The monastery's stone walls, ancient and worn, stood sentinel against the dawn's golden light.
Upon their weathered peaks, a tiny figure sat, shrouded in sorrow.
Polaris, the young princess, wept uncontrollably, her flaxen locks dancing in the morning breeze.
Her stuffed doll, a loyal companion, lay clutched in her small hands.
A hundred feet above the ground, Polaris' fragile form seemed a leaf torn from its branch, helpless against the whims of fate.
Her muffled cries echoed through the stillness, sending pigeons fluttering from their perches.
Regulus, the little prince, appeared beside her, his dusty hands grasping the stone parapet.
His eyes, bright with concern, locked onto Polaris' tear-stained face.
"What's wrong, Polar?" he asked, his voice a gentle breeze on a summer's day.
Polaris' sneezes punctuated her sobs, a symphony of sorrow.
Regulus' hands, deft and sure, dusted his palms before enveloping her small form in a comforting embrace.
"Talk to me, I'm here to help," he coaxed, his voice a soothing melody.
Polaris' words tumbled forth, a cascade of fear and despair.
"Your father plots to sacrifice me to the Shadow Terrestrials."
Regulus' eyes widened, horror etched upon his face.
"That's not true!
He'd never do such a thing."
Polaris' gaze, haunted and desperate, searched Regulus' face.
"Yes, he will!
The rumors are everywhere.
All the other princesses gossip about it.
They taunt me, saying I'm the key to the safety of the realm."
Regulus sighed, his eyes teared up with empathy for his closest friend.
"I'd never let Father harm you."
Polaris' head lifted, her eyes flashing with determination.
"You cannot stand your own father.
He crushes everything obstructing his paths. Everyone is scared of him, all the monarchs, inclusive."
Regulus' small form squared, compassion burning within his heart.
"All but your Father," he said, his little words comforting the hurting princess with a warm glitter of hope.
"Stand firm, everything's gonna be alright."
The two shared an affectionate embrace, tears trickling from their shut eyes.
Suddenly, a second comet lit up the heavens, descending with a pulsating urgency, tearing through the cosmos.
"Oh, great!
Shooting star! Make a wish," Regulus exclaimed, his eyes aglow with wonder.
Polaris' smile, a fleeting whisper of joy, crossed her face.
"I wish to not be sacrificed."
Regulus' eyes closed, his face a picture of solemnity.
"I wish for World Peace.. and lots of candy."
Their laughter, a sweet and innocent sound, echoed through the morning air.
But their merriment was short-lived.
The comet, its trajectory altered, hurtled towards the monastery.
Polaris' eyes, wide with terror, locked onto the impending doom.
"It's coming towards us!" she screamed.
Regulus' hands grasped Polaris', their small forms leaping from the rooftop.
They fled, their feet pounding the stone flags, as the asteroid struck the monastery with incredible force.
The explosion, a deafening roar, quaked the foundations of the terra.
Powerful shockwaves flung Regulus and Polaris through the air, their small forms helpless against the fury of the blast.
Time seemed to slow as they hung, suspended in mid-air, their faces set in frozen masks of terror.
The monastery, its ancient stones shattered, lay in ruins beneath them.
Their screams were drowned out by the cacophony of destruction.
The ledge, their last hope, crumbled beneath them.
Regulus and Polaris fell, their small forms silhouetted against the inferno raging below.
The flames, a raging sea of orange and red, reached up, eager to consume them.
Their fate, a fragile thread, snapped, leaving them plummeting into the abyss.
The inferno swallowed them whole, its roar a triumphant cry, as the darkness closed in.