"Black Dragon—" Raphael began, his hand moving toward the sword at his hip.
Aiden’s fingers twitched in the slightest gesture, and Raphael’s neck twisted violently to the side at an angle that should have been impossible for any living being to survive.
His eyes went wide with shock, then rolled back as consciousness fled.
The Chief Guardian Angel plumted from the sky and crashed into the ground far below with enough force to cause a few cracks.
Normally, such a thing would be impossible. Angels, especially one of Raphael’s caliber, possessed durability that made them nearly indestructible.
But right now, at this mont, Aiden was the strongest entity in the universe.
If he decreed that Raphael’s neck would snap, then so be it.
The injury wouldn’t kill the Chief Guardian as angels didn’t die from such mundane damage. But Raphael would remain unconscious for quite so ti, which was exactly what Aiden wanted.
Michael’s mouth opened to speak, perhaps to reason or threaten but Aiden raised his index finger to his own lips.
"Shhh."
The simple gesture carried weight beyond the physical and Michael’s voice cut off mid-syllable. The leader of the angels found himself suddenly, completely mute. No sound or words could form.
His eyes widened with genuine fear.
Aiden snapped his fingers again but this wasn’t anything to attack or bring Michael harm.
Deep within Ah’, in a chamber warded by the most powerful binding seals the angels could create, Uriel sat chained to a throne of light.
The restraints glowed with energy specifically designed to suppress their level of divinity, and her six wings were bound tight against her back, unable to spread.
The chains dissolved into motes of light and the binding seals shattered. The very walls of her prison seed to fold away right after.
And suddenly, impossibly, she materialized beside Aiden in the sky above Ah’, completely free.
The transition was so abrupt she barely had ti to process it.
She turned toward Aiden with shock on her face. "How did you—"
"It doesn’t matter where they held you," Aiden interrupted gently. "Or what wards they placed. Nothing can prevent from reaching what I choose to reach."
His eyes shifted back to Michael. The leader of the angels hovered before them, unable to speak, as his expression cycled between rage and fear.
Aiden’s voice was calm when he said. "I know you intend to co for when this power fades away. But I assure you, that day will be your last."
Then Aiden reached out and took Uriel’s hand, then vanished.
The mont they disappeared, the seal on his voice broke. Sound returned to his throat, but he said nothing. He simply stared at the empty space as his hands trembled with fury.
The confrontation had lasted less than two minutes.
And the angels had learned exactly how powerless they were against the King Of Dragons.
——
It had been three years since Uriel left the City of Angels, denouncing Ah’ and the rigid doctrines that governed it. During that ti, she’d lived primarily within Aiden’s Pocket Domain.
However, sothing else had also developed between the Dragon God and the angel.
A Bond.
But to be more precise, the bond had never actually gone away.
When Aiden absorbed the essences of the last three dragons, they had all beco part of him.
They were him, and he was them.
He could still call upon their individual souls if he wished, or speak to any of them as distinct personalities.
But at their core, they were all the sa, and everything they were, everything they had experienced, now belonged to Aiden as well.
Including Syqora’s bond with Uriel.
The connection hadn’t broken when Syqora rged with Aiden. It had simply transferred, as though Aiden had been the one to form it in the first place.
The bond recognized no difference between Syqora and Aiden.
For Uriel, the transition had been equally seamless. She never felt displacent or the severing of connection.
Loving Aiden didn’t feel like loving soone new. It felt like loving the sa being, just expressed through a different form.
Syqora’s essence was still there, and through the bond she could feel him as clearly ever.
It was strange. Beautiful. Complicated in ways that defied easy categorization.
But it was real.
——
The portal deposited Aiden into a hallway with golden light emanating from glowing crystals embedded in the walls.
The corridor stretched for perhaps thirty feet before ending at a wooden door.
When Aiden pushed open the door, he found himself in a spacious chamber that had been converted into a delivery room.
Laela and Arianna both lay in elevated beds positioned side by side, dressed in comfortable white gowns.
Despite being in active labor, neither woman showed signs of distress or pain. Their faces were serene and peaceful.
"You’re lucky you ca on ti," Rin said from where she stood near the foot of Arianna’s bed.
The half-demon wore casual clothes and her tail swished back and forth nervously.
Aeris stood beside Laela’s bed. She simply smiled at Aiden. "We were starting to worry"
Aiden scratched the back of his head sheepishly, then crossed the room quickly.
He moved between the two beds so he could reach both his wives simultaneously. He took Laela’s hand in his left, Arianna’s in his right, and squeezed gently.
Both won smiled up at him with identical expressions of joy mixed with anticipation.
"One more ti," Aiden began. "You know I could just get them out right now? You’d never have to feel any sort of discomfort from this. I could make it instant and completely safe."
Laela shook her head. "We already talked about this, love. We want it this way."
Arianna added, squeezing his hand back. "The way it’s ant to be."
From the corner of the room, Gaia stepped forward. The Archon goddess wore a healer’s robe as she was going to conduct the delivery herself
"Aiden," Gaia said gently, "I’m going to have to ask you to leave now."
He turned toward her with protest already forming on his lips.
"The culture of delivery here follows the sa traditions regular humans observe," Gaia continued. "The father waits outside while the child is brought into the world. It’s important for both mother and baby."
Aiden wanted to argue but he could see the determination in both Laela’s and Arianna’s eyes.
He nodded, then granted them the blessing of good fortune
"I love you both," he whispered.
"We love you too," they said in unison, then laughed at how they both said that simultaneously.
Reluctantly, Aiden released their hands and turned toward the door. Rin and Aeris followed him out, giving the mothers so privacy.
Aiden began pacing the hallway. Although he knew exactly what was happening inside, yet he still could not stay still.
Aeris leaned against the wall, watching him with amusent. "You defeated an angel who’d absorbed the power of gods, and recreated the world. But this has you nervous?"
"Completely different situation," Aiden muttered, still pacing.
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