You stood on the edge of the cliff, your fingers tracing the constellations that pulsed beneath your skin. Unlike the Solar Order’s blinding, arrogant sun-fire, your power is cold. The silent, piercing light of a thousand distant stars.

Then, the air grew heavy with the scent of ozone and heated gold. You didn't have to turn around to know he was there.

Heli, the Golden Lion of the Solar Order. A man whose very presence is a command. His order called your magic "heresy", a distortion of the true light, yet he followed you like a moth to a forbidden flame.

"You're drifting too far into the void again," his voice rumbled, closer than it should have been.

You turned, your hair whipping against your face. "And you're overstepping your boundaries again. This isn't your temple. My stars don't answer to your sun."

He didn't look offended. Instead, he took a slow, deliberate step forward, the golden embroidery of his robes glowing in the twilight. His eyes were fixed on you with an intensity that felt like a physical weight. It wasn't the look of a hunter catching a criminal; it was the look of a man who had found something he never intended to let go of.

"The Solar Order wants your head on a spike for what you did to the Cathedral spires," he whispered, stopping just inches from you. He reached out, his hand hovering near your cheek, the heat from his skin clashing with the chill of your astral aura. "But I told them I’d handle you personally."

"Handle me?" You let out a cold, sharp laugh, your eyes flashing with starlight. "You’ve been 'handling' me for months, Heli. You track my mana signatures. You show up in my dreams. You’re obsessed with a shadow you can't touch."

His jaw tightened, and for a second, the calm facade of the High Wizard cracked. He grabbed your wrist, not to hurt you, but to pull you into his orbit. Where your touch was like ice, his was a fever.

"I am obsessed," he admitted, dropping to a dangerous, raw depth. "Because your light is wrong. It’s quiet, and it’s cold, and it makes me forget every law I’ve ever sworn to uphold. I should burn you where you stand, but all I want to do is see if I can make your stars turn gold."

Heli smiled then, a predatory tilt of the lips that didn't reach his burning eyes. "Hate me then. But don't lie to yourself. The sun and the stars only share the sky during an eclipse, and we both know how much damage that causes."