swallowed her forever.
With Flash and Chiko by my side, I descended into a massive crater — a deep, gaping hollow right in the center of this strange land. Its sheer size was overwhelming, and the air around it buzzed with an eerie stillness. As we entered the pit, it felt as though the very fabric of reality shifted.
In the blink of an eye, we were no longer in the same world.
Everything around us had changed. The sky above had vanished, replaced by a heavy ceiling of black stone that shimmered faintly with an unnatural glow. The earth beneath was cold, ancient, and cracked like it had seen centuries of secrets. Flash turned to Chiko and told him to wait there, along with Rira. With urgency but careful steps, the three of us began walking toward a strange chamber ahead — a place that pulsed with dark magic.
We approached it cautiously, and when I peered inside…
My heart stopped.
There she was — Cael. On her knees.
Her wings drooped, her head hung low, and in front of her stood a towering, terrifying figure. A creature with two long, twisted horns, a monstrous face, and an aura that felt suffocating even from where I stood. This was Drakon. I had never seen him before, but the darkness that surrounded him made it clear — this being was born of cruelty and destruction.
And in his hand… was a staff.
A long, dark rod pulsing with power, raised high — and aimed directly at Cael. It didn't take me a second longer to realize what he was about to do.
He was going to kill her.
I couldn't just stand there and watch. My instincts — louder than fear — took over, and before I even realized what I was doing, I ran forward. Faster than I ever had before. I screamed her name, "Cael!" and leapt between her and Drakon, placing myself as her shield.
But instead of relief or fear… she looked at me.
And smiled.
"Cel… why did you come here?" she asked, her voice strangely calm — almost amused.
Something felt wrong. Very wrong.
Suddenly, loud laughter echoed through the chamber. Not just from Drakon — but from Cael… and everyone else standing nearby. A chorus of mocking, chilling laughter that made my blood run cold.
I turned around in disbelief.
Cael was still kneeling, but there was no fear in her eyes now — only cold amusement.
And then it hit me. I wasn't saving her. I was walking into a trap.
In the very next moment, Flash — the one I trusted, the one who brought me here — and Chiko, both began to change. Their forms twisted and shifted grotesquely, revealing themselves not as allies… but as monsters. Dark creatures with snarling faces, gleaming fangs, and eyes full of betrayal.
Everything crumbled inside me.
The betrayal wasn't Cael's.
It was mine.
I had been fooled — lured into this twisted, fake reality. And now, as I stood in the middle of the chamber, surrounded by enemies, I realized: the danger wasn't behind me. It was all around me.
And I… I was completely alone.
Before I could even make sense of what was happening — of the betrayal, of the twisted truth around me — Cael stepped closer.
Her hands, once so gentle and full of warmth, now gripped my waist with a tightness that made me freeze in place. I stood there, paralyzed, as she leaned in near my ear — her breath warm, but her voice cold… disturbingly wild.
"Cel," she whispered, almost laughing, "you have to die."
My heart skipped a beat. My breath caught in my throat.
Her voice wasn't soft or sorrowful — it was laced with a twisted thrill. Like she had been waiting for this moment, enjoying every second of my confusion. I couldn't move. I couldn't blink.
She continued, her words sharper than any dagger, "My little act of kindness… my drama… it ends here. This was the limit. I can't keep pretending to care. I can't fake this goodness around you anymore."
Her fingers dug deeper into my side, and her voice dropped lower, more menacing, "And the worst part? No one is coming to save you, Cel. No one."
I turned my head slightly, trying to look into her eyes, trying to find even a flicker of the Cael I thought I knew — the one who smiled at me under moonlight, who held my hand like I mattered. But there was nothing. Just emptiness. Madness. Cruel satisfaction.
"You see everyone around you?" she asked, her voice now rising with a wicked glee. "All these people you thought were real? They're not. They're illusions. Shadows. Projections born from me. Every single one of them…"
Her lips curved into a wide, terrifying smile.
"…is a part of me."
The world around me spun. My breath grew shallow as the weight of the truth crashed down on me. I hadn't just been betrayed — I had been manipulated, every step of the way. Every face, every comforting word, every gesture of hope… all orchestrated by her. Cael.
And now… she was laughing.
A laugh that echoed through the dark chamber, wild and cruel and victorious. It bounced off the stone walls, rising louder and louder until it drowned out even the sound of my own heartbeat.
I couldn't feel my legs anymore. My body was frozen, but my soul… it felt like it was breaking apart.
I had believed in her.
I had loved her.
And she… she had been playing me all along.
To be continue....