Chapter 6 #5
About where the chosen were taken.
Where the final rite was performed.
The Citadel.
No.
Gods, no.
Realization struck like a blade.
To walk in there.
Unarmed.
Without an armor.
Among men who would gladly torture him for sport, because to them, he was a heretic.
It wasn’t a trial.
It was an execution with extra steps.
Hope drained from his chest.
“You want me to walk into the Citadel Inquisitoris defenseless, to die.”
Ravii studied him.
Then, slowly, the corner of her mouth lifted.
Not mocking.
Almost… nostalgic.
“It’s normal to be afraid. There is no courage without fear.”
Aldric exhaled hard.
His fingertips tingled.
Cold crept up his spine, settling beneath his ribs.
He forced his shoulders to remain steady.
“Fine,” he said at last. “Let’s say I manage it. Let’s say I don’t die. Let’s say I reach this Well of Light. Then what?”
She tossed her braid back over her shoulder.
“Then you adapt to what you find inside. You endure. You overcome. You find the guardian and its weakness.”
“Why?” he asked flatly.
“To reach the Pillar of Unity and undo the magic that sustains it. That is the price the brand demands.”
He blinked.
“To reach the what?”
“The pillar that governs the divide between worlds.”
His eyes widened.
“You mean the Endless Fog?”
“Among other others, yes.”
“But… undoing it would mean war,” he said quietly. “Open war between demonkind and humankind. The scale would be unimaginable.”
She was silent for a moment.
Then—
“Do you see now why the other oracles wouldn’t speak to you?”
He didn’t answer.
Didn’t need to.
After a long pause, he said,
“If I complete the brand… the Fog will fall. And then it’s war.”
She nodded.
“Yes. But not all at once.” She stepped closer. “Once you reach the Pillar, it will take time to unravel the magic that sustains the barrier.”
He absorbed that.
Slowly.
“So… there’ll be time,” he murmured. “Time to prepare.”
Her expression changed.
Softened.
Sad.
Aldric felt it immediately.
“There’s more. What are you not telling me?”
“If you complete this brand, you will become intertwined to éltharion.”
Aldric’s chest tightened.
“You will lose Seraphae.”
He didn’t blink.
“If you refuse,” she continued, “you will lose yourself in endless anger that will tear you apart and drive her away from you.”
Silence fell between them.
Aldric held her gaze for a long heartbeat.
Then something in him snapped.
A bitter laugh slipped free.
“So there is no choice,” he said flatly.
Ravii didn’t interrupt.
Didn’t soften it.
“You’re not going to add anything?” he pressed. “Other than that no matter what I choose, I lose her… or become someone I barely recognize? And on top of that, I ignite a war that leaves hundreds of thousands dead?”
Silence.
Unflinching.
He exhaled sharply.
His jaw locked.
A bitter edge crept into his voice.
“This was a waste of time.”
He stood.
Turned.
And walked out without looking back.
The air outside the veil felt thinner.
Colder.
He drew a breath that didn’t quite steady him.
He met her eyes.
His love.
His Rae.
And for a fraction of a second, he almost broke.
He couldn’t bear to look at her longer than that.
To tell her what waited at the end of the path laid before him.
So he didn’t.
He let his gaze drift past her shoulder.
As if the future were something distant.
Manageable.
He stepped by her.
“It’s… a lot,” he said, voice controlled by force. “I need a moment. I’ll see you at the carriage.”
Seraphae nodded.
“I’ll be there in a bit.”
That was all.
And he walked.
Ravii emerged from the veil behind them.
Mareth met her eyes.
Whatever he saw there made him go still.
He didn’t speak.
He nodded once, more to himself than to her.
He sighed, turned towards the stairs and started walking.
The two demon women were alone now.
Seraphae took a step to follow—
But Ravii caught her forearm.
Firm.
Seraphae turned sharply.
Golden eyes flashing.
“Now is the moment you let go of me.”
Ravii didn’t.
Her blue gaze was steady.
“You care for him,” she said softly. “More than you show it.”
Seraphae stiffened.
“I don’t see why that’s any of your concern.”
A beat.
Ravii’s fingers tightened just slightly.
She saw through the dismissal.
“You must understand something.”
Seraphae’s wings shifted uneasily.
Ravii leaned closer.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“No matter what you do… no matter what you say… he will walk a path you cannot follow.”
Seraphae’s eyes sharpened.
A flicker of something darker passed through them.
“You don’t know that,” she snapped. “We will always find our way back to each other.”
Ravii’s expression did not change.
“You will lose him to what he becomes.”
Silence.
The words sank in.
Cold.
Heavy.
Seraphae tried to pull away.
Ravii held her there for one more breath.
And then she said the phrase that would echo long after this moment:
“When the light claims him… you will be standing in shadow.”
She released her.
Seraphae didn’t move.
Didn’t blink.
The wind shifted across the summit.
Far below, the world stretched in quiet valleys and distant kingdoms.
And for the first time—
She felt something close to fear.