Reis sat in his cell with his shirt off due to the heat. He sat patiently thinking of the terrible news Shin had just delivered him. He had relayed to Shin that if the enemy was mobilizing his Wyverns, then a hunt for the Rangers in Saggeese couldn't be far off.
As Reis sat in his cell, the door was opened and Aurora was escorted in with a guard. Reis was putting on his shirt then so his back was turned to Aurora. He did not know that she had noticed the scar on his back. She shook her head in confusion and told the guards to wait outside. They obeyed her.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked Reis.
"And what…am I doing exactly?" Reis asked her.
"Since you appeared everything has been so…confusing. I can't even trust my memories anymore" Aurora said.
"Perhaps you should. Ever considered the fact that the reason your memories are so confused right now is because your spirit hasn't forgotten what your mind has?" Reis said calmly.
"My mind tells me that everything you've been saying can't be true but I feel like I've known you even before we first met" Aurora said.
"What do you really want to know Aurora?" Reis asked her.
"I want to know why these dreams seem so real…to understand them" Aurora said.
"And I'm supposed to tell you even if you won't believe me. Even if doing so means my condemnation" Reis sighed.
"You can't know that for certain" Aurora said.
"The Severing is affecting you especially strongly because you are its target" Reis said.
"I don't understand what you're talking about" Aurora said.
Reis sighed.
"Fine, I will tell you what you need to know. A tale about the girl I love" Reis said and began to narrate to Aurora over the days, her real life.
He began with the story of his father and the death of Aurora's family and continued on to tell her how she learnt swordsmanship from his father. He told her of how Galigaos continuously hunted them and how his father disappeared while protecting her. Then he told her of Aurora Saggeese the Dragon Ranger, brave, kind, smart and stubborn. He told her of how she had initially despised him when she believed Jared to be dead. He told her of their first mission and how he'd almost died confronting Sabre-fang. How they'd become close after that and of Armageddon possessing him through his spirit. He told her of how she'd saved him. He told her of Darak, Erasa, Shin, Kyla, Master Jin and Mistress Kira. He told her of how they fought off Armageddon a second time. He told her of the siege of the Rangers' Guild.
Initially, Aurora was frightened to discover how closely his tale matched her dreams, then she was interested and finally sceptical.
"You have a rather overactive imagination don't you Reis?" she said with a laugh.
Reis sighed.
"So you didn't believe me after all" he said.
"I admit your tales and my dreams are identical however I cannot so easily believe that my memories of my life are a lie and my dreams are rather my reality" Aurora said. "Besides this reality you speak of sounds far too frightening. Just think, if it were all real, that would mean we are almost on the verge of a war" Aurora said.
Reis remained silent.
"If after all I said, I couldn't convince you, I suppose there is nothing more to be said on the matter" Reis said with a look of grief on his face.
Aurora was taken aback by his expression of grief.
"I hate to say this but the enemy may have won this time" Reis said.
Aurora left the cell.
It was night time and Aurora prepared to sleep. As she lay in bed, she recalled everything Reis had told her. She recalled the grief on his face and his words, "I hate to say this but the enemy may have won this time".
"Why Reis? Why do you care so much about me when we are strangers to each other?" she asked herself and shut her eyes.
She began to hear a heartbeat. It began as a light pulse and began to beat so strongly she felt it. She opened her eyes gradually. She found Reis before her bleeding from a severe wound on his arm where the fang of an enormous wolf was lodged.
"Are you alright…Aurora?" she heard him say to her.
She felt her own grief as she watched him.
"Why would you do this when all I've done is hurt you?!" she recalled her desperate cry.
"Don't be silly. You are a Dragon Ranger, my partner and someone very dear to me" she recalled him say.
She shut her eyes. When she opened them she found Reis pierced through the heart by the sword of…"Galigaos" she muttered as tears flowed down her face.
"Reis!" she called as she rushed to catch him before he hit the ground.
"No Reis, I won't accept this kind of ending. You promised to teach me to love my homeland or were all of your promises to me…all your words just lies?!" she heard herself cry in anguish. "To me, you were more than just my saviour. You were my Arӓlpheisl" she recalled her words. "If I don't want to see you get hurt trying to protect me, then I will become strong enough to protect you" she recalled the oath she had made to herself.
Then she woke up. There were tears in her eyes. She ran to the cell. When the doors were opened, she stared at Reis. He was asleep with his shirt off. She saw the scar on his arm, the one from Sabre-fang's bite. She saw the scar over his heart, the one from Galigaos' strike. She placed her hand over her mouth and wept bitterly. Reis heard her and woke up.
"Aurora, what are you doing here?" Reis asked her, puzzled by her presence.
"How did you get those wounds?" she asked him.
"These wounds?" Reis asked. "They are battle scars. I got them protecting someone important" Reis said with a smile. "…not that you would know anything about…" Reis was saying when Aurora cut him off.
"Arӓlpheisl" he heard her say.
"What? What did you just say Aurora?" Reis asked her.
"You are more than just my saviour. You are…my Arӓlpheisl" Aurora confessed.
Reis was shocked. He was so happy he couldn't speak at first.
"You are my Dawn. When you awaken, I too will be free" Reis finally said.
Aurora ran to him and hugged him tightly.
"Oh Reis" she cried.
"With every severed thorn, the spell was weakened. With every wound obtained, the spell was infiltrated by Love. Finally, the prince stood before the Sleeping Princess. 'You are my Dawn' he said. 'When you awaken, I too will be free'. Then taking the princess' hand in his, he leaned over and kissed her and finally, the spell was broken".
"You know Reis, when I was much younger, I used to look out over the sea with Jared and dream of the future. I hoped I would find my prince when the time was right. When I believed Jared was dead and with my promise to Sir Jinrai, that dream became a plague as I began to feel that day would never come. I always used to dream of the day I'd find my prince but I found a King instead, my Arӓlpheisl" Aurora confessed.
"Your Arӓlpheisl…your First and Only King. I know Aurora…I know" Reis said as he kissed her.
There were multiple brilliant flashes of light and tears flowed down the faces of Reis and Aurora. Aurora opened her eyes. Reis opened his eyes and everyone else awakened from their slumber. The spell known as 'The Severing' had finally been broken. There was a great sound of cracking as the dome projecting the Severing fell apart.
Shin, Kyla, Darak, Erasa and everyone else noticed it and rushed to the room Reis and Aurora were in.
"You're awake!" Shin exclaimed joyfully.
"How is everyone else?" Reis asked.
"They just woke up. The Dragons preserved them with their own vital energy" Kyla explained.
Meanwhile in Nӱansa, the capital of Saggeese, Erikkus Di Devilli stood outside the castle inspecting his Wyvern army, so large in number they covered quite a large portion of geographical space.
"So Reis Dragonhaӓrt, my fated archnemesis defeated the Severing. Like Galigaos said, it's time to crush the scourge at the source. Prepare to invade Novatio! When the Light falls, only the Darkness will rule" Erikkus Di Devilli declared.
The Wyverns flapped their wings and arose, flying towards Novatio.
"While we are at it, why don't we deal with the problem in Saggeese as well" he said.
Sir Raphael returned to the guild and found everyone awake.
"The enemy has sent a large portion of his troops to Novatio. He intends on starting a full scale war. The fool has finally grown impatient" Sir Raphael said.
"Is there a way to stop this?" Aurora asked.
"There is just one way I can think of" Reis said.
"And what might that be?" Kyla asked.
"Hey Reis, you can't possibly mean…?!" Darak and Shin exclaimed.
"You know what Reis means?" Erasa asked.
They nodded.
"There is probably one way out of this. To challenge Erikkus Di Devilli to a battle between champions. The winner takes over the loser's territory" Reis suggested. "It is the most bloodless way to settle a war" Reis said.
"It's also the easiest way to surrender without a struggle" Darak reminded him.
"I think what you mean is it is the path of least resistance" Shin said.
Darak growled in anger.
"I see" Aurora said with a determined expression on her face.
"Who will fight him?" Erasa asked.
Reis frowned.
"We've always known whose destiny it was. Aurora, it's yours. It's time to reclaim your throne" Reis said.