Arthur & Aurora

Chapter.7

Xander knelt on one knee, bracing his weight with the other. Aurora reached out, accepting his open hand. His vision blurred for a moment, and he quickly forced himself to look away from her—the girl who had long occupied his heart and mind. But not anymore, he told himself. He refused to lose the woman he loved.

“You’re safe with me, Aurora,” Xander said, his voice rough. His soul felt like it was collapsing as he looked at her—her beautiful face framed by makeup and a wedding gown. Had he arrived a moment later, she would have belonged to another man.

“Thank you, Commander Xander.” Aurora wiped the tears from her cheeks. They left the room, leaving the unconscious Bella behind. Xander held Aurora’s hand tightly as if he never wanted to lose sight of her again.

Outside, Aurora froze at the sight of the guards who had once watched her—now lying lifeless on the floor. The grand hall had transformed into a wedding altar. She wasn’t sure she could even call it that anymore, now that the altar was soaked in blood. White-robed warriors clashed violently with Dryat soldiers.

Suddenly, Aurora heard someone call her name. Her steps faltered.

King Niar shouted, “You cannot run from our wedding, Aurora!”

“I don’t want to marry you!” Aurora shouted back.

King Niar’s body exploded into a swarm of white butterflies. Xander’s grey wings unfurled behind him. They clashed mid-air. King Niar’s butterflies released a poisonous dust that struck Xander. He beat his wings hard, stirring the battlefield with a gust of wind.

Then Xander swung his glowing sword in a wide arc, cutting through the swarm.

King Niar’s body fell to the ground. He sneered. “You will never defeat me,” he hissed.

The Royal Advisor began chanting, his eyes closed. Aurora clutched her ears, screaming as a sharp ringing pierced her skull. Heat burned through her body as panic seized her. Sensing the opening, King Niar darted forward and stabbed Aurora with a fallen spear.

Aurora cried out in agony as blood spilled down her arm. Her skin blistered. Her healing slowed.

Xander’s gaze sharpened. He bit into his own palm, drawing a single drop of blood—blood that foamed instantly. In the next second, he flung the foam straight into King Niar’s chest.

BOOM!

King Niar was blasted backward into a table. He coughed violently as a gaping hole appeared in his wedding robes, the flesh around the wound rapidly rotting. He tried to stand.

A Dryat soldier lunged at Xander, but the commander dodged and pivoted. His brow creased. He kicked the soldier aside, seized the aluminum spear, and with one swift leap drove the sharp tip through King Niar’s abdomen. The king’s eyes widened as his arms fell limp. His body collapsed on the floor as a blinding white light wrapped around him. Slowly, his body broke apart, turning into drifting dust.

“YOUR MAJESTY!!” Queen Margaretta screamed as she ran forward. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she tried to gather the fading ashes. But all that remained of King Niar was the dust of his death.

“NOOO!!” The queen wailed desperately, begging for Niar to return.

Aurora staggered backward, trembling, tears slipping down her cheeks. Xander reached for her hand, his warmth grounding her. Her green eyes lifted to meet his blue ones, silently seeking answers.

“We’re leaving,” Xander said softly.

“Fall back!” Albert shouted. Xander led Aurora outside and helped her mount a horse. Dryat troops flooded into the courtyard. Xander’s horse reared before kicking a soldier aside, then bolted toward Dryat’s gates. His forces split into ten mounted units.

Albert and Roby stayed behind, plunging their swords into the ground, releasing currents of electricity. Dryat soldiers collapsed, half of them turning into piles of leaves. They had no choice—they couldn’t risk letting the enemy pursue.

The two men nodded to each other, nocked arrows coated in aluminum poison, and fired. Not a single shot missed. After pushing the enemy back, they unfurled their grey wings and followed Xander’s formation.

Xander kept riding hard. Aurora clung to him from behind, feeling the steady warmth of his body. Once they crossed Dryat’s boundary, she finally breathed. Xander pulled his cloak over her, shielding her face.

Memories surfaced—running with him through the white rose gardens, crossing bridges, the Norelia dimension painting, being chased by giants and by the soldiers of Evandor, Chessy, and the purple necklace she once wore. She wanted to return to her world—the human world. The portal should still exist. She wanted to go home.

But then she realized something. Her necklace—gone.

How? Did Dryat steal it?

No. It couldn’t be. Without that necklace, she couldn’t return to the human dimension. And worse—something was trailing them. Aurora could feel it in the trees.

“What’s wrong, Aurora?” Xander asked.

She flinched. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Xander didn’t press her. A moment later, their horse slowed, stopping in the middle of a towering forest. His troops halted as well.

Xander dismounted first and helped Aurora down, their hands entwined tightly. A white dimensional portal materialized in front of them.

Together, Xander and Aurora entered the portal, their soldiers following behind. Aurora glanced at her bleeding arm, noticing the stain spreading across Xander’s cloak. When they emerged on the other side, she blinked in confusion—they were standing on what looked like a floating island, sailing across a sea of clouds. Towering trees and giant animals roamed the terrain.

Aurora winced as a massive chameleon leapt onto her arm. The creature shifted colors, matching the green of her eyes. Pain pulsed through her wound.

“Are you alright?” Xander asked, slicing the chameleon’s head clean off.

“I’m satisfied with Dryat’s defeat,” one soldier said. “They’ve been arrogant for far too long.”

“You’re right. I finally avenged my brother.” Another soldier whistled. “I think I’ll eat a peach later.”

He ran ahead, followed by the others. “We’ll go on ahead, Commander Xander!”

Xander only gave them a cold, stern look.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked Aurora.

“I’m fine. I just need a moment,” Aurora replied. Xander glanced at her arm—her healing was far too slow.

“I didn’t know aluminum weapons could wound you this badly,” he said. “You live in a world full of aluminum objects. How did you survive all this time?”

Aurora fell silent, remembering her childhood—helping her mother, working at the farm, the marketplace, climbing trees. She’d been cut, scraped, bruised countless times. She’d always healed. She had always been around aluminum.

“I work with aluminum all the time,” Aurora said, staring at her wound. “But I’ve never been injured like this. It shouldn’t have blistered.”

Xander didn’t respond.

“But don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” Aurora walked ahead, glancing back with a sweet smile.

Xander looked away quickly, hiding the small smile tugging his lips.

“We’re in the Kingdom of Aethred now, right?”

Xander nodded, his long ears twitching.

“So… are there other Dryat here? And I heard marriages between Norelia races aren’t forbidden. Does that mean—KYAAA!”

The ground collapsed beneath Aurora. She fell hard onto something solid and winced. She dusted her clothes, annoyed, then glared up—only to see Xander standing at the edge of a ravine, smirking.

“You have Dryat powers, yet you can’t avoid a simple pit?” he said, shaking his head. His eyes narrowed, noticing the rectangular shape beneath her.

“Aurora… be careful.”

He jumped down—it was less a ravine, more like a deep stone well.

Aurora huffed in embarrassment. She tried to step off the object, but the moment her weight shifted, she slipped and fell straight into it.

“AAAHHH!!”

Birds scattered at her scream. Xander sprinted toward her.

“Aurora!”

Without thinking, Aurora punched the skull beneath her and scrambled out of the coffin-like structure, shuddering violently. Her blood dripped from her arm onto the bones.

She backed away, horrified.

A coffin.

In the middle of the woods.

And what if… the spirit inside followed her?

“You’re very rough, Aurora,” Xander said, trying to lighten the tension.

“I was startled! I didn’t mean to!” Aurora insisted. She heard something shift.

“Good thing the skeleton didn’t break.” Xander ruffled her orange hair. “Calm down.”

Aurora exhaled shakily.

A voice echoed behind them.

“Is this the welcome you give me after awakening, Aurora? Truly… with your lover?”

Aurora froze. Xander’s gaze steeled.

Very slowly, Aurora turned towa

rd the coffin she had fallen into.

The skeleton’s eyes had opened.

Twin red lights glowing inside each socket.

Watching her.

Alive.