The Dragon King and His Fallen Star novel Chapter 183

Chapter 183: When the Star Weeps

EIRLYS’ POV

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I stood at the edge of a long trail of lanterns, their light trembling in the wind, guiding the way to

the funeral pyre that burned at the heart of the training ground.

Around me, what remained of his people bowed their heads in silence. No words were spoken. None were needed. This was the end of an age-the last dragon, the final heir of the Drakemont line, soon to be claimed by ash.

I walked the lantern-lit path, each step heavy, each breath a battle, until I reached the platform where Kierygan lay. He was dressed in the colors of his house-deep black and crimson, the crest of the dragon emblazoned upon his chest.

His face was serene, almost peaceful, as though he had simply drifted into sleep after a long, unforgiving war. A faint, wistful smile still touched his lips.

It should have comforted me. But it only made the ache cut deeper.

A sob tore from my lips as I reached out. My trembling fingers brushed a strand of silvered hair from his brow before I leaned in, pressing a lingering kiss to his cold, withered skin. My tears followed, falling freely, tracing the lines of his face as though trying to bring warmth back to him.

“I’ll see you in the next lifetime,” I whispered against his skin, my voice trembling, breaking apart. And I know you’ll fight to find me.” A soft, tearful laugh escaped me. “You always did.”

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He once told me our souls were bound, that nothing, not even death, could sever that tether. And I believe him still. Because somewhere deep within me, I can feel it-faint, distant, but unbroken.

For a heartbeat, the world stood still, then I stepped back.

A guard approached in silence, offering a torch. Its flame flickered low, wavering in the chill wind.

For a long moment, I couldn’t move. My fingers hovered above the handle, trembling. I didn’t want to do this-to set the fire that would take him from me completely. But this was the way of dragons: their bodies returned to flame, their spirits carried by the wind. It was the only way to

honor him.

I closed my eyes, swallowing the ache clawing up my throat, and lowered the torch.

The dry wood caught at once. Flames bloomed in a rush of heat and light, crackling and roaring to life as they devoured the kindling-then, the man I loved.

Another sob tore through me as I sank to my knees The tears came harder, blurring the fire into a smear of gold and shadow. They streamed down my cheeks, soaking through my collar, my sleeves. One thick tear slid to my fingertip and caught the light.

III

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Chapter 183 When the Star Weeps

That was when I saw it, the gleam of gold on my finger. Our wedding band.

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I lifted my hand slowly, touching the ring as if it might burn me. The metal was warm against my skin, and for a fleeting heartbeat, I imagined his fingers again-the gentle brush, the vow sealed in silence as he placed it there on our wedding day. Carefully, reverently, I slid it free.

The inside caught the firelight, revealing words I had never noticed before: If you burn, I burn.

My breath caught. It was our vow. His promise. The one he’d said to me again and again, fierce and unyielding. The same vow he had kept, by following me willingly, fearlessly… into death.

And as the fire consumed him-as he quite literally burned because of me-I wanted to honor that

vow, too.

A wild, aching part of me wanted to join him. To climb into the pyre and let the flames take me

with him. But I knew they wouldn’t. I wouldn’t burn.

There was only one way I could burn.

The crackling grew louder. But it wasn’t coming from the pyre.

It was coming from me.

I looked down, breath hitching as veins of light began to dance beneath my skin-wild, angry,

burning brighter with every heartbeat. The air around me shimmered, vibrating with raw energy.

My wings unfurled in a rush of blinding radiance.

Flame and light intertwined, spiraling around me like ribbons of molten gold and white.

My gaze fixed on the pyre where Kierygan’s body had already turned to ash. The fire still burned

fiercely, and through its glare, I imagined the shape of him-his eyes, his smile, the warmth of his

hand closing around mine.

My voice shook when I whispered, “Wait for me, Kierygan. I will burn with you.”

And then, I leapt into the air.

The wind tore at my hair and wings as I rose higher the world below dissolving into a blur. I reached for the light within me-the power that had always been both my curse and my salvation.

It answered.

The glow surged, consuming my vision until the edges of the world burned white. My heart thundered. Then-release. Everything exploded outward in a deafening pulse that ripped through the sky, devouring clouds, horizon, and even the stars.

When the brilliance subsided, I was no longer in Solmere.

Heavenreach stretched around me once more, golden mists curling across the vast expanse. The air trembled with divine energy, and six celestial guardians stood before me, their expressions

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Chapter 183 When the Star Weeps.

betraying a flicker of surprise they could not fully hide.

“Why are you back here?” Seraphael’s voice cut through the silence.

Glaim

He turned fully to face me, golden eyes burning with restrained fury. “We sent you back-a mercy more than you deserved. And now you would squander it?”

Light pulsed beneath my skin, each spark echoing the storm rising inside me. My voice trembled- not from fear, but from fury. “Mercy?”

I took a step forward, the glow around me flaring. “Everyone I knew is gone.” My voice cracked, raw with grief. “Everyone is dying. My world is dying-because you stripped it of its magic.”

Helios stepped forward, his tone calm-almost pitying. “Removing it restored balance,” he said. ” This is justice. Now all are equal-mortal, fragile, finite. None hold power over another.”

I shook my head, tears cutting hot trails down my cheeks. “Equal?” I spat. “Even humans-though they cannot wield it-need magic. They need wonder. Without it, there’s nothing left to dream about, nothing to hope for. You call that balance? I call it emptiness.”

The light beneath my skin shimmered with every word, my anger bleeding into the air. “If that’s the world you wanted, a world where everyone merely exists but no one truly lives, then I want no part of it.”

My throat tightened, but I forced the words through the ache. I took one step closer, voice breaking. “I’d rather cease to exist altogether.”

Seraphael’s gaze hardened. “You would perish, then?”

“Yes,” I said, my voice steady now, eerily calm. I stepped closer, so close I could see the faint reflection of my burning eyes in his. “Take my light, whispered. “All of it.”

All six celestials exchanged glances, something unspoken flickering between them.

“Very well,” Seraphael said at last. “Come forward.”

I swallowed hard and obeyed. My legs trembled as stepped closer, then gave way entirely, and! sank to my knees. My palms pressed against the cold marble, and I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain I knew would come-the familiar, scorching pull as they tore the light from my core.

It was an agony I remembered too well.

And yet, I welcomed it.

If this was the price to find him again. In another life, another dawn. I would pay it a thousand times over.

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