CHAPTER 266: GOT SOMETHING WRONG

(...continued)

Autumn collapsed to her knees beside Orion’s colossal frame.

Her trembling hands spread over his blood matted fur.

Her eyes squeezed shut.

The night held its breath.

Blue fire erupted.

It didn’t just spark this time. It roared.

The sand beneath Orion’s body ignited in a sudden, furious circle, hissing as each grain turned molten.

Heat warped the air, waves of it rippling outward, forcing everyone to stumble back, shielding their faces with their forearms.

With a violent crack, the wolf’s massive form lurched upward.

The flames coiled beneath him like a living force, hoisting his body into the air as if the very elements bent to Autumn’s grief.

Gasps echoed along the shoreline.

The red wolf’s body rotated slowly, almost reverently, suspended in the inferno. His massive paws dangled, claws glinting under the wash of unnatural light.

Her blood, caught in the fire’s pull, spattered in burning droplets that fizzled into the sand below.

Autumn stood beneath Orion...looking small, trembling, yet unyielding.

Her eyes remained shut, tears streaming down her blood streaked face. Her hair whipped violently in the updraft, blue fire curling around her form like a cloak of wrath...desperation and sorrow.

Each breath she took rattled like thunder inside her chest. Each tremor in her fingers seemed to guide the rotation of the body above.

Around them, silence fell heavy. Even the sea dared not crash too loud, as though the tide itself recoiled from the magical fire storm unraveling on its shore.

No body dared to move.

Kieran, standing a short distance back, didn’t flinch...not even when the searing heat licked his face.

His eyes stayed fixed on Autumn, shadowed, unreadable, as the blue flames sculpted a terrible miracle before him.

The red wolf revolved...slowly... endlessly...like some colossal effigy of fire and death, commanded by the will of his broken girl.

He watched as Autumn still kept her eyes shut as the blue flames flared higher.

Autumn’s lashes fluttered once, twice... then finally lifted.

And in that instant...her breath caught.

Because she was no longer standing on the blood soaked shoreline. No longer kneeling in the stench of death and rot.

Instead...her feet sank into something softer than sand. A gray, endless stretch, rippling like mist under a pale sky. The air was neither hot nor cold. It simply...was.

And in the middle of it stood Orion.

Not as the bloodied red wolf. Not broken. Not lifeless.

But whole...tall, broad, with the same disheveled red hair and storm bright eyes she remembered. His arms were spread wide, as if he had been waiting for her all this time.

Her lips trembled. Tears blurred her vision, but they couldn’t dim the smile that broke across her face.

"Orion..."

Her voice cracked apart on his name. She didn’t wait. She ran.

The mist rippled around her steps until she finally collided with him, burying herself in his chest. His arms wrapped around her, warm, grounding, achingly familiar. He chuckled softly, almost like the way he used to when she tripped over her own boots, when she first visited that market during her first few days in the Old World.

"Look at you," he murmured, scuffling her hair with his rough palm. "Crying your eyes out like a little girl."

Autumn laughed through her tears...the sound hiccupped...it came out broken. Her hands shot up to clutch his wrists, her fingers trembling as they traced the solid warmth of him.

"I am so sorry," she whispered quickly, desperately. "I am sorry I am so late. But I am here now. I am here. Come on...let’s get you back home."

Her voice wavered but her smile stretched wide with hope. She turned, already tugging him forward, her body poised to sprint back through whatever doorway of flame had brought her there.

But...her arm wrenched back.

Her breath stumbled. She blinked, confused, and turned slowly.

Orion hadn’t moved.

He was still standing in the same spot, his arms now lowered, his gaze steady on her.

"What...what’s wrong?" Autumn whispered, voice small, frightened of his stillness.

Orion’s lips curved into a gentle smile. "Autumn," he said softly. "You know you are not God, right?"

Her brows furrowed, her mouth parting in disbelief. "What..."

He raised his hands, palms outward, patient as ever. "Every soul you bring back from the dead will have consequences on yours." His eyes darkened with quiet gravity. "And each time you do it...the price gets heavier."

Autumn blinked.

The mist wavered around her as if echoing the quiver in her chest.

Then she shrugged...too sharply, tears cutting fresh paths down her face.

"Yeah. So what?"

The smile tugged broader at his lips, a little sad, a little proud. "So," he said, voice firmer now, "you should use this power wisely. Only in dire situations. Only when it truly matters." He stepped closer, his hand brushing her cheek, thumb swiping away another tear. "Which is not now."

Autumn jerked back slightly, her breath shuddering. Her eyes widened, wet ,too wild. "What are you even talking about, Orion? Don’t say things like that!" Her voice broke into frantic edges. "I need you to come back home with me. Come on. Quit wasting time."

Her fingers grasped his wrist and tugged again, desperate, almost childlike.

But Orion didn’t move.

He shook his head softly, his eyes never leaving hers. "I am home, my little princess." His voice was low, steady, calm in the way that only he could ever be. He gestured faintly around at the endless horizon. "I am at peace. And I don’t want to go back."

Autumn’s chest caved inward, her face crumpling. "Don’t...don’t say that." Her voice cracked into jagged shards. "That’s bullshit, Orion. What kind of peace is this? I need you with me. Jasper needs you." Her voice shattered into sobs. "After Father...you are the only family I have left. Please don’t do this. Please don’t leave us. Please..."

Her legs buckled as she collapsed against him, shaking violently.

Orion’s arms caught her, pulled her close. He didn’t fight her tears, didn’t hush them. He only held her...warm...steady. His smile softened again as he brushed her damp hair back.

"Talking about your father," he said quietly, tilting her chin up. "Sweetheart...I have some good news."

Autumn blinked through her tears, confusion breaking through her grief. "What do you mean?"

"I haven’t been able to find him here," Orion said, his voice clear,very certain. "I searched every corner of this side. Every shadow. Every silence." His storm bright eyes locked with hers. "But he is not here."

Autumn’s breath caught. Her whole body stilled. "What?!! What do you mean?"

Orion smiled wider now, almost boyish, almost triumphant. "It means we got something wrong, Autumn." He bent his forehead to hers. "Your father isn’t dead."

Her heart lurched violently.

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

"There’s something else going on," Orion continued, his tone slipping into a fierce kind of hope. "Something bigger than what we thought. And it’s your path to find it, Princess. You. Not me."

He kissed her brow gently...lingering.

"Go on. Find him. Save him. It’s time for old Orion to get some good sleep."

His smile lingered even as the mist thickened around him, blurring the edges of his frame, his warmth already fading from her grasp.

Autumn shook her head furiously, clutching at him...but her hands slipped through the soft haze.

"No! Orion! Don’t go..."

But the gray swallowed him whole...