With everything else Dallion had faced so far, it was difficult to explain the nervousness he experienced right now. He’d achieved what he’d promised, even if after a substantial delay. He knew, thanks to his music skills, the feelings that Euryale had towards him, and still there was that intense moment of uncertainty stuck to the back of his mind.

Was it possible that she recused? Gorgon social norms remained unclear, but a battlefield wedding wasn’t on anyone’s wish list. A tiny voice whispered that he could easily leave it till later. The stone orchid wasn’t going to wither, not to mention the victory he’d earned put him in a strong enough position to demand he be made an archduke.

Also, going through with this was more than living together. While gorgons and humans were incompatible when it came to children, he knew enough magic to find the exception to the rule. Illusion and transformation magic were more than capable of temporarily turning him into a gorgon or her into a human—just enough so that she could conceive.

Maybe it’s not the right time, Dallion thought, standing in front of the door to Euryale’s room. He knew that she was there—several area guardians had confirmed it. In a way, that made it more difficult.

Back to being an idiot? Vihrogon asked, though without mockery.

“Easy for you to say,” Dallion whispered.

You got that right. It’s a lot easier for me. Then again, I never got to the point of making a family, and now never will.

He was right, of course. That was the only big question Dallion needed to answer. No matter what, he decided there’d always be problems in one form or another. The opportunity, however, wouldn’t last forever.

Look, if you’re not certain that she’s right for you after spending a few centuries together, I don’t know what to tell you.

“You don’t have to tell me anything.” Dallion opened the door without knocking.

Euryale stood in the far end of the room, looking out of a giant window. That had been a new addition created by Dallion. Clad in her sun gold armor, three quarters of the snakes on her head focused on the view outside, while the remaining quarter concentrated on Dallion.

“I’m back,” he said, using the worst opener since the beginning of time.

“I know,” she replied. “I sensed you appear.”

“I didn’t know you could do that.” Dallion took a few steps forward. “I brought—”

“Stop!” she said briskly. “I just want to know one thing.”

“Sure?” This was definitely not the way Dallion imagined it. Other than him being way more decisive, he didn’t foresee any further hiccups.

“Are you absolutely sure about this?”

Dallion’s first reaction was to ask what she was talking about. At the same time, he knew perfectly well… just as she knew.

“This is different from what I thought it would be,” he made his way next to the gorgon.

With all traces of the battle gone, the view was exceptional. One might say it was worthy of the new world capital, if still a bit on the rough side. Gone were the temporary islands, making the bay look twice as wide.

“We were just a couple of hunters back then,” she said. “That’s why I never pushed you. I knew how fragile you were and the pressure you were under.”

Fragile? Dallion thought.

Gorgon culture, Adzorg chimed in. I thought you’d get used to it by now, dear boy.

“When I became the war leader of the Alliance, I thought I could easily take you under my wing. If the emperor had lent you a few months back, I would have. Looking back, maybe it was for the best.”

“I can agree with that. Although my family wasn’t thrilled with the idea at the time.”

The gorgon let out a dry chuckle.

“Think they will be now?” she turned looking at him, face eyes closed.

“The heck with them. Right now, only we matter.” Dallion’s decisiveness was back, burning with a passion within him. “I want us to be together,” he summoned the stone orchid. Even petrified, the object’s magic was glowing so brightly it might well have been a flower made of purple light. “I wasted so many opportunities before, and I don’t plan on wasting this one. We both know that things will be tougher moving on, but I want to face the world along with you.”

The snakes on Euryale’s head moved about. This was the second time he had offered her the flower, and this time it was definite. Regardless of human customs and traditions, the moment she accepted it, the union would be established and only death could tear them apart.

With speed exceeding Dallion’s own. She grabbed the orchid. From his perspective, one moment it was in his hands and the next—in hers.

That was only the start. Sensing that it changed hands, the orchid shifted color, glowing in a deep green. The blossoms closed up, forming the stone it was before. Yet, in this case, it was no longer a stone. Dallion could see the energy within it double, then triple. Millions of thread clusters of magic, spark and music, twisted around, merging together into various shapes. The speed and intensity quickly increased to the point that Dallion could no longer follow. In less than a second, the former stone orchid lit up, then faded again hundreds of times, until finally the outer layer cracked, collapsing on itself.

“A flutterblade?” Dallion asked, astonished at the transformation.

GOLDEN ARIA

Species: ARIA

Class: Music

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Health: 100%

Traits:

- BODY 20

- MIND 60

- PERCEPTION 60

- REACTION 60

- EMPATHY 10

- MAGIC 20

Skills:

- GUARD

- ACROBATICS

- MUSIC

- ARTS

- SPELLCRAFT

- FLIGHT (Species Unique)

- SPARK (Species Unique)

A purple rectangle appeared above the creature for a few moments. It wasn’t anything that Dallion had seen or read about before. The only reason he didn’t consider it a new species was due to the lack of achievement rectangle.

“What is that?” Dallion asked as the creature stretched its ribbon-like wings, then flowed through the air to Euryale’s shoulder.

“Our guardian,” Euryale replied, extending her arm forward.

The moment the aria received enough space, it wrapped itself around the gorgon’s biceps, sinking through the armor until it was no longer seen.

“The witness to our true emotions.” She moved her arm about as if getting used to the notion. “As a race, we tend to keep our emotions bottled inside. The orchids reveal them to the world. My mother—this world’s mother—had to fight and kill the result of hers, though still ended up accepting the union. Guess we know why my local family ended up being so messed up.”

That’s how the cutlings came into being, Vihrogon reminded Dallion. When other races learned they could feed them on pain and wounds, what better way to transform the witness of emotions into a monster, protecting themselves in the process?

Dallion thought back to his first encounter with the creatures. He had been told how furies and other races used them in battle. As long as they were integrated into something, an orchid could devour thousands of lethal slash wounds, seemingly without cost. Of course, that was until the item had had its fill and transformed into a monster of the wilderness.

“So, this is how they are used?” He placed his hand on Euryale’s arm. He could feel a ribbon of warmth wrap part of his fingers. “What happens now?” he asked.

“Now, we wait,” she replied.

“Wait for what?”

The snakes moved about, as she gave him an expectant look without even opening her eyes.

“Orchids feed on emotion,” she explained. “In our case, everything we felt towards each other. Since it’s had its fill, it’ll take a short while for the emotions to build up again. Then—” Euryale took a blocking ring from around her neck and slid it on her left index finger “—the night is ours.”

Events happened just as she had said they would. For close to an hour, the two kept standing at the window, looking outside. They’d reminisce about the past, laugh at the bright moments they’d been through, and recognize the rough patches, while the emotions within them slowly built up like waves. Then, when Dallion felt they were nearing the limit, he used his domain ruler powers to seal off the window.

It could be said that this was his first honeymoon experience, and it was unlike anything he had experienced before. The passion had reached new levels, as they shifted through dozens of domains all in the length of a single night. Universes blended literally and figuratively, making reality lose hold. During that night nothing in the world mattered—the war, the domains, the political squabbles of nobles, all faded into nothingness to enjoy a single overdue moment stretched to infinity. Then, the next day, the human part of the ceremony took place.

Unlike the gorgon approach, the human part of the wedding—even one as sudden as this—was accompanied by lots of pomp and celebration. Dallion was hesitant initially, but as a domain ruler he could see that his inhabitants needed something to put their mind off the horrors they’d been through.

Veil, who claimed to have the most recent experience as to weddings, transformed Alliance into one enormous festival ground full of reminders of the event. All windows of every structure were changed into hearts, while motifs of Eury and Dallion’s lives—separate and together—appeared on every wall and façade. Not to be outdone, Diroh did the same, having the furies shape the clouds in the sky. Even Pan created ten thousand copies of himself, volunteering to cook for the event.

Friends and strangers, people old and new, worked together to make the event memorable. Those who could, congratulated the couple personally. The rest merely did so talking to the city, knowing that their words would inevitably be heard.

Of course, that was only half of it. Thanks to Dallion’s empathy trait, and a few chatty items, all guardians in all three domains learned of the event as well, along with the plants and creatures of the area. Most of them had only a vague notion of what was happening, but it hardly mattered. The only thing of importance was that Dallion was involved, and that was more than enough to let them join the celebrations and chat a bit.

The sky lit up with sporadic fireworks, as the few remaining mages practiced for the evening’s grand display.

The only rule that Dallion imposed was that no one was to make any gifts until the end of the war. For the most part, the rule was followed, although there were a few notable exceptions. Hannah was the chief culprit who, while maintaining her grumpy front, presented the pair with two dagger rings of sun gold. In her words, one could never have enough blades, especially in current times.

The Mirror Pool also banded together to present Dallion with a genuine spyglass. While having the appearance of a monocle, the item’s realm contained hundreds of echoes belonging to “reliable contacts” throughout the empire. Somewhat conflicted, Dallion acknowledged the gesture, although he had no intention of keeping anything from the Mirror Pool on his person.

At nightfall, under the seven Moons, the vows were officially given, making the union between Dallion Elazni and the former Gorgon Empress complete. The sky lit up with a fireworks display that combined with cloud structures to form a living picture above the ground. Cheers filled the air, as millions raised their mugs and glasses to celebrate the event. Sadly, before the festivities could come to an end, an event disrupted everything.

Dal, Veil said from within the domain. You better come to the main entrance.

What’s wrong? Dallion asked, giving a discreet sign to Euryale beside him.

I think you better see this.

REALM AWAKENING

The city abruptly changed, replaced by its realm representation. Castled hills and mountains stretched as far as the eye could see. Several blue rectangles let Dallion know that cracklings had still taken root in a few buildings, but right now, that wasn’t his main concern.

Casting a flight spell, he darted to the domain’s borders, where the inland city gate was. As expected, Veil was already there.

“Well?” Dallion looked at him.

“This appeared.” The overseer handed him a single sealed scroll. “No one brought it. It just emerged out of nowhere and fell through into the domain.”

“I guess it was too much to hope that my actions would remain hidden for long.”

Splitting into a dozen instances, Dallion broke the seal of the scroll. In each case, the message was the same:

You’re urgently summoned to the Zodiac building.

- Order of the Twelve Suns