Tithonus and Elara walked slowly through the ruined hallway. The silence between them was heavy, but not uncomfortable.
After a while, Elara spoke softly. "Have you seen my uncle? Uzu? He's tall, with thick white hair and a scar across his nose. He went out an hour ago to get help… but never came back."
Tithonus paused. He didn't look at her right away.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "He didn't make it."
Elara stopped walking.
Her breath caught. Her eyes filled with tears.
"No," she whispered, her voice breaking. "No, that can't be true… he promised he'd come back…"
She covered her face with her hands and started to cry.
Tithonus stood beside her, unsure at first. But then he spoke, his voice steady and calm.
"Death always comes too early," he said. "For the good, for the wicked, for everyone. But the dead are beyond pain now. It's us who stay behind that must carry it."
He looked at her with tired eyes.
"The best way to honor them is to keep going. To do what they can't anymore. Try to live… like your life means something."
Elara wiped her eyes, slowly nodding.
They walked in silence for a while longer, until Tithonus asked, "Why were those creatures here? Why was your palace attacked?"
Elara took a deep breath, her voice low and filled with memory.
"When the sky froze… everything changed," she said. "At first, people didn't even know what was happening. It stayed dawn… forever. No morning, no day. Just that same pale light. Birds stopped singing. Crops stopped growing. The air turned cold."
"They called everyone called it The Day Sky Wept, because that morning, the clouds turned gold and bled across the sky. It looked like the heavens were crying."
Tithonus listened quietly.
"Then the messengers of the gods came," Elara continued. "They said that Solmior the Sun God had chosen to bless our kingdom. To keep us safe from the darkness… but only if we gave him the princess of the kingdom as sacrifice."
Tithonus's eyes narrowed.
"My father refused," Elara said. "He stood in front of the people and said he would never give his daughter or anyone to a god like that."
She looked away.
"The messengers were angry. They said we would face the consequences. But my father didn't give up. Instead, he and the priests built a shrine high on Mount Thireon, dedicated to an unknown God. Someone else. Someone who heard our prayers."
Tithonus raised an eyebrow. "An unknown god?"
She nodded.
"And that god protected us. A barrier formed around the kingdom. The creatures couldn't pass through it. We were safe… for a time."
She stopped walking and clenched her fists.
"Then, a few days ago… two angels descended from the sky. I saw them with my own eyes. One was a man he was tall, lean, strong. His eyes glowed red. He held a golden spear. The other was a woman, wearing golden armor like a second skin. She had a wand shaped like a branch."
"They called us heretics," Elara said through gritted teeth. "Said we were worshiping the devil… and that we all had to die."
Tithonus frowned. "Angels…?"
"The red-eyed one lifted his spear," she said, her voice shaking, "and sent a bolt of lightning into the clouds. The sky cracked… and the barrier fell."
Her voice broke.
"That's when the Gnarlings came. Monsters from the forests. Crawling from every crack in the world. Our soldiers fought… but they couldn't hold them back forever."
She wiped another tear from her cheek.
"Those devils wearing angel faces… they're still in the temple. Still sitting on top of Mount Thireon like nothing happened."
Tithonus said nothing for a long time.
Then his hand gripped the hilt of Aetherfang a little tighter.
"I'll go there," he said simply.