The white of Ellen’s gaze flickered, the energy wreathing her hands dimming from a roaring white fla to a smoldering ember. She tilted her head, watching Star step between her and the broken form of Queen Victoria.
"Why are you stopping , Aunty Star?" Ellen asked. Her voice was devoid of inflection, a flat calm that was far more terrifying than her rage.
"I know the words your father told you, Ellen. Eliminate the threat." Star held her ground, her boots planted firmly on the cracked marble of the Elven courtyard. "But this isn’t execution. It’s a massacre. You don’t have to stain your soul for a victory we’ve already won."
"I haven’t killed anyone," Ellen countered, her eyes narrowing. "Except the one my summon devoured. And frankly, if I wanted them dead, the entire Elven Nation—all 2.5 million of them—would be nothing but ash and mories by now."
With a thought, Ellen ascended. The massive obsidian giant behind her dissolved into thick, cloying smoke, swirling around her ankles as she landed lightly atop Ladon’s massive, scaled head. She looked down at the weeping Queen Victoria, clutching her daughter amidst the rubble.
"I won’t kill them, then. But let it be known: this throne is ours." Ellen’s voice amplified, rolling over the terrified survivors like thunder. "I don’t want to see their faces. If leaving them alive causes a 1% chance of rebellion in the future, you will be the one explaining it to my father."
"See you later, Aunty."
Ladon, the Colossal Abyssal Dragon, exhaled a plu of sulfur. With a single beat of wings that shattered the remaining walls of the ruined palace, he launched into the sky, breaking the sound barrier instantly and vanishing from the atmosphere.
Star watched the vapor trail dissipate, letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. ’That girl... She possesses the power of a calamity, but the heart of a wounded child. If I hadn’t stepped in, the mortality rate in this courtyard would have been absolute.’
She snapped her fingers. The air rippled, and twenty rcenaries appeared.
"Ellen is right about one thing," Star murmured, her eyes cold as she surveyed the ruins. "rcy is a risk."
Victoria raised her blood-streaked face, trembling as she looked at the armored figures surrounding her. "This is..."
"You remain a threat level: High," Star stated clinically. "We have secured the periter. My scanners indicate you have 450 remaining royal guards and 32 officers alive in this sector. We are taking all of them into custody."
Star signaled the rcenaries. "Secure the Queen. We will treat your husband and daughter—our dical team are far superior to your healing magic—but they will join you in the containnt cells shortly."
"Your fate," Star said, turning her back on the weeping monarch to face the direction of the Elves’ city, "Will be decided by the King."
___
[Nightti. The Dragon Peaks of Eldoria.]
The air here was thin and cold, biting at the skin, but Ellen didn’t feel it. She stood on the highest needle of rock in Eldoria.
Below her, the Dragon Region sprawled out—a nesting ground for the empire’s most terrifying assets. Tens of Thousands of Abyssal Dragons roosted in the crags.
Ellen sat on the edge of the precipice, while Ladon lay coiled around the mountain’s base, his massive head resting on a plateau near her, one black eye cracked open.
"Did I do sothing wrong, Ladon?" Ellen asked. Her voice was small, swallowed by the wind. "I was just teaching them a lesson."
"And why did she stop ? Victoria used a death Artifact against . If our positions were reversed, she wouldn’t have hesitated."
"Perhaps the Second Commander does not wish for you to beco desensitized to the weight of taking lives." Ladon’s voice rumbled.
"Why? I’m not a kid anymore," Ellen snapped, standing up and pacing the narrow peak. "My Dad trained for war. He knows the rules—survival favors the ruthless. Does she think she knows more than him?"
"I will not speak on the King’s wisdom," Ladon replied, closing his eye. "But I believe the Legion prefers you as the gentle princess, not the harbinger of death."
"I don’t want to be the ’gentle princess’!" Ellen scread into the night. Her aura flared, turning the surrounding snow purple. "I don’t care what the demographics of Eldoria want! I want to be like Father! I want to be the strongest shield for what I love! Even if I have to burn the world to protect it!"
Ladon exhaled, a warm gust of wind buffering her. "Forgive , Princess, but... where does this hunger co from? What happened in your past?"
Ellen froze. The purple aura faded, leaving her looking very small against the backdrop of the moons. She sat back down, pulling her knees to her chest.
"The past?" She laughed, a dry, brittle sound. "My past isn’t painted in the pretty colors of a storybook, Ladon."
She looked up at the moon. "From the mont I was born, I was a anomaly. My real parents sent my sister and away to protect us, but the chaos of the teleportation separated us. I washed up in a mixed-race village on the outskirts of the Elven Nation."
"I was then adopted by a poor human couple. They were good people. They raised until I was ten." She stared at her hands. "On my tenth birthday, they used their entire life savings—maybe 500 galaxy crystals—to buy a cake."
Her expression hardened. "The door was kicked in. It wasn’t bandits. It was the villagers. A mob of about 400 people—60% Elves, 30% Beastkin, 10% Humans. They didn’t attack us for money. They attacked because they sensed my latent energy. They called a curse."
She pressed her hand against the rough stone of the mountain. "That was the first ti I used my power. I lost control. The resulting shockwave killed everyone in the house instantly. My adoptive parents... I watched them bleed out. The arterial spray covered my birthday cake."
Ladon remained silent, his presence a comforting weight.
"The Village Chief arrived, he knocked out. When I woke up, I was in a cage. I was auctioned off to a High-Ranking Ogre Warlord." She clenched her fist until her knuckles turned white.
"He paid 5,000 galaxy crystals for , expecting a weapon. When I refused to use my powers, he felt scamd. He tortured for five months. Beating , starving ."
"He eventually sold to another group of Ogres," Ellen continued, her voice trembling.
"They discovered my blood had unique properties. It could restore 50% of a drained warrior’s Celestial Energy within seconds. I wasn’t a child to them; I was a renewable resource. A blood bank. They drained daily, keeping barely alive with potions just so they could harvest more."
She wiped a tear furiously. "Then one day, I t my sister, Jinx, and she forced to fight. And then... I t Him. My Dad. He gave a choice. I was terrified I’d hurt him like I hurt my first family. So I trained. I morized every combat form, every spell, every strategy. I have to be the strongest because if I’m weak, I’m just a victim again."
"But everyone just sees as the Precious Lotus of Eldoria. I don’t want to be a mascot. I want to be a warrior."
"Oh, child," Ladon sighed, the sound like shifting tectonic plates. He raised his head, bringing his massive eye level with her. "You have endured more than any ten-year lifespan should contain."
"I have lived thousands of years," Ladon said softly. "I have seen empires rise and turn to dust. But understand this: Your family protects you not because you are weak, but because you are their heart. If you break, they break."
"You are already strong, Ellen. Your power output rivals a demigod. But true strength isn’t just killing the enemy. It is controlling the monster inside you. If you kill without thought, you beco no better than the Ogre who tortured you."
Ellen blinked, the words sinking in. "So... knowing when to forgive is part of the training?"
"Precisely," Ladon rumbled. "Balance is the hardest discipline."
"Thank you, Ladon."
"Ellen?"
Ellen spun around. Star was standing a few ters away, her cloak fluttering in the high-altitude wind. She had heard it all.
"Why are you out here, Aunty?" Ellen looked away, embarrassed.
"I should be asking you that." Star walked over, her movents fluid and silent, and sat down on the cold rock beside the girl.
Ladon watched them for a mont, then lowered his head, his breathing slowing into the rhythm of sleep.
"Ellen... about the courtyard," Star started.
"Forget it," Ellen muttered, hugging her knees tighter. "I was... I was acting irrationally. It’s better if Dad decides their fate. He sees the bigger picture."
Star smiled, a genuine, soft expression that she rarely showed the soldiers. She wrapped an arm around Ellen’s shoulders, pulling the girl into her side.
"He does," Star agreed, looking up at the vast expanse of stars that mirrored her na. "But he would be proud of you today. Not for the power you showed, but for the restraint you found in the end."
"I miss them," Ellen whispered, leaning her head on Star’s shoulder. "Dad and Mum."
"I know," Star said, tightening her hug. "We all do."
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