The Royal Training Grounds of Sylaphu were suspended in the air.
It was a massive platform grown from a single, flattened branch of the World Tree, hovering a thousand feet above the forest floor. The edges were open, offering a terrifying drop, but the Elves moved across it with the casual grace of birds.
Today, however, the graceful silence of the Elves was broken by the roar of a jet engine.
Briar was sparring.
She moved across the platform like a red blur. Her opponent was Captain Thalor, the commander of the Elven Rangers. Thalor was a master of the "Wollow-Spear", a fighting style that emphasized deflection and fluidity. He was fast, experienced, and a Peak Lunar Realm cultivator.
Normally, he would have danced around a human warrior, tiring them out.
But he wasn't dancing. He was retreating.
She lunged. Ignis, sheathed in its new Phoenix Scabbard was drawn in a blinding arc. The blade didn't just glow orange, it burned with a silent, concentrated blue flame.
Thalor brought his white-wood spear up to block.
HISSS.
The impact was heavy. Briar didn't try to overpower him with brute force. She let the blue fire flow down the length of her sword, condensing it at the point of contact. The heat was so intense it warped the air, creating a mirage effect around them.
Thalor's spear, enchanted to resist magma, began to smoke.
"Yield!" Briar laughed, spinning low and sweeping her leg.
Thalor leaped over the sweep, using the wind to float backward. He looked at his spear tip, which was scorched black. He smiled, a look of genuine respect on his face.
"Your fire has changed, Lady Briar," Thalor said, panting slightly. "It is no longer a forest fire. It is a forge. It is heavy."
"It's controlled," Briar corrected, standing up and flourishing her sword. She looked at her hand. The Intermediate Lunar Realm allowed her to compress the mana. She wasn't wasting energy anymore. She was precise.
"Again?" Briar challenged, her eyes shining with the thrill of her new power.
"I think not," Nyx's voice cut through the air.
Nyx was sitting on a bench at the edge of the arena, flanked by King Aerion. He stood up and walked onto the field. He wasn't armed, but his presence alone made the air feel heavier.
"You are relying too much on the heat," Nyx critiqued, walking up to Briar. "You melted his defense, yes. But you left your left flank open for 0.4 seconds. If Thalor had been an assassin, you would be bleeding."
Briar rolled her eyes, but she didn't argue. She sheathed her sword. "You're a harsh taskmaster, Void Boy. I just melted a Peak Lunar's spear."
"And I want you to be able to melt a Solar's shield," Nyx said calmly. He reached out and wiped a smudge of soot from her cheek. His touch lingered for a second longer than necessary. "Good work, though."
Briar leaned into his hand, her tough warrior facade cracking into a pleased smile. "Thanks, coach."
"Now," Nyx turned to the other side of the arena. "Lyra. Your turn."
Lyra stood opposite three Elven Battle-Mages.
The mages were intimidated. Not because Lyra looked scary, she looked like a porcelain doll in her blue robes, but because of the Whisper-Crystals hanging from her ears. The artifacts were humming, spinning with mana.
"Begin," King Aerion commanded.
The three Elves cast simultaneously. A volley of wind blades, water whips, and root spikes flew toward Lyra.
Lyra didn't cast a shield. She didn't dodge.
She adjusted her glasses (which were fake now, just a habit) and narrowed her eyes.
Vector Sight.
To Lyra, the world paused. She saw the spells not as magic, but as equations. She saw the velocity of the wind blades. She saw the surface tension of the water. She saw the trajectory of the roots.
"Solution derived," Lyra whispered.
She raised her wand. She didn't use a massive amount of mana. She flicked her wrist three times.
Snap. Snap. Snap
She fired three tiny, compressed bullets of air.
The first bullet hit the lead wind blade at a specific angle, destabilizing its rotation. The blade shattered, exploding outward and knocking the water whips off course. The water splashed harmlessly onto the roots, making the floor muddy and causing the spikes to slide and miss their target.
With three ounces of mana, she had neutralized a bombardment.
The Elven mages stared.
"She... she unraveled the spell matrix," one mage whispered. "She didn't block it. She solved it."
Lyra lowered her wand, letting out a shaky breath. The Whisper-Crystals cooled down against her neck.
"Efficiency rating: 98%," Lyra muttered to herself, a beaming smile spreading across her face. "I didn't even break a sweat."
Nyx walked over to her.
"You see?" Nyx said softly. "You don't need to always force it."
Lyra looked up at him, her eyes shining. "I saw the lines, Nyx. I saw where the magic wanted to go. It was beautiful."
"You are beautiful when you work," Nyx said.
Lyra turned bright red, looking down at her boots. "That is... statistically probable to induce blushing."
King Aerion clapped slowly, walking onto the field.
"Impressive," the Elf King said. "Truly. In a few days, you have transformed from refugees into warriors who could challenge my Royal Guard. The humans of the Empire are fools to have let you go."
He looked at Nyx.
"And you, Great One? Will you not train?"
Nyx looked at Requiem, wrapped in cloth on his back.
"I am training," Nyx said. "By not drawing it. My challenge is restraint, Aerion. If I draw my sword, I don't spar. I consume. I am learning how to exist without eating everything around me."
Aerion nodded solemnly. "A King's greatest weapon is often the one he keeps sheathed."
The King gestured to the city below.
"You have trained enough for today. The sun is setting. Tonight, my mother, Gaia, wishes to speak with you privately in the Sacred grove, But until then... relax. You have earned it."
The evening in Sylaphu was a symphony of twilight colors.
Nyx, Briar, and Lyra returned to the Guest Branch. They were exhausted, their bodies aching from the intensity of the breakthrough and the sparring.
"Bath," Briar announced, dropping her sword belt on the floor. "Immediately."
"Agreed," Lyra sighed, rubbing her neck. "My neural pathways are overheating."
They went to the private hot spring attached to their suite.
This time, there was no hesitation. No shyness about sharing the water. They had crossed that line the night before.
They slipped into the steaming water. Briar groaned in pleasure as the heat soaked into her sore muscles. Lyra floated on her back, staring at the amber ceiling. Nyx sat on the submerged bench, the water lapping at his chest.
The steam created a private, enclosed world for just the three of them.
"My shoulder is killing me," Briar muttered, rolling her right shoulder. "That impact from Thalor's spear... I think I bruised the bone."
"Come here," Nyx said.
Briar drifted over to him. She turned her back, letting him see the angry purple bruise forming on her pale skin.
Nyx placed his hand on it.
He didn't use the Void. He used his new powers. He channeled the gentle, restorative energy of the World Tree through his fingertips.
"Warm," Briar sighed, her head dropping forward.
Nyx didn't stop at healing. He began to knead the muscle, his thumbs working out the tension in her neck and shoulders. His hands were large, rough from the sword, but incredibly gentle.
"That feels..." Briar's voice trailed off into a soft moan. "That feels too good."
"You carry too much tension," Nyx murmured, moving his hands down her spine. "Even when you relax, you are ready to fight."
"Force of habit," Briar whispered. She leaned back against him, her head resting on his shoulder. The water swirled around them.
It was intimate, It was care.
Lyra watched them from across the pool. She didn't feel jealous. She felt a tug of longing.
Nyx opened his eyes and looked at her.
"You too, Lyra," Nyx said. "Your mind is racing. I can hear your heart rate."
Lyra hesitated, then paddled over, blushing. She sat on Nyx's other side.
"It's the Crystals," Lyra admitted softly. "They make me think so fast. It's hard to turn it off. I feel like I'm vibrating."
Nyx reached out with his free hand. He placed his damp palm against Lyra's cheek, his thumb brushing her temple.
"Quiet," Nyx whispered.
He sent a pulse of calming, grounding energy into her. It was the feeling of a deep root settling into the earth. The frantic static in Lyra's brain slowed down. The equations vanished.
Lyra let out a shuddering breath. She leaned into his hand, closing her eyes.
"Quiet," she repeated. "It's finally quiet."
Nyx sat there, holding them both. Briar resting against his chest, Lyra leaning into his touch.
The atmosphere shifted. The water seemed to get hotter.
Briar turned in his arms. She looked up at him. Her face was flushed, her red eyes dark with an emotion that wasn't anger. Her lips were parted slightly.
"Nyx," Briar whispered.
"Yes?"
"You don't have to be a God right now," she said. She reached up, her wet hand touching his jawline, tracing the sharp angle of his face. "You can just be... a man."
Nyx looked at her. He felt the blood rushing in his veins, a very human reaction.
"And if I am just a man," Nyx asked, his voice dropping an octave, "what does that make us?"
"It makes us yours," Lyra whispered from his other side.
Nyx turned to look at Lyra. She wasn't hiding. She was looking at him with a terrifying amount of trust.
He looked back at Briar. She was challenging him, daring him to close the distance.
Nyx leaned in.
He didn't kiss them. Not yet.
He pressed his forehead against Briar's. He let their breaths mingle.
"I don't know what this is," Nyx admitted, his voice rough. "I don't remember love. I don't remember desire. But when I am with you... the hunger stops. The Void stops."
He pulled Lyra closer, so the three of them were a knot of warmth in the water.
"You are my anchors," Nyx said. "If I am to fly... I need you to hold the string."
Briar closed her eyes, a tear slipping down her cheek to mix with the pool water. She kissed his cheek,soft, lingering, and full of promise.
"We aren't letting go," Briar vowed.
"Never," Lyra agreed, resting her head on his shoulder.
They stayed like that for a long time, the steam rising around them, forging a bond that was stronger than steel or magic.
Later that night in the Sacred Grove,
They dressed in fresh robes and made their way to the private garden of Gaia.
The mood was somber but peaceful. Gaia sat beneath a small, silver sapling, a cutting of the World Tree. She looked healthy, but her eyes were old. Ancient.
"Come, children," Gaia beckoned.
They sat on the grass before her.
"Tomorrow, you leave for the Sacred Grounds," Gaia said. "You go to face the Dragons, the Humans, and the things that hide in the dark."
She looked at Nyx.
"Before you go, I must give you something. Not a weapon. Not a potion. A truth."
Nyx straightened up. "A truth about the Seed?"
"A truth about YOU," Gaia said.
She reached out and touched Nyx's forehead.
"When you healed the tree... when our souls connected... I saw something. A fragment of your memory that even you have not unlocked."
Nyx froze. "What did you see?"
"I saw the Mother," Gaia whispered, awe in her voice. "The Universe. She wasn't just handing you a seed, Nyx. She was handing you the future, you planted all those seeds in so many worlds, and the one you planted here became Yggdrasil"
All three of them were shocked about what they heard, Briar and Lyra looked at Nyx nervously.
Gaia leaned forward.
"The 12 Outsiders... they didn't just steal your power. They stole your Name."
"My name?" Nyx asked. "I am Nyx."
"No," Gaia shook her head. "Nyx is what you became. Nyx is the Night. But before the Night... there was something else."
She withdrew her hand.
"I cannot say it. The world is not ready to hear it, and the Shackle of Memory blocks it. But know this, You were not created to destroy. You were created to Bridge."
She looked at Briar and Lyra.
"He needs you," Gaia told them. "Not just to fight. But to remind him. When the Third Shackle breaks.... he will be tempted to dominate. To rule through fear. You must remind him that a Bridge connects. It does not crush."
Briar and Lyra both nodded solemnly. "We will."
Gaia smiled, leaning back against the tree.
"Go now. Sleep. For soon, the Waygate opens, and the world will know that the Gardener has returned."
Nyx stood up. He felt the weight of her words. 'To Bridge.'
He looked at Briar and Lyra.
He didn't know what his true name was. He didn't know what he was supposed to bridge.
But as they walked back to their room, hand in hand under the starlight, he knew one thing.
He wasn't crossing that bridge alone.