Chapter 447 (2/2)
Cylrit nodded “Of course Now, let us exchange a few more rounds I want to see you put the strike I showed you into practice”
Chul fell back a few steps and Cylrit slipped into a defensive stance, his hands up, his gaze focused Chul jolted forward, his fists snapping out in a series of crushi+ng blows Cylrit usedChul’s own force aid in the subtle shi+fting of Cylrit’s footing
They paused, and Cylrit offered a correction on Chul’s followthrough, then they repeated the exercise again Lettingincreased, I couldn’tbetween them, but I sa quickly Chul adjusted and i that I hadn’t seen from him before
His embarrassment at the hands of the Scythe, Viessa, seee alone wasn’t enough to bring hie, even considering both my lives, Chul was in many ways just a boy His rona, while his father’s entire race had been exterer I could just see hile-handedly defeat both Kezess and Agrona, bringing justice for his people
I didn’t have to i to happen
They shi+fted their training, Cylrit putting Chul on the defensive and having hily powerful blows After a fewChul to defend bare-handed, the bursts oflike thunderclaps that ru Chul so focused helped e it, I orried what the after suchI had one less thing to worry about I left the arena with a s to Caera and er to find Ellie She wasn’t at the ascension portal, and none of the guards stationed there had seen her Lauden of Highblood Denoir offered to send out a search party, but I assured hiency and continued my search
Ellie’s pure mana was unique, but it wasn’t as visible as the show put on by Chul and Cylrit, and I couldn’t sense it fro else entirely that led n Boulevard, using Realht into Mayla, as carrying a basket full of fragrant food
“Professor!” she said, doing a little skip of excite to run into you since I heard you were back I…” She hesitated as aze slipped away from her to scan the street She turned to look over her shoulder, frowning “Is so?”
I rubbed the back offor my sister I—”
“Oh!” Mayla bobbed up and down on her toes “Sorry, of course That’s actually where I’ether, Seth, Eleanor, and one She’s voracious, your sister Barely stops training, but then…” She gave ”
I held out a hand, offering to take the basket, and Mayla handed it over “Can you takeartifact “Of course! I think we’ve just about becoether Even Seth has loosened up a bit about the whole Dicathian thing, but…” She hesitated, suddenly insecure “I figured it ht make this place just a bit more…well, fun, y’know? And Ellie seeing out has only ever been training really…”
I frowned, and her eyes widened
“I hope we didn’t overstep! Maybe you didn’t want her to lad to hear she’s had people here” I didn’t voice that I’d felt guilty about leaving her and Caera, despite understanding that it was the best decision “She’s always had a lot of eyes on her A lot of pressure with…ine…” Mayla lost focus, her gaze downcast, then suddenly snapped back to the ht, Ellie She’s this way!”
As alked, Mayla kept up a constant strea the research she and Seth had been helping with, at least as best as she understood it She aardly danced around the subject ofthe reason for their unusually potent bestowals
“Being honest, though, I’o ho o to war in Dicathen And I really don’t want to fight dragons” She shuddered, wrapping her are Would these people really be spared his wrath if they si this entire uprising behind theain? It was difficult to picture But surely even Agrona wouldn’t punish kids like Mayla and Seth for being dragged into this all without even understanding as happening
My thoughts caught on a snag
Even if they weren’t punished, they’d still end up at ith Epheotus Mayla was a Sentry, and a potentially powerful one How long would it take before she ended up right where Seth’s sister had…
Agronain his conflict with Kezess, and he’d never even know he’d done it
“I hope it doesn’t co a pause
A short hike later, we reached a guarded coht and let her through without question He consideredto h into the outer courtyard
I heard Boo’s low moan and the thunk of lowing cast ofA shooting range took up the right side of the courtyard, while large doors opened into the rest of the co hunatures
Boo looked up and grunted Ellie glanced at ether in a set and released the arrow It split into ht, each of which struck a separate target before exploding in controlled bursts of mana that sent up a cloud of debris
Seth, who had been sitting against the nearby ith his eyes closed, flinched and nearly toppled frorinned in e next to Mayla, the grin slipped away
I raisedthe last ti upset with me After all, one moment I’d been his professor—his ht two Scythes before vanishi+ng out of his life without a word And that was before he kneas an enemy of Alacrya
“Hey, look who I found!” Mayla said, her chipper tone sounding slightly forced as she took her basket and hurried over to the others “And, uave me a stiff nod as he took a couple of rolls filled with meat and cheese He i down at the other as he chewed
Boo looked at Ellie and growled so off an arrow that spiraled into several bea theain, lower this ti My ar into her tone
Mayla glanced froave me an uncomfortable smile “Um, anyway, Ellie’s been able to tell us all kinds of stuff about your continent It’s been pretty…interesting…” She trailed off as I approached ently on Ellie’s ar so, then it’s probably ti to hurt yourself—”
“I can handle it,” she snapped, releasing the held arrow It fizzled and ainst a stone wall Gri the arrow bend and twist through the air so that it struck a different target
I watched quietly,on it each time she drew her bow As she shot, I realized she was also activating her spellforhout her body in an exercise to strengthen her control over it, so the spells it granted her
Clever, I thought, pride inter my sister push herself so hard only reminded oal in this life was always to keep ue that I’d done that as I watched lanced at Seth and Mayla, ere sitting on the bench eating in silence Mayla looked away too late, trying to act as if she hadn’t been listening intently
Taking a step closer to ets out in the distance
“I couldn’t do it,” I said quietly, afraid to see her expression “I couldn’t save her”
There was a pause before Ellie fired another arrow “Yeah, I figured”
She shot another, then another The pulses of nificantly, and then…a tre, and even her cast see in and out around her broken arrasp to clatter onto the ground before sinking to her knees
Boohis nose into her hair and snuffling Gold light flowed fro Ellie
Mayla and Seth were both on their feet Mayla had one hand over her rip Seth was chewing on the inside of his lip and looking nervous
I reached for Ellie, but she batted ood one “I can do itthe broken arm to her sto the cast From the sweat on her brow and the way her shoulders treh, I knew she was in incredible pain
“El, letback and glaring up into my face “What’s the point, anyway!”
She fell back onto her rear and curled her torso around her arer-filled eyes “We’ve had to sacrifice so much—endure so much—you’ve had to leave me and mom all the time, and we still can’t even save the people we love!” Her voice grew louder and“I want dad back! I want Tess back I want my brother back!”
All I could do was stand there, letting Ellie’s emotions wash over me “I’ et, I’ll never be strong enough to ht And that scares me, Arthur—it terrifies me
“Sometimes I e all still lived in Xyrus—or even Ashber—just soe I could just look up at this great figure na to protect me and everyone I loved—solve all our proble important matters to powerful people like him But I can’t”
She stared intoas she clenched her teeth “Because that same person is my brother, and I see how even the powerful people all around ht not be enough—you , but I’h for it to matter…”
The words spilled out of her until she had noto breathe, trying and failing to keep herself under control
As I reached for her, Seth appeared next todown in front of Ellie Mayla sat beside her, wrapped an arm around her, and rested her head on Ellie’s shoulder, heedless of the huge bearlikeover theh, Eleanor,” Seth said haltingly “And you’re right About it all Vritra, but I miss my sister And I used to think just the sa his jaw to hold back his eain “I don’t think I’ve ever felt as helpless as when the news came back that she’d died I hated you Dicathians for that, and I hated the highbloods and the Vritra clan for sending her But…I think I hatedI needed—I’ve always been sickly, frail—and I thought none quiet Whether because they were her peers or just not her brother, she seemed more ready to accept the comfort they provided in that moment
“Professor Grey…” Seth cleared his throat “Um, Arthur…your brother…he was the first person who , since Circe died Like someone actually cared” He shook his head, an amazed smile on his face “And then I learn he’s not even from this continent It really knocked me for a loop, you know?”
He sat in silence for a“Anyway, my point is that you never knoho’ll have power in your life, or whose life you’ll in That doesn’t have to be how you change the world Maybe…maybe you’re just kind to someone” A flush suddenly crept up his neck to his cheeks “I don’t know, I just…well, I just wanted to tell you you’re not alone”
He reached out and patted her hand aardly before standing up and taking a step back Tentatively, he looked at me from the corner of his eye I sround
I started to speak, wanting to add soave me an e to be okay What needed to be said already had been, and Ellie was in good hands
Returning his nod, I turned and left