Chapter One Hundred Nine
Find Me
The Ruakite stood at paradise—and walked away.
He woke without pain.
No blood on his tongue. No fire carving his ribs. No hand crushed beneath talons.
His breath came full, clean, unbroken. Light hung in the air, radiant as an explosion frozen—a million shards of brilliance suspended in eternal breath.
Viktor staggered upright on grass that bent beneath no weight, warmth gathered from a sky dawning without sun. A river ran glass-clear beside him, its song like bells laughing in wind.
He lifted his left hand. Whole. Smooth. Fingers unbroken.
The very memory of pain washed away in the glow of perfect stillness.
His hands went to his chest—no scars, no burns.
No heartbeat.
And he knew.
“Elysium.”
And at that name—something brushed him. A ghost of light, soft as breath against his skin. Warmth. Familiar.
Amerei.
The echo of her soul touched death’s edge, reached for him.
Then—
“Find me.”
—and she was gone.
The image vanished.
His body braced for grief, but light washed it from his eyes.
A world without pain. A world without sorrow.
A world without her.
“Elysium,” he whispered again—as if he could summon her ghost once more.
Across the river, the horizon glowed.
And from behind him, a figure’s voice:
“You’ve come far, Ruakite.”
Viktor turned.
Broad shoulders. Iron bearing. Eyes that had long looked on war.
“Gideon Storne.”
The man’s smile carried sorrow and pride.
“Eiliyah sends me to you. Adamar is with her now. Safe. Finally home. But you—” His hand gripped Viktor’s shoulder. “You’re not meant to remain. Not yet.”
Viktor’s eyes fell shut for an instant.
Gideon’s gaze swept to the river.
“If you stay, Andórmanor falls. Twenty years of Tyra’s chain before the next Ruakite rises. Born of my line.”
Born of my line.
“Amerei…”
The stone pulsed in Viktor’s fist.
His hands remembered her belly beneath them, the promise waiting, fate unknown.
Light pressed gentle against him, offering rest.
He could stay. He could let go.
Peace would cradle him forever untouched.
But his mouth hardened.
And his eyes burned bright.
“No,” he said at last.
“I will not leave her to face this world alone.”
Gideon’s voice rumbled, soft and solemn.
“Then you already know your path.”
Viktor turned from the river, from its false dawn, from Elysium itself.
The stone blazed in his fist, storm answering his vow.
He bowed his head once.
“I will find you, Amerei.”
Then his voice split the light, a promise forged in fire.
“I’m coming.”