"Retreat! Everyone, fall back to the walls!"

  Yggda’s voice was like a piece of ice-chilled iron, slamming ruthlessly into my ears. I snapped my head toward him, barely believing what I had heard. Retreat? A dwarf never turns his back on the enemy! Behind us, Guildmaster Hag was still fighting a bloody battle; my brothers were still building a defense line with their shields and their lives!

  I wanted to roar, to demand if he had gone mad. But when I met his eyes, all my words choked in my throat. Those eyes, which always held a gentle smile, now held nothing but a cold, unquestionable resolve. That gaze said: Trust me.

  "Go!" He grabbed my arm, his grip so strong it nearly crushed my bracer.

  Half-dragged and half-pulled, I led the remnants of our broken force up that cursed ramp toward the city wall. Every step felt like treading on red-hot branding irons. The screams of my kinsmen being torn apart by monsters behind us were like poisonous whips, lashing my soul. I recognized one of the voices—it was Grim; only yesterday he was in the tavern bragging about how thick his newborn daughter’s beard was already growing. Now, his voice was abruptly silenced.

  I watched with my own eyes as young soldiers who had been fighting beside me moments ago were swallowed by dragon breath to cover our escape, leaving not even a whole bone behind. I watched as Guildmaster Hag’s mountain-like silhouette was surrounded by King-class monsters, slowly submerged by the black tide.

  In that moment, my heart was submerged along with them. Helplessness, like venom, paralyzed my limbs. I gripped my shield until my knuckles turned white, yet I could do nothing. I am a warrior, yet I was forced to be a cowardly spectator.

  Just as this despair was about to consume me entirely, Yggda stood beside me at the very edge of the wall. And then, I saw the fire.

  "—Purgatory Fire Ring."

  I heard his whisper. A second later, a wall of fire exploded from beneath his feet! The flames spread like molten iron, flowing around us, yet turning every monster on the wall into black ash before they could even let out a shriek.

  I was stunned. This was not the magic I knew. I had always been by his side; I had seen him summon lightning and heal wounds. Those powers were formidable, yes, but... they were within the realm of an "adventurer." This, right before my eyes, was not. This was not a domain any mortal could touch.

  I looked at him. I looked at his rounded belly, rising and falling slightly from the spellcasting. This was the same belly that, a few hours ago, would let out a satisfied rumble because the breakfast I cooked was too delicious. I looked at his hand, still raised and residual with firelight. This was the same hand that, only last night, had clumsily tried to help me straighten my messy beard.

  My heart felt as if it would burst from a scorching mix of pride and confusion. I had always thought I fell in love with a dwarf who was just like me—only stronger and gentler. Only in this moment did I realize that what I had loved from the very beginning... was a miracle walking the earth, draped in the skin of a dwarf.

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  I couldn't help but whisper with a trembling voice that only I could hear: "...This is the kind of person I fell in love with..."

  But he didn't stop. When he raised his hands again, I saw the night sky turn crimson. Burning meteors, like the angry tears of a god, fell from the heavens! In that moment, my first reaction wasn't reverence. It was bone-chilling terror.

  What the hell was that?! That power... would it consume him as well?! I wanted to rush over, to pull him back from the center of that light and fire, but my feet felt as if they were welded to the ground. The earth trembled like a living thing beneath me, and the heatwave was so intense it nearly suffocated me.

  When the flames of the last meteor faded, the world fell into deathly silence. I stared fixedly at his back, my throat feeling as if it were blocked by a piece of red-hot charcoal. Every emotion was stuck there—pride so intense my chest burned; terror that he had become someone I no longer recognized; but more than anything, a sharp heartache from watching him endure all of this alone.

  I wanted to step forward, to hold him tightly, to use my body heat to confirm that he was still a dwarf of flesh and blood. But I was afraid—afraid that my mortal touch would crush the sacred silence of that moment. Just then, as if he had heard my unspoken words, he slowly turned and looked at me.

  In that glance remained the residual glow of the falling stars, but deep within that light, I also saw the familiar exhaustion and dust belonging to my lover. It was this single glance that shattered all my hesitation.

  I walked up behind him and pressed my palm firmly against his scorching back-plate. That incredible heat branded itself directly into my palm through the thick metal. "...I won't hesitate anymore," my voice was terribly hoarse, yet incomparably steady. "No matter what you have to face, I will be by your side."

  He nodded gently. I knew he understood.

  But in the next moment, he was uplifted by that golden radiance and slowly ascended. My heart felt as if it were being torn apart by an invisible hand. This was the man I wanted to hold with all my strength! Yet now, he was being ruthlessly taken away from me, from this earth that belonged to us, by a power I could not comprehend!

  Then, six massive wings of light unfurled behind him, holy and majestic. That light was so pure that before it, even the Heart of the Forge we dwarves were so proud of seemed dim and lusterless. Was that still the Yggda I knew? The Yggda who would fall asleep in my arms? Or was he... an existence snatched away by a god, someone I could no longer touch?

  The Heavenly Gate opened, and the angelic legion descended. Their beauty and authority were so... non-human. The warriors beside me knelt; all of Khagurem knelt. Their knees trembled, and their souls surrendered.

  But I could not kneel. My knees were as hard as mountain rock.

  Because I knew that the moment I knelt, I would be admitting that he was no longer my partner, but a god I had to look up to. The moment I knelt, a chasm would form between us—one I could never cross. I would not have it.

  In the distance, the monster master fired a beam of black light that swallowed everything. My heart stopped. I saw the angels block for him; I saw the collision of gold and black nearly tear the sky apart. I watched the figure radiating endless light in the heavens, watched him condense the holy spear of light, watched him dive like a meteor to deliver divine punishment.

  I understood that I was powerless to change his fate. But within my heart, which felt as if it would burst from pain and struggle, a clear thought transformed into an indelible vow.

  I whispered to him in the sky, with every ounce of my soul. "...Whether you are the Proxy of God or a sacrifice pushed onto the altar of fate, I will stand by your side."

  "I cannot stand beside you in the heavens," my hand gripped the war hammer at my waist tightly, "but when you return from the sky, I will be the first... and the only one... who can take you into his arms."

  "Because you are my Yggdrasil."

  While the world sees a god, Balin sees the man he loves. This interlude explores the heavy burden of being the partner of a legend. Balin’s refusal to kneel is his greatest act of love—an insistence that despite the wings and the light, Yggdrasil remains his.

  If you were moved by Balin’s vow, please follow, favorite, and leave a comment on Royal Road. Their bond is the true anchor of this story!