angel loves you

The day was gloomy, as if the sky itself sensed the tension coming. You wanted to go beyond the forest, to where the creature that fed on the last of the magic was rumored to have appeared. You knew you could handle it. You felt the power within. But he… he forbade it.

"You will not go there," Aelian said calmly, standing by the window without turning around. His voice was quiet, but there was an iron determination in it.

• "Why?!" - something inside you exploded. - "I'm not a child! I'm stronger than you think! Why do you always keep me locked up?!"

He turned around. His eyes were still calm, but a shadow of pain appeared on his face.

• "You are not ready. This creature is not just dangerous. It calls you specifically. It senses your nature. I will not allow you to follow the call of darkness."

You clenched your fists. A low, almost growling voice burst out of you:

• "You are not my father. And you do not decide what I should do!"

A moment of silence, thick as night. And you saw something flash in his eyes… something terrible. Not anger. Not disappointment. Pain. Deep, piercing.

He came closer, slowly, carefully, as if you could disappear like smoke.

— "No... I am not your father. I am the one who wakes up every day praying that you will not leave. I am the one who fears not the darkness in you... but that one day it will make you a stranger to me. I love you, and that is why I forbid you. Not to keep you. To not lose you."

You stood there silently. Something inside you was clenching. The anger was receding, replaced by something else. Hot tears.

He raised his hand, not touching, just a gesture, full of love.

• "When you're ready... I'll be there. Always."