She shook her head, unable to answer his question, and drew her friends into her, River on one side, Cynthia on the other, Mikau behind them.
The wall of fire collapsed, leaving a black, smoking line in the grass.The air swelled with electricity, the two magical classes vying to overpower the other.Again Sowelan called Menon’s name, advancing a step, His voice strong but still undeniably tinged with Lina’s.
Sowelan raised one arm, holding it level, His hand open and flat.
“No,” River shouted, “Wait!”
Sowelan’s arm swung in a blur, drawing a slash of fire as thin as a blade, radiating in a wide crescent.Kai staggered back, a hand at his throat, blood pouring down his body.
Cynthia covered her face as Kai bent double and coughed, a gruesome, wet noise.Malia wept, and even Saros fell to his knees.Ione clung to River, tears streaming down both their cheeks.
The heavens still poured down onto them, even as Kai clung to life.River lowered to the ground, one hand over his mouth to suppress his sobs.Ione fell beside him, no longer feeling anything at all.
Sowelan spoke, a haughty, self-righteous tone.
A questioning murmur behind them.Cynthia sniffled and cleared her throat.“He said, ‘Wake,’” she murmured, gradually, like she wasn’t sure.“And, ‘Right your wrong.’”
Unbelievably, Kai straightened, wiping his neck with his palm.Healed, Ione heard someone say; her breath catching, she fumbled for her monocular and held it in unsteady hands.
Kai coughed again, spitting up blood.And when he spoke, it was with Menon’s voice.
“‘We are…’” Cynthia quieted, let River finish the sentence:
“‘…even, now, I hope.’”
And with that, Menon sent one great stream of magic into the sky.Like the turning of a tap, the deluge ceased, the last of each cloudburst hitting the ground with an earsplitting slap.The air cooled, bringing about a great, thick fog as every ounce of rainfall condensed and lifted, returning itself to the sky.
Cynthia shivered beside her, all of them still drenched.Ione scanned the wall of fog as River murmured prayers; she could just about make out the smudges of orange and red, dregs of Rigel’s army, stealing away to safety.Dimly, she felt Mikau wicking their hair and clothes dry from the rainwater.
“‘What have they done to you?’”River translated for Menon.His legs quaking, he forced himself to stand and hauled Ione up with him.
Startlingly, Sowelan laughed, a high, silvery noise like the chiming of a bell.He said something back, His tone warm.
River’s mouth fell open.He shook his head, frowning, looking to Ione and the others for confirmation.“Sowelan is… making fun of Menon for being locked in a man’s body.”
“‘It’s not my fault,’ Menon says,” came Cynthia’s voice.Everything she said sounded like a question: “‘I let my guard down after Llyr died?I woke up in a new vessel?Llyr’s bastard – ’” Cynthia hesitated.“I don’t know the next word, but it isn’t nice.”
Mikau sputtered.“Are they fuckingfriends?”
Menon pointed at Ione, who felt faint.Fainter still when Sowelan followed Menon’s gaze.My heliade, Sowelan said, approving.
“Hold on.”River pressed his fingertips to his eyelids.“I think I’m having a panic attack.”
“Kai,” Saros boomed, pounding his fists against the protective ward.“For gods’ sakes, kill Him!”
Menon whirled.“‘Do not presume,’” Cynthia translated, “‘to interrupt a god.’”She gestured to Sowelan, who smiled prettily.“‘Kill Sowelan yourself.’”
The ward around Saros shattered, but he didn’t budge.He looked small; furious, but afraid, his face whiter than the dissipating fog.
Menon smiled, as disdainful as Ione had always been towards the old man.But towards Sowelan, Her smile softened.Like She was looking at someone She loved.
Menon held out a hand, and Sowelan walked, then ran to Her, leaping into Her arms and spinning a turn, both of them laughing.
“‘My little hearth,’” Cynthia’s mouth moved mindlessly as she translated for Menon.None of this felt real.“‘My spark.My light.’”Menon kissed Sowelan’s forehead.“‘My life was dark on this accursed plane, and darker still without the sun shining on my face.’”
Ione’s head swam.She understood what was happening, what they were witnessing, but it still felt dreamlike, impossibly strange, to see Kai kissing Lina.
Stranger still was knowing it was Menon kissing Sowelan.
