Chapter 383 (1/2)

Chapter 383

ARTHUR

A cascade of cracked stones and rubble tumbled from the cave roof just over Ellie and me With her inthe stones rain harmlessly on the dais behind me

Ellie winced “Oh, ouch”

Her eyes were red-riht with pain I prodded at the hole in her clothes just below her ribs The skin beneath was clean, only the barest hint of a scar Myher

I sensed inward for Regis, as hovering near rily fro different between us, even after our separation by the portal Although the range we could travel apart had increased greatly, that was the first time we had been cut off from each other like that since he first appeared out of the acclorite in is

My co open the broken portal from this side had been a drain on hi aether fro elven wo me sharply out of my reunion with my family

Another voice called out, “Our savior!”

Ellie flinched away from the shout as she slipped pastdown beside her Mom looked different Not as different asmore difficult to pin down There was a hardness to her, even as she shook and trembled on the floor

There was so much to say between us Even if we had hours or days, I wasn’t sure if that would be enough time But we didn’t

“Thank you!”

“Is it really you, Lance Godspell?”

“Please,” the first wo out both her arms to me, “speak to us!”

I had seen faces like this, wide-eyed with awe and supplication, directed at ht I didn’t want to be worshi+ped like some deity, an instant replace to kill these people despite having for so long been looked up to as Gods

“I’ aze shi+fted to where Rinia’s body lay in Virion’s arain, I could hear the sadness in ht you here…they are”

A tense, still silence followedthose eredone around them

“I’m not here to become the focus of your false hope, a replaceave you Take strength from yourselves, don’t force others to hold you up” I paused, looking away frorow more difficult from here”

I turned back to ether, but it wasn’t to be

Madaainst it just beside ht beside her when she lost her leg, I still saw her first as the hard-drinking cook I had met back when the war just started

But the look on her face noasn’t that of a cook “Alice, I’m sorry to break this up, but there are too many wounded We need you”

Myblood across her face, which lanced up at me, and I knew that whatever we both needed to say could wait I was here to keep her safe, and now she knew that I was alive

For the h

Mother turned and slid off the dais, ela Rose and Durden, who I realized had been hunkered on one of the broad stone benches that encircled the Relicto, but Durden was lying still, his eyes open but unfocused, a steady trail of blood flowing down over one ear

Regis, could you help ain, even if it’s just the th to heal all these people alone

‘All I did was draw aether into the spell, which was reacting with the natural vivuht But I better be getting sois drifted out of me, leapt across to wherea surprised yell fro into Durden’s body

A blend of wariness and curiosity flitted in Ellie’s eyes as she watched hio When she looked away, her focus settled on the portal fraain stood empty “Wait, where’s Sylvie?” she asked in the tone of voice that suggested she already suspected the answer

I activated loom leached the iridescent shi+ne from it, and it looked like little more than a smooth rock “She’s in here”

“Wait, what does thatdown to peer at the stone in my hand “Is she okay? Why is she—”

I stopped her with a sh I knew it didn’t reach my eyes “Later, okay?”

Her ht herself Nodding firmly, she hopped to her feet with a poorly concealed wince Her eyes juroup, and nize everyone It see the Alacryan invasion, I assumed Those eren’t there when Aldir arrived

Helen Shard, leader of the Twin Horns, was unconscious but alive

Boo dragged hie bearlike ht of Ellie, he relaxed His dark, beady eyes lad to see my sister’s bond was alive The bear hesitated for a moment, then nodded in return

Virion was closest, his cheek resting on the top of Rinia’s head, his arainst his chest He stared at the ground atat h, there were tooaway a pile of small stones near the back of the room, an uncharacteristic look of desperation on his face, was Gideon His entire body was covered in a thick layer of gray dust, but he hi through the ele that was the portal frame, I leapt off the dais and climbed up a rockslide until I was next to him Gideon looked at rown brows Despite his obvious terror, he still paused long enough to giveup a lungful of dusty air “Ehs

I scanned the hill of stones and dirt, cursing my lack of ability to senseaether out of h the aether within the in-between realht Taci had reacted to my will instantly and in ways I didn’t fully understand, such as the formation of the platforms that had consistently appeared just where and when I’d needed them, now that I was back in the real world, I felt the sale I always had

But I had experienced as possible

Picturing the shape in my mind, I shuffled to the side and released an aetheric blast over the surface of the rockslide, carefullythe blast to only scrape away the top couple inches of stone When it worked, I did it again, then a third ti the scratched surface of a stone bench

A gust of wind blasted upward, coiling and spinning so that the reravel was suspended in a funnel of air over three huddled figures

Jasmine lay atop Emily Watkins, my old friend froirl I only knew fro relic All three looked choked with dust and half suffocated, their faces blotchy red and caked in sweat- wo collapsed on them

With a jerk of her arround in a rough circle around us She leaned back against one bench and rested her head against the cool stone I was surprised when her red eyes opened a slit and stared at otten

Gideon pulled Eh pats Her green hair was a tangled lasses had been knocked askew One lens was cracked, and she had a bloody gash across the bridge of her nose, which was probably broken Other than that, she didn’t seeure, an elf girl perhaps slightly younger than my sister, and helped her to sit up She scooted away froainst Jasash in Jash the black leather of her araze, staring at the wound as if only just noticing it was there The elf girl did the sa quietly “J-Jasirl’s hair in a very un-Jasazefor our lives, you were busy getting your hair dyed, huh?”

I let out a startled laugh It resounded aardly through the cave, clashi+ng against the noises of pain and renized ed “You could have coreen skin and three heads, and I’d still know you I’lad you figured out how to use your tongue while I ay,” I said, nudging her foot with mine

E to make sure I was real “Art? Is it really…” She paused, and I realized there was a greenish tint to her face that , she rushed away, bent over, and was sick

“Stay here, I’ll go getEmily with a look of concern etched on my face

“I’lanced at Eh”

“All right, just wait here,” I said, scanning the room for my mother

She had roup of elves An elderly wois within her,aether to hinore her wounds, andher head

I closed ic, it was impossible to save everyone

When I openedin my direction I waved my hand and pointed at Eer, then turned back to the elves

With Jas the upper ring of benches, searching the room below for anyone who looked as if they needed help As I did, many pairs of eyes followed me, filled with hope and fear, the awe I inspired in them written clearly on their filthy faces

I passed a young elf about round between two corpses, his head in his hands Both bodies were carved nearly in two—one of Taci’s ranged attacks that I hadn’t been able to stop

But when he looked up at me, I didn’t see my failure reflected back in his eyes He scra

“T-thank you,” he staain, his eyes were hard and full of fire “May all the asura burn, like the trees of Elenoir” I couldn’t help the thought that both his words and his voice seeed hi up a quick circuit of the cavern, my mind and spirit both heavy

Near the arched door, which led out into a hallway covered in carvings, several corpses lay butchered Guards, by the look of the the to one knee beside the young elven guard who I had firstcastle His skin was pale and cold to the touch, his eyes staring sightlessly up at the unstable ceiling

Where his chest used to be, there was now only a bloody hole

I closed his eyes, bowing my head over hi than dead, and I needed to make sure they stayed that way

There will be ti later, I told myself