The Billionaire with Silver Eyes
732 Words
Silence.
Even the storm seemed to hold its breath.
Alina stood frozen, clutching the black crystal as Lucien Vale faced the three masked assassins. The air around him shimmered with invisible pressure, as though reality itself bent to his presence.
The tallest assassin recovered first.
"The Council ordered her death," he hissed. "Even you cannot protect her forever."
Lucien's silver eyes remained fixed on him.
"The Council has forgotten who built it."
A chill swept through the apartment.
The assassin lunged.
His crimson blade sliced through the frozen air, aiming straight for Lucien's heart.
Lucien didn't move.
The blade stopped a finger's width from his chest.
It trembled violently.
Then...
It shattered into thousands of glittering fragments.
The assassin stared in disbelief.
"Impossible..."
Lucien calmly stepped forward.
"I've heard that word for seven hundred years."
With a simple flick of his hand, an invisible force hurled all three assassins across the apartment. They crashed through concrete walls and disappeared into the rain outside.
The frozen raindrops began falling again.
Time had resumed.
---
Alina could barely process what she had witnessed.
"Who... what are you?" she whispered.
Lucien looked at her, his expression unreadable.
"I could ask you the same question."
"I don't even know you!"
"No," he replied quietly. "But I know far more about you than you realize."
He glanced at the crystal in her hand.
"The Heart of Obsidian has chosen you."
Alina instinctively hid it behind her back.
"I didn't choose anything."
"It rarely gives anyone a choice."
Before she could ask another question, Lucien pressed a finger to his ear.
His expression darkened.
"They're sending more."
As if answering his words, the apartment windows exploded inward.
Dozens of sleek black drones flooded the room.
Each hovered silently, projecting crimson targeting lasers.
A cold mechanical voice echoed through the apartment.
"Priority Target Identified."
"Eliminate the Oracle."
Lucien sighed.
"I was hoping for a quieter evening."
---
The drones opened fire.
Blue plasma bolts streaked toward Alina.
Lucien crossed the room in the blink of an eye.
He caught the first bolt in his bare hand.
The glowing energy dissolved into black smoke.
Alina's eyes widened.
"No human can do that..."
Lucien gave a faint smile.
"I stopped being human a very long time ago."
With a wave of his hand, every light in the apartment went dark.
Only the crystal continued glowing.
The drones hesitated.
Their sensors malfunctioned.
One by one, they fell from the air like lifeless birds.
The silence returned.
---
A deep rumble shook the building.
Lucien walked to the shattered window.
Far below, the streets of Beijing were filled with black armored vehicles.
Hundreds of soldiers surrounded the tower.
Military helicopters circled overhead.
"They found us faster than I expected," Lucien murmured.
Alina stared in disbelief.
"Who are these people?"
"They call themselves the Eclipse Council."
"And they want me?"
"They want what's inside you."
"I don't understand!"
"You will."
He turned toward her.
"But not here."
A sleek aircraft rose silently beside the broken window.
It had no visible engines.
Its matte-black surface reflected no light.
The side door slid open automatically.
Lucien extended his hand.
"Come with me."
Alina hesitated.
"Why should I trust you?"
For a moment, something ancient flickered in Lucien's eyes.
"Because if I wanted you dead..."
"I wouldn't have saved you."
Before she could answer, explosions rocked the lower floors.
The building shook violently.
Concrete cracked beneath their feet.
The soldiers had entered.
Lucien looked toward the stairwell.
"They're here."
He met Alina's eyes one last time.
"This is the last ordinary moment of your life."
Outside, lightning split the sky above Beijing.
Inside, Alina took a slow breath.
Then...
she placed her hand in Lucien Vale's.
The instant their skin touched, the Heart of Obsidian blazed with brilliant black light.
A vision flashed through both of their minds.
An obsidian throne.
A crown forged from living crystal.
A queen standing beside a king.
And a single whispered promise echoing across centuries...
"Find me... no matter how many lifetimes it takes."
Lucien staggered back, his composure cracking for only a heartbeat.
He had searched the world for seven hundred years.
Now, standing before him, was the woman from every dream, every prophecy, and every regret.
The woman he had once lost.
The woman history had erased.
And somewhere in the darkness...
someone smiled.
"The game has finally begun."
- Writer
