The air in the palace hummed with tension. The egg's shell had begun to fracture—tiny cracks spreading like veins of lightning. Time was running out.
Kale crouched beside the silver pond, stirring the water with a bone dagger. The surface rippled, revealing **drowned constellations** swirling in its depths.
**"We're not strong enough,"** he said, his voice uncharacteristically grim. **"Not yet."**
Liora flexed her fingers, feeling the scars along her knuckles pull tight. **"Then we change that."**
---
The pond was no mere pool—it was a **well of condensed Magnar energy**Liora stripped to her waist and waded in.
The effect was immediate:
- Her veins **lit up like molten silver**.
- The water hissed where it touched her scars, **sealing them with cosmic residue**.
- She surfaced gasping, her muscles thrumming with **borrowed divinity**.
Kale watched, arms crossed. **"Try not to explode."**
---
### **THE HUNTER'S GAME**
While Liora bathed in power, Kale hunted. He returned with:
- **Six rabbits** (three of which he'd already deboned)
- **A pheasant with iridescent feathers** (still squawking)
- **A suspiciously large bear paw** (clutching a honeycomb)
**"The palace replicates what we kill,"** he explained, skinning a rabbit with practiced ease. **"So we eat. Train. Repeat."**
The egg pulsed in agreement.
---
### **THE LESSONS BEGIN**
By the eighth day:
- Liora could **shatter marble with a punch**, her fists sheathed in starlight.
- Kale moved like a shadow given form, his daggers **cutting the air faster than sound**.
- The egg's cracks had spread further, **glowing with contained brilliance**.
That night, as they rested by the pond, Kale finally asked the question they'd both avoided:
**"What happens when it hatches?"**
Liora stared at the egg. **"We teach it not to eat the world."**
Kale snorted. **"Easy."**
The egg **trembled**, as if laughing.
The egg had given them time—eight days—to grow stronger.
**Liora absorbed energy from the silver pond**, her space power grow very quickly.
**Kale hunted**, in forest.He bring lots of flowers and fruit.**
The eggshell shattered with a sound like breaking glass.
Not a newborn, but a **three-year-old child** crawled out—silver-skinned, eyes like swirling galaxies, mouth already full of eggshell fragments. It blinked up at Liora and Kale, then **licked the last shard from its fingers**.
Kale sighed. **"Well. We're parents now."**
Liora stared. **"We're *temporary* caretakers."**
The child giggled and ate a handful of marble dust.
The child watched, then mimicked them.
### **LESSONS IN NOT DEVOURING REALITY**
Parenting a Magnar was… unusual.
- **Lesson 1:** *"No, you cannot eat the sky."*
*(The child pouted but settled for a handful of clouds.)*
- **Lesson 2:** *"Living things get a *choice*."*
*(The child stared at a rabbit, then patted it gently instead of biting.)*
- **Lesson 3:** *"Kale is *not* food."*
*(The child licked his arm experimentally, then made a face.)*
Liora caught herself smiling. **Kale wasn't completely terrible.** If he could just **stop being inside her**, maybe she'd even—
No.
She shoved the thought away.
---
### **THE ESCORT**
On the ninth morning, Kale strolled in with:
- **A tiger** (missing an ear, loyal)
- **Two gorillas** (wearing stolen armor)
- **Nine goblins** (sharpening knives)
**"Meet our travel party,"** Kale announced.
The child clapped. One goblin fainted.
---
### **THE TOO-EASY PATH**
The journey *should* have been deadly. Bandits. Monsters. The usual.
But:
- Wolves bowed their heads and **offered freshly killed prey**.
- Even the weather stayed mild, as if the storms **dared not interrupt**.
Kale narrowed his eyes. **"Either the world's terrified of it… or Healda *cleared the way*."**
Liora said nothing. She kept her dagger ready.
The fire crackled between them, its flames licking hungrily at the black stone Liora had tossed into its heart. For a moment, nothing happened. Then—
**A silver thread of light** unspooled from the embers, winding through the air like a living thing. It danced between them, painting Kale's smirk in molten hues and catching the stars in Liora's dark eyes before stretching out into the night, **a path glowing softly ahead**.
Kale leaned back on his elbows, watching the light. **"Well. That's prettier than I expected."**
Liora huffed, but didn't argue.
---
### **THE ROAD OF LUMINOUS DUST**
They walked side by side, the child—now hatched, small and silver-skinned, with eyes like captured galaxies—perched on Kale's shoulders, tiny hands fisted in his hair. The light from the fire-stone wove ahead, **a guide, a promise, a silent third companion**.
The world around them seemed to hold its breath.
- The trees **leaned in**, leaves whispering secrets as they passed.
- A stream diverted its course just to **let them cross dry-footed**.
- The wind carried the scent of **blooming nightflowers**, something rare and sweet.
Liora reached out, brushing her fingers against the light. It curled around her wrist like a **lover's bracelet**, warm and humming.
Kale watched her, something unreadable in his gaze.
**"What?"** she muttered.
He grinned. **"Nothing. Just never thought I'd see the great Liora charmed by a pretty glow."**
She scowled, but didn't pull away.
---
### **THE NIGHT'S CONFESSIONS**
They made camp under a sky **drenched in stars**, the fire-stone's light now a soft pulse above them, **a second moon**. The child slept between them, curled into Kale's cloak, its breath slow and steady.
Liora poked the embers with a stick. **"Why did you really agree to this?"**
Kale stretched, his shoulder pressing against hers. **"The kid's got potential. And you—"** He glanced at her, smirk softening. **"—you're terrible at lying to yourself."**
She stiffened. **"Meaning?"**
**"Meaning,"** he said, leaning closer, **"you could've walked away a dozen times. But you didn't."** His voice dropped. **"Neither did I."**
The firelight caught the curve of his mouth, the scar along his jaw. Liora's breath hitched.
Then—
The child **snored**, a tiny, whistling sound, and they both laughed, the moment breaking like dawn.
---
By morning, the fire-stone's light had faded, its purpose fulfilled. But the road was clear now, the city's spires visible in the distance.
Kale hoisted the child onto his back, its small arms looping around his neck. **"Ready?"**
Liora adjusted her dagger, then—**deliberately, defiantly**—threaded her fingers through his.
**"Shut up,"** she said before he could comment.
He squeezed her hand. **"Wasn't going to say a word."**
And together, with the child between them, they walked into the sunrise.
Soon, they reached the city.
Liora had imagined this moment a thousand times—she thought there might be trumpets, or at least recognition in someone's eyes. Instead, there were only stares.
Cold. Suspicious. Dismissive.
"She looks nothing like the princess," someone muttered from the crowd.
"She must be an imposter. Just another orphan trying to claim royal blood," another said, louder.
Liora felt her throat tighten. The palace walls loomed in the distance, shining like a memory she couldn't quite touch. But none of it welcomed her. The guards didn't bow. The servants didn't gasp in awe. Even the streets seemed narrower than she remembered.
They don't know.
To the world, the royal family had only one daughter: Princess Elenora, radiant and beloved.
The one Liora had called sister.
"I swear to you," she said, raising her voice over the murmurs, "I was born of Queen Selene. I am her blood, too!"
The people only laughed.
"A likely story," a merchant scoffed. "Next you'll tell us the Queen had twins and forgot to mention it."
Liora's hands clenched at her sides.
Forgot? Or was I erased?
She didn't know which was worse.
Would you like the next part to include someone standing up for her—or perhaps a confrontation with a palace ofoffic**Tone:** Soft, luluminoulu- The city's **false smiles*smsmWant the romance more pronounced? Or a hint of the darkness waiting ahead?ahaWant the city's corruption more pronounced? Or focus on the child's first moral choice?chch