Chapter 255: Episode 255.

Aire woke with a violent gasp.

Her entire body jerked upright before she even understood where she was.

Air flooded her lungs so sharply it hurt.

Her heartbeat hammered against her ribs as though it had been trying to wake her long before her eyes finally opened.

For one terrifying second, she expected chains, cold stone, and dark laughter. She expected to see Lysander.

Instead, she found silk sheets twisted around her legs, and the pale ceiling of the Light Fae palace hovered above her, blurred by dizziness.

Her head pounded.

Fragments of memory crashed into one another. The Hall of Memory, the Moon Goddess, and the silver blossom.

“If she is born… the realms will no longer need me.”

Aire squeezed her eyes shut.

“No…” She whispered it before she even realized she had spoken.

Her breathing refused to steady.

Everything she had believed… Everything everyone had believed… None of it had been an accident.

The war, the hatred, the curses, and the silver hair. Every road somehow led back to one woman.

A goddess.

A loud boom shook the room. The bed lurched beneath her.

Aire’s eyes snapped open. She paused in shock when she realized it wasn’t in her head. Another explosion followed.

The windows rattled violently.

Then came another.

The palace trembled. And this time voices followed. Not calm voices, but screams. Hundreds of them.

Aire threw the blankets aside and stumbled to her feet. Her legs nearly buckled.

The door burst open before she reached it.

A young Light Fae rushed inside.

His silver robes were torn down one shoulder, and blood ran freely down his temple.

His chest rose and fell violently. “My Lady—”

Another deafening impact shook the palace.

Dust drifted from the ceiling.

“The barrier—” He struggled to catch his breath. “…has been breached.”

Aire stared at him, with no words leaving her lips. “What?”

He looked toward the window. “They’re inside.”

The words barely left his mouth before an alarm unlike anything Aire had ever heard echoed throughout the palace.

It wasn’t a bell.

It was the cry of something ancient. It sounded long, haunting, and alive. Every crystal embedded within the palace walls flared brilliant white.

The Light Fae’s face drained of color.

“They’re here.”

Aire rushed toward the nearest window.

The moment she reached it, her stomach dropped. The sky had turned black. It wasn’t black from the cloud, but from dark wings.

Thousands of them.

Dark wings poured through tears ripped into the shimmering barrier surrounding the realm.

The protective veil that separated the Light Fae Realm from every other world rippled violently, splitting open again and again as more figures forced themselves through.

Dark Fae surged in.

They came in endless waves, like a plague. Like locusts blotting out the afternoon sun. The floating bridges below had become battlefields.

Light Fae warriors filled the air, their silver blades flashing as they collided with the invading army.

Magic exploded everywhere.

Golden light, black flames, silver arrows, and dark purple lightning.

The beautiful realm she had arrived in days ago was collapsing before her eyes. She has no idea how long she had stayed in bed after collapsing.

Another explosion ripped through one of the floating islands. It shattered, and the entire sections broke away into the endless sky below.

Aire’s breathing stopped.

“They…” Her voice barely existed. “…how?”

The young fae answered without looking away from the battle. “They used you.”

She turned sharply. “What?”

His expression twisted with horror. “The strand of your hair.”

Aire froze.

Morrigan.

Her fingers instinctively touched the back of her own head. The strand Morrigan had stolen.

The young fae continued.

“Your essence remained attached to it.” His voice shook. “They used your blood… your magic… your identity…”

Another blast rocked the palace.

“…to pierce the gateway.”

Aire’s knees weakened. “I…”

Outside, more Dark Fae continued pouring through the widening fractures. Maybe tens of thousands.

There was no end to them.

The Light Fae fought desperately to force them back, but every Dark Fae that fell was replaced by three more.

Then, something strange happened.

The Dark Fae stopped advancing. Almost together. Like one mind sharing one command.

The battlefield became eerily still.

A single figure drifted forward.

Tall, and wrapped in black armor.

His face hidden beneath an obsidian helm crowned with twisted horns. When he spoke, his voice rolled across the entire kingdom.

“We have not come for war.”

Silence answered him.

Aire swallowed at the sound of his voice. That was unmistakably Valour.

He slowly raised both empty hands. “We seek only one person.” His helmet turned toward the palace. “Give us Aire.”

The words echoed through every floating water.

“We will leave.”

No one moved.

Vaelor laughed. “You know what happens if you refuse.”

Golden light erupted around the palace.

The Light Fae King had arrived.

Asterion floated above the highest tower, with his white robes whipping violently around him. His voice thundered across the battlefield.

“You will never lay another hand upon her.”

Vaelor tilted his head.

“So…” His dark aura spread through the army. “…you choose extinction.”

The battle exploded again.

Darkness collided with light so violently the sky itself seemed to tear apart. The palace shook, columns cracked, and windows burst inward.

Servants rushed through the corridors, shouting orders as injured warriors were carried inside.

Someone grabbed Aire’s arm.

“My Lady!” She panicked. “We must move!”

They hurried her through trembling corridors toward an underground sanctuary. Every step was accompanied by another explosion.

The palace groaned around them.

Dust rained from the ceiling.

They finally reached a circular chamber carved deep beneath the palace. Heavy silver doors slammed shut behind them.

The room continued trembling.

Aire couldn’t breathe.

If the Dark Fae were willing to invade an entire realm… What was happening back in the Wolf Realm?

She couldn’t stay here. She couldn’t. Not while everyone else fought because of her.

Another violent impact shook the chamber, and cracks spread across one wall.

Someone screamed outside loudly, and Aire heard flesh squeezing before the body finally fell with a soft thud.

Aire slowly stood.

The attendants noticed immediately.

“My Lady?”

She didn’t answer. She walked toward the enormous doors.

“My Lady, you can’t!”

She placed both hands against the silver metal.

“I won’t hide.”

The attendants rushed toward her.

She pushed the doors open.

The moment Aire stepped out into the trembling corridor, a bolt of dark purple lightning screamed straight toward her.