For a second, Sion thought he'd misheard.
But then Dara was right there — hands fisted in the collar of his tunic, dragging him down.
The bull staggered under the sudden shift in weight, but Sion barely noticed.
Their lips crashed together — clumsy, messy, too fast — and yet somehow, absolutely perfect.
Warmth bloomed in his chest.
Not the warmth of a good fight.
Not the adrenaline of survival.
Something deeper.
Something terrifying.
Something real.
Dara pulled back just enough to breathe, her forehead resting lightly against his.
"You're so annoying," she whispered.
"And you're crazy," Sion whispered back, a small, helpless grin tugging at his mouth.
The bull snorted and kept running, carrying them deeper into the desert — two fugitives, two idiots, and maybe something a little more.
As the wind whistled by, carrying the desert sand with it, Sion's smile stood steady.
"I'm in a good mood," he suddenly said.
"So?" Dara arched a brow, her own smile still lingering.
"So," he said, tilting his head, "I'll show you something cool."
Before she could even blink, Sion's hair shifted —
growing in a smooth cascade until it reached past his waist, fluttering in the wind like strands of woven gold.
Dara's eyes widened in amazement.
Sion grinned, grabbed the bull's horn with his left hand, and wrapped his right arm firmly around Dara's waist.
"Stop," he commanded.
The beast obeyed instantly, slamming to a hard stop that sent up a massive cloud of dust.
And in the heartbeat of that stillness—
Sion moved.
He kicked off the bull's back with a burst of raw, focused power.
BOOM.
A shockwave exploded outward as his feet left the ground, cracks spiderwebbing across the desert floor.
In a flash, they were soaring upward, cutting through the sky like a meteor blazing against the blue.
The wind screamed past their faces, whipping Dara's hair wildly behind her, but she didn't scream.
She didn't even flinch.
Held against him, she just laughed — bright and free.
Sion tightened his hold, a rare, wide grin stretching across his face.
Higher.
Higher.
The desert became a blur beneath them, endless waves of golden dunes stretching in every direction.
Sion adjusted mid-air, twisting slightly as he spotted it —
off in the distance, tucked between two jagged cliffs:
A valley.
Cradled by towering rock walls, lush with scattered patches of stubborn greenery.
Sheltered. Hidden.
He angled toward it effortlessly.
They fell in a controlled dive, faster and faster, the wind howling around them.
And then —
With a sharp flare of energy, Sion shifted his weight back.
Their descent slowed.
The impact was still hard — a ground-shaking boom as his boots slammed into the rocky valley floor —
but he absorbed the force like it was nothing, crouching slightly, Dara still cradled safely in his arms.
The shockwave rolled through the valley, stirring up loose pebbles and bending wild grass in every direction.
Slowly, Sion straightened.
Dara blinked up at him, her arms still locked around his neck, her chest rising and falling against his.
They were surrounded by rocky cliffs, the sky above a perfect slice of gold and blue.
Safe.
Isolated.
Together.
Sion lowered her gently to the ground.
She stumbled slightly, laughing breathlessly.
"You are," Dara said between gasps, "such a show-off."
Sion just smirked, rolling his shoulders to shake off the last of the landing force.
As they caught their breath, Dara pointed ahead.
Nestled at the base of one of the cliffs — half-hidden behind hanging vines — was a small, dark cave.
Sion's eyes followed her gesture.
He nodded once.
"A place to rest," he said simply.
Together, they started toward it — walking side by side across the soft valley floor, the chaos of the village and the desert wind left far behind them.
Only the stars, the cliffs, and the two of them remained.
Sion looked around as soon as he entered the cave.
It was not large—it was probably created by a monster as a temporal refuge.
He took in a deep breathe, calming down his nerves as his hair returned to its normal length.
He looked over at Dara.
She had sat down, legs folded under her, tracing idle patterns in the dust between them.
"I grew up with a lot of stories, you know," she said, voice light, almost absentminded. "Tales about kingdoms, monsters... heroes."
Sion said nothing, choosing to listen.
"I was a good princess, too," Dara smiled wryly. "Did everything right. Smiled when I was supposed to. Learned everything I was supposed to."
She tapped the ground with one finger, thoughtful.
"But the stories I loved the most weren't about ruling. They were about... heroes. Those knights who rode through storms. Dragonslayers. Wanderers with nothing but a sword and a heartbeat too big for their chest."
Her delicate pink eyes lifted, locking onto Sion's brown ones.
"And for a long time..." she said quietly,
"I had a thing for heroes."
Sion's expression didn't change, but something in his posture shifted — like he leaned in without moving.
"A princess and a hero," Dara said, her voice a little softer. "It always sounded so great."
She tilted her head, studying him like she was memorizing him.
"I used to be jealous, you know," she said, almost laughing at herself. "Jealous of those stupid princesses in those stupid stories...
Because they had someone who would cross oceans for them."
She leaned forward suddenly.
Without hesitation.
Without fear.
She caught Sion's shirt lightly in her fingers, tugged him down, and kissed him.
Not quick this time.
Longer.
Lingering.
A kiss that tasted of desert winds and stolen relics and everything she wasn't supposed to want.
When she finally pulled back, her breath was a little uneven.
"Now," she murmured against his lips, "I have mine too."
Their foreheads rested lightly against each other for a moment.
Then Dara dropped her gaze, hair falling to shield her flushed face.
"And..." she said in a small voice, almost too soft to hear.
"...I guess... I love you too."
The wind outside picked up, whistling through the valley mouth like a secret song meant only for them.