The northern wind drifted through the deep forest, carrying the damp scent of earth after rain. Inglada stood at the edge of a cliff. Below her lay the forbidden valley — a place humans had feared for generations.
She didn't know why she had returned. Fear lingered in her heart, yet so did an aching longing she could not explain.
A faint whisper rose from beneath the ground — a voice so familiar it felt like a dream she had heard for a thousand nights.
"Inglada…"
Just the sound of her name sent her heart racing, throbbing, and yearning all at once.
The stones beneath her feet began to tremble. The wind roared, tossing her hair into the air, and from the shadows of the valley emerged a colossal figure — a silver-scaled black dragon, the very one who had saved her during the night of the curse-breaking ritual.
In his eyes lingered sorrow, guilt… and a love that should never exist.
"You've come…" the deep voice murmured. "Have you come to end our bond… or to begin it anew?"
Inglada drew a shaky breath. Memories flashed — blood, curses, and the night she died for him.
She stepped closer, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Perhaps… it's neither an ending nor a beginning,"
"But… forgiveness."
The valley wind fell silent. From afar, the soft toll of temple bells drifted from the mountain village below — as if blessing them to finally be free from destiny itself.
Inglada drew a shaky breath, her chest rising and falling unevenly. Memories flashed before her eyes — the crimson stains on the snow, the harsh curses spat in the darkness, and the night she had almost died for him, when the world itself seemed to collapse around them. Her fingers trembled as she reached out, brushing against the edge of his sleeve, unsure if it was fear or longing that made her heart pound so fiercely.
She stepped closer, each movement measured and cautious, as if afraid to disturb the fragile thread of fate that had bound them together. Her voice, barely above a whisper, broke through the stillness.
"Perhaps… it's neither an ending nor a beginning," she murmured.
"But… forgiveness."
The valley wind fell silent as if holding its breath. From afar, the soft toll of temple bells drifted up from the mountain village below, echoing gently across the misty slopes. It was a sound that felt like a blessing, like the universe itself granting them a reprieve — a chance to finally step out from the chains of destiny and breathe freely.
He turned to face her, his dark eyes reflecting the golden glow of the setting sun, and for a moment, words failed him. Everything that had happened — the betrayals, the blood, the endless nights of fear — seemed to fade into the background, leaving only the fragile, trembling hope that maybe, just maybe, they could start again.
A small smile curved her lips, fragile yet determined. She reached up, letting her fingers trace the scars along his jaw, silent apologies and unspoken promises flowing between them.
The world seemed to pause, the valley holding its breath as if to witness the birth of something delicate yet unbreakable: a forgiveness forged in blood and shadow, a bond neither time nor fate could undo.