CYAN | ONC 2022

19

Time was frozen. At least to him it was.

Aryzath's powers had manifested in a time when he didn't want to lose anyone anymore. As he stood in front of the glass piece once belonging to the love of his life, he could only hope the silence would continue to remain for another five hundred years.

He sucked his bottom lip and let it go, taking a step back to exit the one room in his castle he had built painstakingly to honour Ilayda.

She deserved the best and... he wished that he could turn back time and never met her. If nothing else, but to save her from this pain.

Shaking his head, he was about to leave the room when there was a slight ripple of magic echoing back to him. His eyes widened and he immediately rushed to the windows leading directly to a large garden.

Anger burned under his skin at the idea of trespassers.

While he hadn't had many creature trespassing these lands, those who did lived to regret it. After taking over a dead kingdom's throne, he had made sure no one tried their hands on what was remaining of his territory. And today would be no exception.

Without hesitation, he transformed himself into his full fledged dragon form. Huffing a soft breath, he stretched out his wings and flew high in the sky to the direction where the disturbance was.

And he landed straight in front of four boys, roaring loud in the sky to a point they all stumbled back and fell onto the grass.

He glared down at them, momentarily taken aback that he was looking at... four human boys. They were no creatures — at least they didn't smell like one at one whiff. But he did recognise that they were from the other realm. Far from his world and he only had the misfortune of meeting one human when he had been stationed here throughout years.

And then... his eyes landed on one particular boy.

He hadn't fallen to the ground like the rest of them did nor did he take a step back. Instead, he tilted his head up and looked at him.

Aryzath's breath hitched in his throat when he recognised those eyes.

Cyan — as bright and glowing as they had been on her when he had first saw her.

They continued to stare at each other and that was when he felt this buzzing sensation underneath his skin. One he hadn't felt since she had fallen and his heart squeezed in his chest.

Could it be?

A moment later, he transformed into his human form, standing before them with narrowed gazes. The three boys cowered, all looking at him with various degrees of suspicion in them. But the shortest among all simply remained where he had been standing.

And then it hit him.

He smelt like the ocean breeze. The exact same scent Ilayda had. Often had.

And those eyes, so cyan, brightened as if... he knew him.

"Hi, I'm Albert," the boy said, handing a hand out to him.

Aryzath stared at him for a moment before he glanced at his hand and that when he saw a familiar looking shape on his wrist. He grabbed the boy's hand, bringing it close to his face and eliciting a sharp gasp from him. His heart almost stopped beating when he recognised this dark shape etched into Albert's skin.

It was the shape of the glass Aryzath had found amongst her ashes.

The exact same shape.

He immediately met his gaze, hoping to see some kind of recognition from him. But besides the beautiful cyan eyes and a smile on his lips, there was nothing else. And yet... he knew that this boy... was her.

Or at least another version of her.

He could sense her in him.

Just like he could always do.

It had been five hundred years, but he would know her anywhere. And Albert... was her.

"You have no idea who I am, do you?" he asked Albert.

All he received was a blink of his eyes. "Was I supposed to?"

Aryzath let him go and took a step back, forcing his hands behind his back. He didn't want to do anything rash. Not yet. Even if her... essence was in this boy, it didn't mean anything. But he knew that that was a lie when his heart skipped a beat at Albert's growing smile.

"We got lost," Albert said, as if he read his mind. "We're... we're trying to find our way to the Sire."

Her name made him stand tall and his eyes narrowed. "Why are you looking for her?"

Albert opened his mouth but was cut off by a man with pink hair, moving to take a step next to him. "We're here to stop her. So, if you could just point us the right way, we'll leave."

"Stop her?" How ridiculous. While he had managed to cut all ties with her after time was forced to still in these lands, outrunning her was never an option. And yet, there was something about these four boys that had him reconsidering them. "Who are you to stop her?"

"Apparently someone important," the same man with pink hair said.

And so it seemed. Aryzath could turn them away. After all, it was none of his business if they wanted to die in her hands. But... as Albert looked at him, his heart tightened in his chest and the buzzing underneath his skin grew stronger.

No, he couldn't let him go. Not yet.

Not until he was certain.

And if these boys were indeed the key to ending the Sire and her reign... maybe he could right the wrongs he had done all this while. He didn't know why he trusted the boys when they said they were important.

But whatever the reason was, if his suspicions that Ilayda had come back to him in the form of Albert, he wouldn't let any harm come onto him this time.

No, this time, he would no longer sit around and let destruction take its place all because Sire wanted it.

Aryzath hummed, tilting his head to the side. "I'm Aryzath. You've come to the lands of Drache, my lands. If you wish to stop the Sire, then come with me. I would know first hand what kind of a creature you'll be dealing with."

THE END