CHAPTER XXIII
"The Fall and the Fairy of Shadows"
My fingers were slipping.
Bit by bit… inch by inch…
The edge that had once held my life so tightly began to betray me.
I could feel the heat rising from the lava below — a fury that didn't scream, but waited.
Waited for me to let go.
Waited for me to fall.
I tried to hold on longer. Just a second more.
But my strength was fading. My arms trembled. My breath caught.
And then…
My hand slipped.
I began to fall.
The world turned upside down — the sky above becoming a fading memory as the fiery abyss below opened its arms to swallow me whole.
The wind tore at my face. My heart thundered in my chest like a war drum.
The scream never escaped my lips — it stayed locked in my throat, trapped by terror.
And then I saw her.
Rira.
My brave, beautiful, magical Rira.
She surged forward — not as a weapon, not as a rug — but as my friend. My family.
She tried to grab me — tried to pull me back with all the magic she had left inside her.
But the moment her threads touched my skin…
She began to burn.
Her form, soft and loyal, turned to ash — unraveling before my very eyes.
Tiny sparks floated around me like dying fireflies, and I watched — helpless — as Rira, the soul who had flown beside me for so long…
…was reduced to nothing but dust on the wind.
My heart broke in a way it never had before.
Then Flash and Chiko leapt toward the edge — reaching, stretching, shouting my name.
They tried to grab my hand.
But they were too late.
I was already falling.
Faster.
Farther.
Eighteen hundred feet.
That's what I would later be told.
That's how far I fell — deeper than thought, faster than hope.
I knew it then.
This is it.
This was how it ended.
And yet…
Right as I closed my eyes, ready to surrender to the burning end…
She appeared.
A blur of black and grace.
Wings like midnight silk. Hair that rippled like shadows in moonlight.
A fairy — unlike any I'd ever seen — dove after me.
She didn't hesitate.
She didn't think.
She just jumped — straight into the deadly heart of the lava-filled abyss.
For me.
For a stranger.
The flames reached for both of us, curling upward like the arms of some ancient beast. But she wrapped her arms around me, her skin strangely cool against mine — a contrast so sharp, I gasped through the fire.
She held me close, shielding me from the inferno.
And in that moment, time slowed.
Her face — calm.
Her eyes — glowing with silent power.
Her aura — dark, mysterious, and safe.
I didn't know who she was.
I didn't know if she was real… or just the final vision before death.
But what I did know…
Was that I wasn't falling anymore.
"Wings of Fire, Secrets of Shadows"
She spread her wings — those majestic, mysterious black wings — and wrapped them around me like a living shield. In an instant, I was cocooned in darkness… but not the kind that frightens.
It was a comforting darkness. Warm, protective. Like a lullaby sung in the arms of night.
Then she raised her arms skyward, and I felt the air shift.
Power surged from her fingertips like lightning wrapped in grace.
Her pale, porcelain skin began to glow — faintly at first — then brightly, veins shimmering with red, pulsing like rivers of magic beneath her flesh.
She was using everything she had. Every ounce of strength.
The lava below roared like a beast in fury, but she never faltered.
With her entire being alight with power, she lifted me.
Up.
Higher.
Through fire, through ash, through the choking heat — we rose like a phoenix reborn.
Her hold on me never wavered, and yet… there was no pain. Only peace.
A strange, familiar peace.
The kind I only felt in dreams.
The kind I had felt… when I dreamt of her — that nameless fairy who lived in my visions, the one whose presence brought silence to my chaos.
It was her.
It had to be her.
And then — we broke through.
Above the abyss. Back onto solid ground.
She gently placed me down, her touch lingering for just a second longer than it needed to — as if ensuring I was truly safe.
I looked up at her — heart pounding, breath caught.
And for the first time… I really looked at her.
She was beautiful.
In a haunting, ethereal kind of way.
Long black hair flowed behind her like living ink. Her skin — pale and flawless. Her eyes — deep, cold, and unreadable. Her black dress clung to her like shadows, fluttering with unseen winds.
But before I could say anything, she narrowed her eyes and stepped back.
"What are you doing here?" she asked — her voice sharp, stern, and laced with… anger?
I blinked. "You just saved me—"
Her wings vanished in a breath — as if they'd never been there.
No wind. No glow. Just gone.
I stood up slowly. "Who are you?" I asked, my voice quieter now.
She turned her face slightly, hiding her expression behind her curtain of hair.
"You don't need to know that," she said coldly, already turning away.
But I couldn't let her leave.
I reached out and caught her hand.
"Wait," I whispered. "Have you seen Cael? Do you live here? Your wings… they're black. And your dress — you must be from Lunaria Noir, right?"
My questions tumbled out — one after another. Desperate. Breathless.
"I've read about fairies like you. Are you one of them? Why are you here? Why did you save me? And if you know about Cael, please, tell m—"
Before I could finish, she turned abruptly and placed her hand over my mouth.
Gently.
But firmly.
Her eyes were calm now. Her voice… quieter. Different.
"I saved you," she said, "because you matter to me. Even if you don't understand why yet."
I stilled.
Something about her words sent a shiver through my soul — not of fear, but recognition.
Like I was meant to hear them. Like they were written into my destiny.
Then she pulled her hand away and added softly:
"Now come with me. I will take you to the Mother Fairy."
And just like that… she turned again.
Not waiting for permission.
Not offering explanation.
But knowing…
That I would follow her.
And I did.
Because in that moment, even with fire behind me and confusion ahead…
I believed her.
And I trusted her —
The fairy of shadow,
The girl of flame,
The one who had caught me when the world let me fall.
To be continue....