Epilogue - Rani
EPILOGUE - RANI
QUEEN RANI
T win suns blaze high over Tajss, their red and gold light spilling across a sky so wide it swallows thought.
I stand atop a ridge of dark stone, overlooking the gathering below. Our people, Human, Zmaj, and Urr’ki, move like streams converging at the base of the rise. Tents of every shape ripple in the hot breeze, their patchwork colors fluttering like banners of a new era.
Children’s laughter carries through the air, sharp and bright, like chimes. Zmaj and Urr’ki warriors trade goods. Artisans weave shelters from salvaged cloth and bone. They are ready, ready for what comes next.
Hope, once a distant dream, now roots deep in my chest like something sacred.
My mate stands at my side—my Al’fa, my equal, my strength.
His clawed hand brushes mine, careful as ever. He says nothing—but he doesn’t need to. His presence is a solid, reassuring weight, as constant as the suns overhead. I drink in the sight of him. Proud, fierce, and utterly mine.
His wings catch the sunlight, a shimmer of scarlet and bronze. His jaw is set in a firm line I know so well, but there’s a lightness in him now. A peace that mirrors the one blooming in me.
“We did this,” he says quietly, his voice a low rumble that vibrates straight through my bones.
“No,” I murmur back, my lips curving into a soft smile. “ They did this. We just showed them it was possible.”
He hums, unconvinced, but there’s pride in his gaze as he looks across the people gathered below us. Rosalind joins us with a nod. She doesn’t need to speak—I see it in her eyes. She knows. There is no hiding the love my Al’fa and I share.
I step forward, feeling the rough heat of the rock beneath my boots. I lift my hand, and silence ripples through the gathering like a wave meeting shore. Thousands of eyes turn towards me. Towards us.
My heart pounds, but it’s not with fear. It’s excitement. It’s purpose.
I speak—my voice clear and strong—carried on the desert wind.
“We survived the Paluga. We fought long and hard—and we have earned our place beneath the twin suns once more.”
Murmurs ripple through the crowd, agreement, pride, and hope.
I continue. “No longer Zmaj alone. No longer Urr’ki alone. No longer Humans alone. We are stronger together. ”
The Al’fa steps forward, and his voice booms beside mine, a perfect echo of my words
“We are all Tajss’s children—her blood, her breath, her future.”
A roar rises from the crowd. Zmaj bellow, Urr’ki chant, and Human cheer, blending into one voice, one heartbeat.
My Al’fa turns to me, lowering his head in a silent offering. The gesture strikes something wordless in me—a depth beyond language. He was once a commander, a king unto himself. Now he stands with me, not above me, not ahead of me, but beside me.
I rise onto my toes and press a kiss to his forehead—a vow sealed in sunlight and sweat, in everything we’ve survived. He wraps his arms around me, wings half-flaring in a protective arc. The people cheer louder, seeing not domination, but unity. Partnership.
Together, we descend from the ridge, moving hand-in-hand toward our people. Toward the work still ahead. Toward a future neither of us could have imagined from when we were enemies.
Wind tugs at my cloak. Sunlight tangles in my hair. And for the first time in memory... I feel whole.
I am home.
We will build a new world—not as conquerors, not merely survivors, but as one.
And Tajss herself will sing with us.