Chapter 68
“You’ve done well, Lieutenant,” Haidee said, wiping the remnants of blood from her weapon. The yard was finally quiet, save for the footfalls of his brothers collecting their fallen. He flexed his fingers, soothing the cramp in his hand from their grip around his sword’s hilt.
“I wasn’t the only soldier fighting out there.”
“Always the stoic warrior, aren’t you?” she laughed, sheathing her now pristine blade.
“Regardless, if it weren’t for you, Lieutenant, all of us might now be crawling around and clicking our teeth.
Your performance today hasn’t gone unnoticed.
General Otto will be pleased with my post-battle report. ”
“Thank you, Captain,” he said.
Niko trotted across the yard, a smug grin curled over his blood-speckled face.
“Get some rest, you’ve earned it.” Haidee squeezed his shoulder and made for a trio of shock-ridden no-ranks.
“I need a drink after today, brother,” Niko said, collapsing onto the hay bale beside Araes.
“You and me both, Nik,” Araes grunted. They’d lost more souls than he’d like to acknowledge in their final push against the death wielders, but that was tomorrow’s discussion.
The 10th and 12th battalions were surprised to find the yard littered with corpses, both enemy and ally, steaming and limp.
They’d been cornered by another unit of rebels on their route through the western grove.
None reported the golden daggers in their tales of battle, though.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Niko said, wiping the grime from his trousers.
Once back in the safety of their outpost, Araes retired to his rack for the night. He’d declined Niko’s invitation to drink themselves into oblivion, suggesting a night of dreamless sleep was the better option.
Now, standing under the shower head, he closed his eyes and let the water run down his ears and fall to the faded tile floor.
The barracks were silent, save for a snoring soldier in the front rack.
The battle left Araes’s body far more beaten than he realized.
Blood trickled from open cuts and stained the drain copper, but he welcomed the sting of pain.
Each wound brought him back to the surface.
In the final hours, he’d sunken so deep into himself he feared he’d never find his way back.
How many more days like this could he take?
The thin, white ridges of scars littering his body were like a manuscript, recounting his fall from humanity.
He sighed, letting the tendrils of steam cradle his exhausted body.
They’d taken the rebel’s post, but there was still so much to be done.
His head pounded with visions of his mother’s home.
His sister’s face, slender and narrow from weeks of surviving on scraps.
How could he celebrate when the war was far from over?
“You did well today, brother,” a voice said, echoing through the washroom. He opened his eyes to face Enyo.
“It would’ve been easier with you by my side,” he said, feeling his throat tighten. This battle stripped away every last shred of armor he’d built, leaving room for raw and ragged thoughts to scrape against his heart.
“I’m always with you,” Enyo said. His brother arched a brow. “I suppose that’s pretty fucking creepy, since you’re naked currently.”
Araes snorted and twisted the waterspout. He knew Enyo wasn’t truly here and now, but he welcomed the quiet comfort the vision brought. The pain of never hearing Enyo’s voice or laughing at one of his stupid jokes was too overwhelming. This made it easier.
“There’s so much still to be done, and I’m tired, Enyo. So fucking tired,” Araes said, feeling his voice crack against the admission.
“So rest. Tomorrow is a world away and there’s plenty to fight for,” Enyo said, leaning against the doorframe.
Before Araes could reply, his brother’s vision dissipated into steam, leaving him alone once more.
Steps echoed outside and Araes hurriedly wrapped a towel around himself.
The scratch of its rough material bit into the fresh wounds as he made for his rack.
He didn’t bother dressing before falling into bed.
Tomorrow felt just around the corner, and he dreaded its sunrise.
The 10th would relieve them in the morning.
Araes and his brothers would trek back to Venia.
Crossing into the city would be unbearable without his goddess, but if it was one step closer to bringing her home, he’d suffer through it.
Araes rolled on his side and let sleep take hold, begging his mind to bring visions of his goddess to him.
Instead, only dreamless darkness greeted him.
? ? ?
Tethys sat beside her sister and watched the shallow rise and fall of Polaris’s breaths as she slept.
Altair hadn’t yet returned from Venia, transmitting the children safely back to their families in the northern farming region.
The rebels focused their efforts on the city’s epicenter.
For now, at least, the reunited families would be safe from an attack.
Although she wished she could reunite those families, she was needed here.
The night goddess hadn’t yet recovered from Vorthal’s touch, her consciousness ebbing and flowing like the tides across the coastline.
Shadows still wriggled up her arm, but hadn’t extended further.
Maybe her sister’s magic battled to keep Vorthal’s toxin from spreading.
She supposed her sister’s reaction to the Rift was far more visceral than hers because Tethys was a creature of the Rift herself.
Perhaps the Minotaur had recognized their shared heritage.
With everything else that’d happened, Tethys hadn’t yet acknowledged her command over the beast, but she was nonetheless grateful to be alive.
Something else ate away at her thoughts.
Like Vorthal, she was born from the deep, endless emptiness that lurked beyond the mortal realm.
If he harbored such evil, such malice, what did that mean for her?
Was she still an immortal child, even? The others were so drastically different from her.
She’d felt it since childhood, but now there was an explanation.
A piece of herself long-since buried clicked into place, but what it would bring was still so unclear.
“Tethys?” Polaris asked, her voice strained. Tethys braced her elbows on the bedside and leaned into her sister’s space.
“Do you need something, sister?” she asked, smoothing a loose strand of black hair from Polaris’s sweat soaked brow.
“No, no. I just…” Polaris’s violet eyes kindled just behind her pupils. “You were right. I wasn’t there when you needed me.”
Tethys’s lips parted and she sucked in a shallow breath. She stroked Polaris’s cheek with her thumb. Her heated skin was clammy and grey.
“If I don’t make it, I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry.” Her sister’s voice cracked as silent tears escaped her eyes. Tethys clicked her tongue, wiping them away. She had been cruel to her sister, but that anger burned so brightly within her.
“You were there today. Without you and Altair, my life…my son’s life would be lost.”
“It’s a boy?” Polaris grinned and intertwined their fingers.
“Yes, and he’s strong. Trust me, this little one’s a fighter,” Tethys replied, a smile spreading across her lips.
As if in response, her little light sent a flutter through her body.
She placed her sister’s hand across her abdomen.
Polaris gasped as he sent another little kick through Tethys’s belly.
“Just like his mom, then,” she whispered. “I love you, sister, but I haven’t proven that in a long time. You don’t deserve this life we’ve forced you into, and you’re right, I’m just as bad as our brother. I saw the signs, heard your cries for help, but did nothing.”
Polaris’s shoulders shook with quiet sobs.
Tethys breathed, watching the stoic oldest sister fall apart.
She hadn’t remembered a time when she’d seen her sister cry, or even allow a single tear to escape.
Her chest cracked open, but it wasn’t rage or hatred or fury that flooded through her. It was love.
“Even if you had, Procyon would’ve found a way to get what he wanted. I’ve come to terms with my marriage and the traumas of the past. He won’t touch me again. Nor will he ever come close to my son,” Tethys said, resolute in her tone.
“No. He won’t. Altair and I will make sure of it,” Polaris whispered, wiping her eyes.
“Get some sleep. I’ll wake you when Altair returns,” Tethys replied, planting a gentle kiss on her sister’s cheek. Polaris sighed and closed her eyes, pulling the silken sheets over her shoulders.
“I’m so proud of you, baby sister. You’ve grown into such an incredible queen, Tethys,” she whispered, letting her brow relax. Tethys smiled, the warmth in her chest spreading through her veins, and blew out the bedside lamp.