“She’ll heal,” Mordred said. “It isn’t a fatal wound. The armor protected it from being worse.”
Ael looked up to the scarred face of the man before him, at the way he looked down at Seda with fatherly love.
“I’m going to find her a place to rest,” Ael said, and he gently picked her up into his arms, cradling her against him, and stared down with love at that small freckle on her chin.
The Vatte had picked up the charred remains of Tievel and wrapped him in a thick layer of vines, saying they were going to return his body amongst the Amanita Copse. Lucja, furious as she was, had vowed to let his body decay where Tievel had sent them.She insisted that their people would no longer live in fear and hide far away, letting his remains decompose alone—just as he had done to them.
Ael clutched Seda to his chest as he and Kalon walked the shattered remains of the city. They passed the familiar roads he knew so well in silence until they saw a still-standing building that he once called home… with her.
They ascended the winding steps until they reached the locked door.
Kalon kicked it down, gaining them entry.
Ael walked through and inhaled the familiar citrus scent of the room. His eyes shifted to the still-broken window, and he smiled, remembering the day Roya had broken in and kick-started this entire thing.
He quickly looked for the rice stuck to the walls, but someone had sadly cleaned it up.
They entered the bedroom, and he placed her on his old bed, with the same linens that thankfully were still there. He bent down and placed a tender kiss on her freckle.
“Check the bathroom for antiseptic, please.” He looked to Kalon, who nodded and left the room.
Roya and the others remained within the city limits as they figured out what to do with the remaining Rozzers and citizens, but a vast majority of the Corvids flew in search of Fiech and his small cohort of betrayers. A brief moment of hesitation passed through him at the citizens who had fled into the Heath Forest, fearing for them amongst the Hailec who roamed those woods, but they didn’t matter right now—not with Seda in the condition she was in.
The only one who mattered in his eyes was Seda, and unfortunately, he had to share this moment with Kalon.
Ael saw what Kalon did and how he saved her from Tievel’s dark magic, and he swallowed down the jealousy from within, erasing it entirely from his feelings.
She was safe, that’s what mattered.
Kalon returned with antiseptic and a few bandages, and together they quickly dressed her wound and left the room so she could rest.
They sat on opposite sides of the old couch, staring at the broken window as silence filled the room. A strange sense of resignation washed over him with this man by his side. He hadsavedher.
“I—” Ael started, but closed his mouth.
Kalon looked at him. “I forgive you, too,” he said with a smirk that highlighted both the scratches on his face and his reddened tattoo. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch’s headrest.
Ael rolled his eyes and stared at the cracked bedroom door. She would be okay, she was alive, and he would continue to stand by her side.
They could figure out who Supay was and how to handle him later. They had also heard no further updates from Umbrea regarding the Jotnar, who remained idly outside Umbrea’s city walls.
He could afford this night of rest.
Ael closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep, with his sleeping adversary lying beside him.
Chapter 52
Seda
(One thousand years ago)
“We did it!” Seda shouted as she stood on the dais, looking down toward the hundreds of Corvids and Amaru within the Noctrya throne room. Elation hummed beneath her skin, and she held her hands aloft, creating a vivid, electrical depiction of the battle against Supay in detailed violet hues for all to see.
An explosive cheer burst from the crowd, the loudest coming from Elco, who stood to her left on the dais and shook the walls with an earth-shattering roar.
“We pushed his soul into a mortal. Our lands are now free and balanced once more!” she yelled as a broad smile lit up her face.
No real method existed to kill a god, but they found a workaround together. They cast aside his soul, and when that body failed him, the demonic embodiment would float aimlessly around for millennia.
