I kept my hand firmly on Lyra’s waist. Through the thin fabric of her festival dress I could feel her warmth. Her other hand remained locked with mine, her fingers were slender, but I could feel the calluses it had. A woman who works hard to keep her family alive in a harsh world, there isn’t anything more admirable than that.

"See?" Lyra murmured. "You are already able to anticipate the next step. Just let the music guide you, Ren."

"I’m letting you guide me, Lyra" I corrected, keeping my eyes locked on hers. "If I listen to the music, I might step on your toes again, and I don’t think my ego can handle your taunts again."

Lyra smiled, "You give yourself too little credit," she said, "For someone who claims to be a bad dancer, you are doing quite well."

"Fear is a great motivator, you know." I replied, pulling her slightly closer. She didn’t pull away when the distance between us closed. Instead, her hand slid slightly higher up my shoulder, her gaze softening. We continued our dance without much talking afterwards.

"You’re quiet," she said, and a playful smirk appeared on her lips. "Did you finally run out of your sarcastic comments?"

"No, it’s just..." I hesitated a bit, "I’m just taking all this in. If you told me a month ago that I’d be in a demon village, dancing under the moonlight with a woman who looks like she stepped out of a legend, I would have asked what drugs you were on."

A faint blush creeped up Lyra’s cheeks. She looked down for a second before meeting my eyes. "There you go, saying things you don’t mean. You are going to make me forget my age, Ren."

"I told you, your age has nothing to do with it. You spend so much time taking care of Mira, taking care of the other demons..." I tightened my grip on her hand and looked straight into her eyes. "Who takes care of you, Lyra?"

The question caught her off guard. Her breath hitched slightly. "I...I don’t need someone to take care of me," she said, "It is my duty, they are my family. You do what you have to do for the people you love."

"That’s different," I said. "Even strong people need someone to lean on sometimes."

Lyra looked at me, her eyes shimmering with emotion. I slowly shifted my hand from her waist, sliding it gently up her back. For a fleeting second, the noise of the festival faded away.

"Look! Ren and mom are going to kiss!"

I stumbled over after hearing that. Lyra gasped, her face instantly turned crimson as she jerked her head toward the source.

Standing there and pointing a greasy, meat-skewer-wielding finger directly at us, was Mira. With her was a group of demon children, all giggling like they found something amusing to watch.

"M-Mira!" Lyra stuttered, "W-we are not... i-its not what it looks like!"

"Human!" a stern voice roared over the music. I glanced over to see Korin standing by the bonfire. He was swaying slightly, a massive mug containing alcohol in his hand and the other hand was pointing an accusatory finger at me. "I’m watching you, human! Break her heart and I’ll feed you to a beast!"

"Oh, shut up, Korin! You’re just jealous nobody wants to dance with you!" an older demon woman yelled from the crowd and threw a half eaten meat loaf at Korin. It hit him directly at Korin’s face.

"Ow.. you old hag."

I looked back at Lyra, She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking a bit. For a second, I panicked, thinking she was crying, but then a sound escaped her, a melodious laugh that she couldn’t contain. "I am so sorry," she wheezed, dropping her hands. "They are absolute barbarians. Grandma, good job."

She gave a thumbs up to the old demon woman. Then she looked at me. "Thank you, Ren. For what you said... and for this. I’m really happy. Tonight might be the happiest I’ve been after Lyra’s birth."

Before I could give a response someone shouted.

"It’s time! Bring out the stuff!" The crowd parted as three muscular demons carried heavy, wooden crates into the center of the clearing.

"What’s happening?" I asked.

"It’s time for the star-calling," Lyra said. "Or, as you humans call them... fireworks. But ours are a little different. They are woven with mana. Look.." she pointed towards an elderly demon.

I watched as an elderly demon, wearing a robe adorned with glowing runes, approaching the wooden crates. He pulled out cylindrical tubes wrapped in colorful parchment from the base of the crates. Instead of lighting with a torch, he closed his eyes, muttering an incantation under his breath. A spark of magic leaped from his fingertips, igniting the base of the cylinders.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

Three projectiles shot into the dark sky, leaving trails of sparkling gold dust in their way. They climbed higher and higher, disappearing briefly into the darkness. And then, the magic happened.

The explosions were completely silent for a second, followed by a BOOM. The visual spectacle stole my breath. These weren’t standard chemical fires; they were bursts of pure magic. And they were breathtaking.

A massive sphere of emerald green erupted overhead, its tendrils moving like living vines before dissolving into golden leaves that slowly drifted downward, evaporating before they hit the ground. Another explosion painted the sky in streaks of deep crimson and sapphire, the colors swirling together to form, ethereal shape of a roaring dragon before bursting into a million tiny, twinkling stars.

"Whoa," I breathed out, completely mesmerized.

"Beautiful, isn’t it?" Lyra asked.

I turned my head. She wasn’t looking at the sky; she was looking at me. The multicolored flashes of light illuminated her face, reflecting in her eyes like galaxies. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Yeah," I replied, my voice barely a murmur. "It really is."

Mira was running in circles, trying to catch the evaporating sparks of light in her small hands, laughing at the top of her lungs. Korin had finally sat down, a peaceful smile gracing his scarred face as he watched the sky with his fellow hunters.

I looked down at my hands, still perfectly intertwined with Lyra’s. I squeezed her fingers gently, and she squeezed back, leaning her shoulder against my arm.

I missed my family, I missed my annoying little sister. But as another blast of azure magic lit up the demon village, feeling the warmth of the woman beside me and the distant laughter of the people I had bled for, I realized something.

I didn’t want to leave. Not yet. Maybe not for sometime. Not until I eradicate everything that might threaten the people of this village.