Until Eternity // An Eternals Story

Prologue

In the dead of winter, where no noise could be heard, gathered two men. Tucked away in a cozy getaway from the gale storms and drifts of frigid snow and ice that would see them frozen, they planned.

They stooped over a worn wooden table splayed with maps and charts of the stars, movements of the planets, and any and all information there was about half-breeds and prophecies from the old.

The two men were haggard. Worn. And so very close to tearing out the other's throat, but there was one thing they had in common that was the only reason that prevented them from doing so. For now, they needed each other.

The first man was more broken than whole. With every breath he took his heart withered just a little bit more. Some days, the pain in his chest was so great that he was tempted to take a knife and carve a hole into it and rip out his heart. He didn't, because he had a feeling even if he did, it would still hurt. Every thought this man had was of her. He was so consumed with what he'd done that it threatened to ravage him whole. He couldn't eat, couldn't sleep—whenever he tried to he dreamed of the terrible things he'd done—and he could hardly stand where he was now. His thoughts didn't want to let him plan with the other man. Every second that passed he had to consciously force himself to stay focused. Otherwise, his mind would pull him back to that second in time where he'd been so impossibly foolish, thinking that anything, even his memories, could have been more important than her.

He hadn't known what she'd be like. How could he have known that he was going to fall for her? How could he have possibly known that she would be to him like a breath of sickly sweet fresh air after he'd spent a lifetime of drowning? Still, it wasn't an excuse. He was done making those. She deserved his everything, no more lies, no more pain, and he would do everything in his power to give her that.

It wasn't brokenness that plagued the other man. He wasn't depressed. He was furious. Furious at Arishem for taking something that belonged to him.

But no.

Not anymore. He shouldn't think that. She despised him because of what he did to the others. Their family was broken now from his decision, and she would forever blame him for that. But, still. He couldn't help but feel as though a part of him had been ripped away. Before, he hadn't truly had anyone. Yes, the eternals had been there, and there was Ajak, and even Sersi, but—none of them were her. They hadn't changed him. She had. She had seen something in him that no one had ever been able to before, and for a moment, just a second in time, he hadn't felt so alone. He had forgotten what that felt like until her. So yes, in a sense, she was his, just as much as he would forever be ensnared to her.

Burning fury raged in his veins when he recalled how she had vanished right before his eyes. She had been so glorious, so utterly powerful destroying the Celestial, and the next moment—gone. He would avenge her. Perhaps she didn't need his saving, but nothing would stop him from getting to her. He would plan, he would gather his strength, and then he would fight. There was only one person left in this universe that would merit the full wrath of an eternal, but if he knew anything now, it was that she was worth it. He would either rattle the stars and set the heavens aflame to get her back, or he would die trying.

Two men with different hearts and minds brought together by the same goal. Differences put aside, they would stop at nothing until the girl with power in her veins and glory in her eyes was brought back home.