Kai gestured at the castle across the grounds, telling us, “They’re in no state to deal with anything else right now. You need help, I’ll see what I can do.”
“I know you guys were off the grid tracking the entry points to Sanctus, so you might not have heard, but a lot has happened here in the last few hours,” Nyx told us softly.
“It’s Sylas and Winter,” Ariana said. She reached out and stroked Kai’s hair as he grimaced and looked away to hide his emotion and grief.
“We’re aware,” I spoke, not wanting them to have to recount the awful events.
“And my gorgeous is here to remedy one of those things,” Ketheron told them.
“How? What does that mean?” Kai asked, blinking his emotion away, or at least attempting to.
I stepped forward. “I need to see Sylas. Immediately.”
Vorzyr had left with Ariana,the two of them needing to head to Haven Initiative to reassure and comfort the Celestials there concerning there being a True Celestial now revealed to have escaped the Severance.
Kai and Nyx followed at our backs as Ketheron helped me along down the corridors of the homely castle.
We passed by Winter’s bedroom and I saw Velra and Cassius inside.
Cassius was holding her to him, his eyes red from clearly breaking down. Velra was in a similar state, her voice clogged with emotion as she spoke with King Darethor of the Dark Fae Realm via speakerphone. He was pledging his support concerning Winter and conveying his condolences that Winter had both been taken and framed as an enemy to the supernatural world. Not condolences for Sylas’ murder, however. It had been kept under wraps. The death of the Last Necromancer would add extreme panic to an already panicked situation as it was. While I had been enacting what I’d needed to earlier, Ketheron had kept his ear to the ground concerning all of this.
As we approached the guest room where a Restoration Chamber had been set up for Sylas’ body, raised voices caught my attention.
Lazriel Thaine and Remnant.
“It’s not normal, right? Right, Dad?”
“Lazriel—”
“There’s no bloat. No decay of any kind. Even with the Restoration thingy, that was just to continue treatment, not to preserve a body or put him in stasis or anything. I know you think I’m in denial and—”
“I want you to have hope, son. But I don’t want that to shatter you.”
“I’m already shattered, Dad. Sylas… and our boy… I… fuck. I… we’ll find Winter. Then when we do, he can pull Sylas from the Valley. He’s the only one who can. Except Ambrose who could use black magic to—”
“Ambrose won’t allow that. It would destroy the Valley of the Dead. Sylas wouldn’t want that either. He’s worked hard not to harm it.”
“Well, with Win doing it—”
“Sylas isn’t there, Lazriel.”
“What? Of course he is. Where else would a dead necromancer—”
“I talked to both Cassius and Kai about the nature of the Spiral Thorn, it being used to deliver a deathblow to a necromancer. It was able to do that for specific reasons. Ruxnoth didn’t just take Sylas’ life, he erased him.”
“Erased him? No. That can’t—”
“It erased him from existence. I’m so sorry, son.”
I heard dangerous snarling, crashing and smashing and roaring from Lazriel.
Kai and Nyx tensed, Kai about to call his power in response.
Zips of speed whipped through the area, then Lazriel came bursting out, but Remnant snatched him in a body hold, containing Lazriel’s flailing, sobbing, and roaring with his superior strength, while also stroking his head through it.
“Cease!” I called out.
Remnant’s gaze snapped to mine, his surprise at both not sensing me because he’d been so caught up in comforting his grieving son, and that my power was flaring all over the place, having him startling and nearly losing his hold on Lazriel.
