Against Divinity

I awoke to the scent of memory and the warmth of something real. Like the smell of sand in Lake Aldaria during the morning.

Sakura lay beside me, her breath slow and even, golden hair scattered like fallen petals across the pillow. One of her arms curled over my chest. As if to guard me. I smiled softly at that thought.

Neither of us spoke at first. There was no need.

When her eyes fluttered open, she smiled softly and whispered, “Still here.”

“So am I,” I murmured. “I half-expected last night to have been a dream, or a memory of a dream.”

“It was,” she said. “A very real one.”

I leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

She looked up at me with a wistful smile. “We’re allowed joy, Seren. Even if our pain and memories are trying to drown us.”

We kissed again, and the throes of passion took us over.

Sakura pulled me above her, her arms wrapping around my neck, one hand brushing my hair. Her thighs locked around my waist. She gasped as I brushed against her warmth and as I was about to thrust myself into her again...

— the bells tolled.

Harsh, metallic, they echoed across the city—one after another. A chorus of alarm.

Sakura shot upright, her expression hardening in an instant. She flourished one hand and sand swirled around us, our clothes and gear formed and manifested on our bodies. My daggers snapped into their sheaths at my waist.

“Show off,” I muttered, as I climbed off the bed to grab the Compass.

"Quickly, Seren." Sakura said urgently, climbing off the bed after me and clutching the Temporal Vow.

"Finally, combat." The Compass said excitedly as I clipped him to my belt. "I've been growing tired seeing you being all lovey-dovey with these angels."

Sakura leapt into the wind, her sandy wings bursting out like twin ribbons of starlight as she soared from the window. She settled high above, seemingly waiting for something, or someone.

"Chaewon must be on the walls."

"No!" The Compass exclaimed. "She's way too far. You'll go sick again."

"But I need to get there quick."

"Don't waste your energy before battle is joined, kid!" The Compass countered.

"Then what do you expect me to do? Hitch a ride with one of the Fallen?"

Before the Compass can reply —

“Going somewhere?”

I turned just in time to see a blur of red and ash streak through the window. Yunjin—her wings ablaze with sacred flame—grabbed me under the arms with startling ease.

“You’re flying with me today, hotshot,” she grinned.

“I was perfectly fine leaping on my own—!”

“Sure you were,” she said, spinning me midair like a sack of potatoes. “Kazuha’s got eyes on you anyway.”

At that, Kazuha swept in behind us—her flight graceful, but with a slight tilt. One obsidian wing beat unevenly, still partially bound from the last battle.

She offered me a smile, fragile but radiant. “We’re all here.”

“For now,” Yunjin muttered grimly shaking turbulently as she flew.

"That's a dark thought." I remarked.

"Shut it and flatten your body, relax and let the wind position you parallel to me. You’re vertical. Dead weight. Flatten out and let the wind carry you." Yunjin instructed.

I did just that, relaxed and let the wind lay me parallel to Yunjin and we zoomed through Dazkora's rooftops. Sakura with her wings of golden sand; particles trailing in the air where she flew. Followed by Kazuha; Stillveil fluttering protectively around her injured obsidian wing. And bringing the rear, Yunjin, with wings of sacred fire, burning smokeless as we flew.

They carried me until Dazkora’s towering outer walls came into view—lined with archers, mages, and guards all preparing in a flurry of controlled chaos.

On the main battlement above the gate, Chaewon stood still as stone, her silver hair rippling in the wind like a banner. Her thorny iron diadem rested squarely upon her forehead. Her wings, shimmering in the sun like steel armor. She turned her head slightly as we landed.

Sakura stood beside Chaewon. “What’s happening?”

A captain approached, breath ragged. “Scout towers just confirmed—an army. Thousands strong. Broken Enlightened, approaching from the ravine.”

Even above the bellows and calls, that phrase echoed: Broken Enlightened.

"How many defenders do we have?" I asked.

"Not enough." Chaewon answered grimly.

"Are the defenses ready, Libo?" Chaewon barked.

"As ready as can be, Oracle." The Captain, apparently named Libo, replied.

Chaewon nodded. "You all have your orders. Get in position and wait for my signals."

Libo bowed and left as a hush fell upon the five of us.

I glanced at the Fallen before me.

Kazuha; barefoot and ever graceful as her silver robes hug her slim and slender body tightly. Stillveil unwound from her broken wing and swirls around her body protectively. She sways, slowly, always in motion.

Sakura; elegant in her bronze robe perfectly sculpting in her petite and tight figure. Her sandy wings swirl with golden temporal symbols. The Temporal Vow pulsed in her chest rhythmically matching her heartbeat as sand crept from the relic which once again etched golden temporal symbols on her skin.

Yunjin; donned in red leather armor as her fiery hair flowed with the wind like a flaming mane accentuated by her wings fluttering like a blazing inferno. The veins in her left hand glowed from where her relic wraps around her ring finger.

And Chaewon; stoic in her black armor, black crown, steel wings, like a warrior maiden born out of midnight. Her shorter stature irrelevant as she casts the biggest shadow in the field as both Commander and trump card.