True to its name, Twilight Valley lay ablaze. Evening blanketed the valley, and trailing banners of peach and crimson light kissed every blossom on the countless flower-trees until the whole ravine shimmered like poured gold.
At the heart of that glow, beside a silver stream, the celestial princess, Lorraine, sat alone on a block of iolite. Her white gown ghosted over the rock as fingertip skimmed the water, rippling golden divine markings across the surface, the very woman Jared and Flaxseed had rescued days before.
Hidden behind the petal-heavy trees, Jared watched the clouded sorrow knotting brow and chose, for the moment, to stay silent.
Only when the sun slid completely beneath the rim of the world and twilight swallowed the gorge did strike. Lorraine rose to leave, then gold chains of spiritual energy lashed wrist, freezing divine power mid-breath.
“You again! What do you want?!” Her eyes, bright with divine gold, narrowed to wary slits.
“I’m bringing you back to Celestia,” Jared answered, voice flat, aura tightening around wrist. “Your Celestial Guards scour every province for you. Better you walk beside me than be dragged home in irons. I don’t grope captives the way they will.”
“Stop wasting strength! You’re a notch below my realm. Keep thrashing and all you’ll earn is pain!” Lorraine struggled to break free, but Jared’s spiritual energy clamped down like iron tongs.
She summoned the celestial power within her, golden divine markings flaring across body, yet they were instantly suppressed by the Exorcism Charm from Jared’s other hand.
“Impossible! You’re barely at Earthly Immortal Realm Level One. How could you bind me?” Lorraine continued to struggle. Yet no matter how fiercely twisted, the golden coils held fast, clamping around aura like iron jaws.
“Earthly Immortal Realm Level One or not, you’re still outmatched. Quit the dramatics and walk…” A faint, wintry smile ghosted across Jared’s lips.
“I will die before I set foot in Celestia again!”
Defiance flashed, celestial power surged as tried to turn it inward, intent on shattering own meridians.
“Try and I’ll tear that pristine gown off your body right here and now,” Jared said, stepping closer. “Consider it. A defiled princess is useless for a marriage alliance. They’ll toss you aside, and punish everyone you ever swore to protect.”
All color drained from face; resolve curdled into sheer terror. As a celestial princess, chastity was more valued than life. If a mere human cultivator tainted her, would be laughed out of the realm, and father, obsessed with pride, might vent his shame on those cherished.
“Y-You wouldn’t dare!” Lorraine’s voice quivered, yet no longer dared to struggle. Her wrists smarted inside Jared’s iron grip, and dark eyes flashed with fury.
“What is it you really want? I‘ll go with you, but if you so much as lay a disrespectful hand on me, I will drag you to the grave right alongside me!”
Jared released arm, let the gathered spiritual energy at his fingertips fade, and drew an Immortal Binding Rope from his item pouch.
With deliberate care, looped the enchanted restraint around wrists, tight enough to look secure, loose enough not to bruise. The gesture felt almost courteous, at odds with the hard light still burning in his eyes.
“Relax…” said. “Escort me into the palace in Celestia and, once I have what I came for, you walk free. But until then, do exactly as I say, or I promise I will strip every last shred of dignity from you…”
The threat came out blunt and brutal, the way a brawler might speak in a tavern yard rather than a courier of destiny addressing a princess.
Color rushed to Lorraine’s cheeks. Her knees pressed together of their own accord, mortified by his crudity.
She bit down on lower lip, glancing at the Immortal Binding Rope on wrists, an insult as much as a restraint, yet swallowed the protest that trembled at the edge of tongue.
Jared offered no further explanation. He took slender waist, stepped onto a current of light, and the two of them rose into the open sky, carving a silent arc toward the distant Celestia City. They flew for eight long hours.
Somewhere beyond the horizon, the world changed. Wisps of cloud thickened into billows the color of milk and fire, glowing faintly gold from within. Celestial energy soaked the air so densely it almost condensed into droplets, each breath made Jared’s meridians hum and burn.
The jagged ridges below melted away, replaced by an endless plain rolling out like a sea of green velvet.
