The arrow shot upward, though it could never hope to reach the moon. As it reached its apex, gravity seized it, and the arrow turned downward, its heavy golden tip leading the way.
Yes, come to me.
The arrow hurtled toward him, faster and faster. Ashbal’s eyes remained fixed on the descending arrow.
This arrow will put me to rest finally.
A faint smile of relief touched his lips.
“You fool!” a familiar voice cried out.
Her hair as dark as midnight, Naila burst forth—but she should have been asleep in her palace.
“What are you doing here?!” he barked, but she’d already flung herself at him.
He grunted as they collided. They tumbled to the ground, her slender frame clinging to him, though there was no way someone as light as her should have been able to take down someone his size.
“I was terrified!” she said from on top of him. “I had a feeling that when the next full moon came, you would be gone forever!”
This is bad.
The golden arrow continued its descent, aiming for Naila’s back.
“Naila! Move!”
“No!”
He tried to twist on top of her so he could shield her with his body, but her grip was unrelenting.
“You’re planning to die, aren’t you?! You idiot! Why would you do something like this?!”
“You’re the idiot!” He fought to push her aside before it was too late, but before he could, a sharp clang pierced the air. The golden arrow hadn’t pierced flesh; it’d bounced off of something else.
Ashbal’s head snapped up. Standing above him was a young man in royal garments.
“Noah...”
Without a word, Noah slid his sword back into its scabbard as the arrow clattered against a stone wall near the goddess statue.
“It’s been a while, Ashbal,” came a cool, familiar voice. “We finally meet again.”
“Claudia.”
Behind Noah, Claudia stepped into the moonlight. She was in her Lady Dia disguise, and her beauty was striking. From the direction she turned toward emerged Faraz, Ashbal’s subordinate and his father’s old friend.
Ashbal sighed deeply, shutting his eyes for a brief moment. “You’ve finally seen through me.”
There was no longer any point in hiding.
“Ashbal!” Naila’s voice trembled. “What on earth were you thinking?”
“I’m sorry, Naila.”
Her breath caught as Ashbal pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. Her body slackened in surprise, and in that fleeting moment, he slipped from her grasp.
“Forgive me, but there’s no time for explanations,” he said, stepping back. He quickly checked their surroundings. “Ah, you’ve even blocked my escape with a barrier. A rather thorough precaution.”
There had been a strange tension in the air ever since Claudia had appeared. Yet, she stood relaxed with a smile on her face.
“This barrier was crafted solely for you, Ashbal. A fitting experience, is it not? To be the one denied escape for once.”
Ashbal chuckled dryly. “It really is.”
With a flick of his wrist, a magic sword and bow materialized in his hands. His eyes darted toward Naila. If he used magic, it would be difficult to keep her out of what was about to unfold.
“So...” He leveled his gaze at Claudia. “If I take down the one controlling the barrier, I’ll be free, right?”
“Stop it, Ashbal!” Naila cried, tears welling in her eyes.
Faraz stepped forward, pulling her back. Claudia chuckled softly, her head tilting just so.
“I hoped you’d say that. Uttering such things will only serve to anger Noah, which is precisely why I took it upon myself to cast the barrier, rather than leaving the task to him.”
Ashbal chuckled. The desert nights could grow bitterly cold, yet what prickled Ashbal’s skin was not the chill of the air. Just as Claudia had said, Noah looked ready to grant no mercy.
“I’m sorry, Noah, but I must ask you to step aside,” Ashbal said.
Noah stood across from him, his hand gripping a straight-bladed sword. “You must be joking.”
With a swift leap, Noah closed the distance between them. Ashbal instinctively stepped back, raising his weapon just in time to meet Noah’s descending strike. The clash of steel rang out in the still night.
“Ashbal!” Naila screamed. Ashbal could hear the fear in her voice.
“How did you discover my true purpose?”
Ashbal’s question hung in the air, but Noah remained silent. Instead, it was Claudia who answered.
“It was the tale of your mother. The lunar eclipse during her marriage and the cursed artifact she possessed were but pieces of the puzzle. Then there was the firedrake, the connection to moonlight, the tale of how you crept into the royal palace as a child and found sanctuary in the harem, and the tale of the golden bow. When I took all of this into account, it was evident that your goal was never to find the Golden Falcon.”
Ashbal let out a laugh. They had truly uncovered it all.
He knocked Noah’s blade aside and launched a series of three thrusts. His aim was flawless: toward the eyes, the throat, and the solar plexus. Yet, Noah evaded each strike. Noah then parried Ashbal’s blade and countered with a strike to his flank, which Ashbal narrowly dodged.
“You’ve done your research,” Ashbal remarked, his tone wry. “Neither Naila nor Faraz are the loose-tongued sort, yet here we are.”
He hadn’t meant it as a rebuke, though he knew it may be heard as sarcasm.
“Your true goal,” Claudia pressed on, “is to utterly destroy the Golden Falcon, isn’t it? You’ve revealed your intentions to no one, deceiving even those closest to you. Did your mother command you to do it?”
“Well, I’m impressed. It seems you truly have seen through everything. However—ugh!”
He had stolen a glance at Claudia, and Noah had seized the moment to strike with ferocious force. Ashbal’s grin twisted into a grimace as his sword locked against Noah’s.
“It wasn’t just because my mother told me to.”
“Oh? Is that so?” Claudia arched an eyebrow.
“When I was a boy, yes, that was the reason. But it was after my father’s death, when I became king and held the Golden Falcon in my grasp, that I truly understood the importance of my mission.”
The clash of blades continued; their differing swordsmanship styles made the battle all the more challenging. Ashbal kicked up a cloud of sand, but Noah leaped back instantly to avoid it. Seizing the opportunity, Ashbal drew his bow and nocked an arrow. He loosed it without hesitation, but as expected, Noah deflected it with magic.
“Do you know,” Ashbal began, “what happens to a curse after the one who made the wish dies?”
Noah frowned at his question.
“At first, it functioned as intended. But over time, the Golden Falcon became something grotesque. It twisted, melted, and warped into a monstrous form. Its surface pocked with countless holes, veins bulging through it as though some parasite had taken root within.”
At that revelation, Faraz hesitantly said, “B-But, Your Majesty! The pendant on the statue of the goddess remains as beautiful as ever!”
“What nonsense are you speaking, Faraz? The Golden Falcon is indeed a cursed artifact, but it is not that necklace.”
Ashbal loosed another arrow, but once again, Noah’s sword struck it down. His blade shone brilliantly as it reflected the full moon’s light.
“The true nature of the Golden Falcon,” Ashbal continued, “is a weapon that transforms whatever it pierces into solid gold.”
Ashbal hurled a ball of flame at Noah, but Noah’s skill with magic was greater. He conjured an icy shield in the blink of an eye. Steam billowed between them as Ashbal narrowed his eyes.
“It’s a bow shaped from pure gold,” Ashbal said.
Faraz and Naila both caught their breath. Their eyes locked onto the bow in Ashbal’s hand.
Ashbal chuckled. “Relax, Naila. It’s not this bow. I told you that it is merely a part of me.”
“But if that’s true,” Naila stammered, “why did you bring that bow here from the harem in the first place?”
Ashbal ignored the question, speaking almost to himself. “I see. Noah... Claudia... They haven’t revealed the whole truth.”
Naila stared agape in shock, but neither Noah nor Claudia showed any reaction.
Truly, meeting these two might just be the second-greatest fortune of my life.
And the greatest, without a doubt, was Naila.
And that is why, I know if I try to accomplish my goal here, they’ll undoubtedly stop me.