The morning was bright as Leris got dressed into his finest suit, black with silver trimmings that resembled vines. As he got dressed he made sure to grab his sword which luckily matched his suit. He then walked out to the snow covered town which made the colors of the decorations vibrant and alluring. As Leris walked through the streets he saw many vendors and shop owners dusting the snow off of their carts and steps. He stopped by a small flower vendor that sold only one flower, it was the staple of Rymana and grew year round. The Linia tulip. A beautiful tulip that only grew in Rymana, named after the first queen of Rymana. It had beautiful indigo petals that were most known for being almost clear, so when the light hit them at just the right angle they cast a beautiful light that painted the surroundings in a mystical glow. Leris bought a bundle of these beautiful flowers which cost him three silver coins. He then stopped at a vendor who sold jewelry with many different shapes and sizes. He grabbed a pendant that was silver with an emerald in the center that was shaped as a lily. This cost him a small silver coin and with his payment finalized he took the gift and flowers to Lily’s and knocked on the door. 

When the door opened Leris nearly forgot how to breath, Lily greeted him in a beautiful dress that was black with lilac trimmings, the black gave a beautiful contrast to her fair skin, her emerald eyes beautifully contrasting her silky brown hair that seemed to fall so perfectly that it would make the angels jealous of her elegance. After he had stared at her for so long that her image would be burned into his retina he finally handed her the flowers. “You look absolutely stunning, the gods must truly have sent an angel down for the world to gaze upon.”

“Thank you Leris, though I must say I feel quite embarrassed. I feel I may have dressed far too formally for the day that lies ahead of us.”

“I think your dress is perfect, and here as a gift. Something to further add to your beauty.” He showed her the pedant, to which she first refused but after realizing he wouldn’t back down she turned around to let him put it on her. “It’s beautiful Leris, thank you so much. I don’t feel as though I deserve such a pendant, but because it’s you I will graciously accept it.” 

“Though the pedant is beautiful, it doesn’t hold a candle to your radiance.”

They left Lily’s house to venture out into the day’s festivities. They visited many vendors and shops seeing all the beautiful and wacky items that were brought to this special occasion. As they ventured through the town the sun slowly began to set.

 Hand in hand they walked out of the town and went to a hill that overlooked it, the lights and banners seeming to dance as the snow slowly fell. The flurry mimicked ballerinas twirling and gliding effortlessly through the night sky. The lilac moon peeked over the horizon and made the world look almost like a stage for which the ballerina snowflakes could shine on. The distant sounds of laughter and music echoed through the snow like an unstoppable tidal wave bringing a smile to anyone’s face who heard it. It was in this beautiful scene that Leris thought he could finally muster up the courage to say what he had held in for these last eight years. He looked at Lily who stared, smiling, at the beautiful sight before them. To him the sight before them was dull in comparison to the beauty that stood beside him. He opened his mouth, closed it, shook his head in frustration, and then began to speak, “Lily, there’s something important that I must say.”

“What is it Leris?” As he stared into her emerald eyes cupid seemed as though he had multiple bows all simultaneously firing heart arrows into him, every arrow seeming to dig deeper and deeper into him until they had gone straight through him.

“For the last eight years that I have been your friend I have wanted to tell you how I truly felt. The day I first saw you I could have sworn that the heavens had split open and a goddess had come down to be in front of me. For eight years, I have grappled with the want to tell you and the fear of how you’d respond. For eight excruciating years I have held my tongue out of the fear that I might lose the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“What are you trying to say Leris?” blushing and with butterflies in his stomach that seemed to climb into his throat, as he began to speak Leris closed his eyes and finally managed to say what he had been holding back for all those years.

“I love you, Lily. I’ve loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. You’re the first thing I think about as I wake up and the last thing I think about as I fall asleep. I love every part of you, from your walk to your laugh. From your reprimands to your praises. I love your smile and the look in your eyes when you’re determined to do something. I love you more than I love the breath in my lungs. I love you more than the sky loves the moon at night. Your beauty radiates like the sun and your elegance twinkles like the stars that shoot cross across the night sky. Everyday with you is a gift and I cherish the times that we have together. However, the days we have together are never enough and I want nothing more than to be able to spend everyday with you. I want you to be next to me from the first breath I take in the morning to the last breath I take every night. I don’t want to just think of you, I want to be with you, I want to hold you and be with you every moment of every day. I want you to be the one I make a family with. I want you to be the one I grow old with. I want you. No one and nothing compares to the love I have for you and I want to be with you for not only the rest of my life, but for the rest of eternity.” When he ran out of breath and finally opened his eyes he looked up to see a crying Lily, hands covering her mouth and tears flowing from her emerald eyes. It took everything in him to not bury himself in the earth and never come out. He was embarrassed that he had just vomited out his feelings in front of the woman whom he was just speaking about. However, his embarrassment was short lived as Lily launched herself at him, clinging to him and tackling him to the ground. The freezing snow shocked him back to reality as she cried in his arms while admitting through sobs that she felt the same way, and that she was so happy that he had finally mustered up the courage to say his feelings so that she no longer had to hide hers. They sat there in the snow with the lilac moon illuminating them like actors in the best romance play ever to grace a stage and held each other while they came to the conclusion that they were going to make a life together. When they finally arose from their huddle on the ground they stared deep into each other’s eyes, they saw the love and the longing for each other. They saw the future in each other’s eyes. As Lily stared into Leris’s eyes she saw something else. A glow, slight at first but it slowly grew brighter until it looked as though she were looking into the lilac moon itself. She gasped in surprise which startled Leris. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“Your eyes, they’re glowing!”

“Glowing? That’s impossible, only a demon’s eyes glow.”

“Look in your sword!” Leris did as he was told and looked at his reflection in his sword. She was right, he thought as he stared at the unbelievable scene before him. He saw his reflection staring back at him, eyes glowing just as bright as the moon. Thousands of questions swirled through his head as he was thrown off balance from this discovery, “Who am I? What am I? I can’t be one of those things can I? It wouldn’t make sense. I’ve been human my whole life. Sure I grew up in the barracks with the soldiers and I don’t know who my parents are but I know that I’m human. Demons are just mindless monsters right?” as these questions swam through his mind he could see Lily saying something but it was if she were thousands of miles away, he couldn’t hear anything he was just swimming in a mind numbing silence. The silence was so loud that he thought he would go deaf. Suddenly an explosion shocked him back to reality. He saw Lily cover her mouth and he turned in the direction of the explosion. That was when he saw it. Flames coming from the castle. Just as soon as he saw the flames his legs were already moving. He ran through the snow, lungs burning as if the explosion were inside of him. He heard Lily calling out for him and the crunching of her footsteps as she ran after him but he was already too far to turn back to go to her. He only had one thought in his head at the time. Get to the castle.