Chapter 432 (1/2)

Chapter 432

Chapter 430: Overdue

ARTHUR LEYWIN

“That’s not possible”

I stared at theHe had to be I couldn’t accept that I’d been gone for so long It felt like ed nonchalantly, then lifted one muscular arm over his head to stretch “Must be, because it has been”

“But what’s happening with the war?” I derona—”

Chul grunted and turned away “You better talk to Mordain Co is fell into step behinda different intensity of confusion and discouess what in the abyss happened?’ Regis asked in my mind

Yes, I shot back irritably

‘I felt the passage of ti ache in ht ‘I want to say it couldn’t have been months—I should have withered away from dehydration in a much shorter time than that—but…’

‘You were pretty out of it e checked on you,’ Regis answered her ‘Is it possible you were, like, in stasis or so for the words ‘I believe that I was still regenerating fro My flesh-and-blood brain struggled to meld with the paradoxical memories of what I experienced between my death and return It is possible that the ht have also sustained me in that place, but really I have no idea’

‘Cool, cool cool,’ Regis thought ‘Is it just ?’

Enough, I snapped, the flow ofto unravel h

A hint of the sting they both felt at h our mental connection, and I quickly put up hts were a low, less buzz of noise I sieon-turned-sanctuary of the rebel asuras’ holy out of the blue “Your energy You seeainst my throat”

I frowned at his back, in no et Sylvie out of the void only to discover our long absence, I hadn’t had even an instant to turn ain empowered by the formation of a third layer of aether around the reinal mana core

Chul seemed to take the hint from my silence He asked no more questions, and the Hearth passed by unnoticed until the rich sain

A dozen or so asura were inside the grove,limbs of the charwood trees Our arrival caused a stir Froe that were directed toward Sylvie, it was clear that these refugee asuras of the phoenix race didn’t appreciate having a dragon in their ht, apparently unable to help hie toin the Hearth for hundreds of years, safe from Kezess’s machinations Sylvie was no threat to them

But I only had a few seconds to consider it, because ht i slowly between the trunks of two charwood trees, his hands behind his back, his golden robes just brushi+ng the grass

Imy pace Some of the other phoenixes started to leave The ones who stayed were tense and watchful I had no doubt that if I were hostile with Mordain in any way they would leap to his defense unquestioningly

Sensing ether, his lips pressed flat “Arthur Leywin, you have returned to us at last—”

“I need to knohat’s going on out there,” I said, not caring if I was being rude “Chul says it's been two rona attacked again?”

Mordain held up his hand in a sign of peace, then gestured to a nearby bench “There is much to tell you Perhaps if we—”

“No!” I cut in, rove “Just tell arded race Then, with a sain to the bench and made his way in that direction

‘Arthur, perhaps it would be faster to stop arguing than to keep ested

I closedthe air fillsoer with it When that didn’t help, I marched to the bench and sat down stiffly next to Mordain

“Agrona has not attacked Dicathen again,” Mordain said is and shi+fted into a“In part because he is still occupied h, because of the dragons”

My entire body tensed “What do you ers drummed on the back of the bench It was only once, then the noise and itation “Less than a week after you and Aldir went through the portal, a rift opened in the sky above the Beast Glades Not far fro out”

I juons—are they—”

“They spread across the continent rapidly Your people, it seeons patrol the coastlines and sky, but also have installed theest cities Advisors and protectors, or so they are claian to ease somewhat “They haven’t attacked anyone?”

Mordain shook his head, then waved for h with his proh…” He trailed off, not finishi+ng his thought, but his blazing eyes stayed on ons in every major city You think they are as enuity of Kezess’s ploy came clear as I considered it The threat of direct violence never needed to be more than implied as a possibility, but this occupation also allowed him to weaponize the safety of Dicathen indirectly by threatening to re, counselor, or Lance—could convince the people that they would be safer without the dragons present?

Do even I have that kind of political capital? I wondered

Mordain’s countenance had turned griareater stakes than now Or, at least that is the case so far as he is concerned”

I scanned the grove Regis and Sylvie were standing nearby, watching the conversation play out Sylvie wore a thoughtful frown, and I could tell she was thinking about her tiis, on the other hand, was unconcerned with the appearance of the dragons

When he felt htly and hty psychopath was to buy tiht? Deal with our laundry list of deitific assholes one at a ti to reement with Kezess stands’

“Do you have any news ofleft theave ons may be your allies, they are very fir as Kezess rules them It has been difficult to learn even the little I have of what is happening outside the Hearth”

Biting back a sigh, I stood again “I’m afraid I need to leave i already”

Mordain stayed where he was, looking up at reat as you believe If you’ll takeyourself on’s mouth, so to speak”

‘Listen, it’s not like little Ellie is likely to be hanging by her toes over the caldera of an active volcano and rushi+ng back to Vildorial right noill be the only thing tosave her, right?’ Regis asked with all of his usual charure out what the hell is happening first’

‘While I don’t necessarily agree with the delivery,’ Sylvie added, shooting Regis an exasperated look, ‘Regis is right If the dragons are in control of Dicathen, that erous for all of us’

I didn’t find their argu, but I knew there was another way to ensure thattoartifact “Excuse me one moment, Mordain I want to hear you out, but I need to be sure”

Gripping the milky white crystal, I i on the crystal’s surface as tendrils of aether ht of Ellie, and h the artifact and across theus When the rush ofdown on her fro kicked up over the arnized Gideon’s lab around her, and when I thought of the old inventor the perspective shi+fted slightly, revealing both Gideon and E Ellie questions They didn’t appear to be in any danger…

I watched for another ed E I couldn’t hear, then Ellie would offer a h effort, I could have read their lips, but it was enough just to know that Ellie was safe Seeing her so relaxed—bored, even—made me confident thatfrom the artifact, I returned it to my dimension rune

“Thank you for your patience,” I told Mordain, who had let his gaze wander while I’d focused on the distant vision offered by the artifact

“Where's Aldir?”

I looked up to realize that Wren Kain had appeared while I was focused on the crystal

“He…” I paused,in

Aldir had been right His death was capital I could spend both with the people of Dicathen and Kezess Noith the dragons present in Dicathen, I needed every advantage I could get

From my dimension rune, I withdrew the silver rapier Aldir had called Silverlight, regarding Wren firo unpunished”

Both Mordain and Wren stared at the blade, norant lesser,” the titan spat, throwing his ar at ave up to leave Epheotus If you think Kezess will reward you for doing his dirty work, you’re a bigger fool than I ever realized Had I known that training you would lead us to this, I’d have let you twiddle your da else Wren said, this last part stung Silverlight vanished again, and I straightened tothrough the forests of their forefathers again, because Aldir destroyed both the voices and the forests If you think that Aldir died siet a pat on the back fronorant than us so-called lessers”

Wren’s glare could have shattered granite “So you can forgive the tyrant who ordered such an atrocity but not the soldier forced to carry it out? You truly were once a king, weren’t you?”

“Don’t iveness,” I answered, the words as hard and cold as a knife’s edge

Wren let out a derisive snort, but if he had anything else to say, he kept it to himself

Mordain cleared his throat “It isn’tof a great warrior, but it may also be that your people will celebrate his death as justice What’s done is done” His gaze shi+fted to Sylvie “It seems that you were successful in your purpose”

Thanks to Aldir, I thought, acknowledging his sacrifice quietly even if I could not voice it aloud

Sylvie took a step forward and bobbed her head in a shallo “Lord Mordain of the Asclepius Clan Thank you for assisting my bond”

Mordain’s brows inched up, his expression as he regarded her difficult to parse “Lady Sylvie of Clan Indrath Your heritage is known to on, half basilisk, raised by a human An alchemy of contradictions Where, I wonder, does your loyalty lie?”

Sylvie raised her chin, and I felt the inner fire of her resolve swell “With Arthur, as it always has Dicathen is my home, its people my people It’s enemies”—she held the ancient phoenix’s eye, every syllable honed to a fine point—“htfully “And yet you’ll always be pulled in not two but three different directions Both factions of asura will atteain Arthur already walks along danger’s edge in his dealings with your grandfather Your return will complicate that further”

Ia hand on her shoulder Regis stalked forward, standing onto sound more like threats”

“I would not dream of it You do not seeainst such a force as Agrona, no one is iaze seemed to pierce rona to accept his deal: reerew frigid as I stared back “I’ve gone through failures and I’ve grown, but, unlike those ould instead choose to keep their heads buried in the ground, I continue to fight”

Mordain waved a hand, disely chuckle “I won’t presume to tell you all what to do The fate of this world lies in your hands, not rona, too—and both will see Lady Syvlie’s return as an opportunity to hurt the other, whether they use her as a weapon or a shi+eld You musn’t let the Sylvie’s shoulder before letting my hand drop