chapter fourty-three
elysia
Snow drifts steadily from the storm-grey sky, clinging to broken stone and half-buried ruins as we move through them in a loose formation. Wind cuts through the skeletal remains of what was the east quarter of Celestria, whispering through shattered archways and collapsed walls.
Brynn walks ahead with Varo and Ronan. Kaden lingers at the back of the formation with Thane, his shadows slipping between fallen columns and frostbitten streets as they track the lacewyvern’s trail.
Odette, Enzo, Darion, Edric and Eris fan out wide on either side, eyes sharp and weapons loose at their sides.
The rest of us keep to the centre, alert but quiet.
Well… quiet for everyone except Cole.
“So, what I’m trying to say is,” he mutters at my side, breath puffing white in the cold. “Last night with Brynn was—gods, it was amazing. And I mean unexpectedly amazing.”
Sirena snorts softly, twirling a throwing knife. “Unexpected how?”
“Unexpected, as in I thought it would be just sex, but we ended up talking nearly all night, and she’s really fucking great.”
I glance up at him, brows lifting. “Wait… are you saying you might want more than just meaningless sex?”
He nods, “Yeah.”
My eyes widen in complete shock, but before I even get the chance to open my mouth, he stops me.
“I know, I know… but she’s different. I mean—she’s terrifying, sure, but in a really hot and competent way.
She’s beautiful, and strong and extremely funny, fuck she had me laughing like a schoolboy with a crush all night…
” He hesitates, then barrels on. “Anyway, what I wanted to ask you both was, do you think she’d be open to something more? Like an actual relationship?”
I nearly trip over a chunk of half-buried stone.
“A relationship?” I echo. “You?”
Sirena’s lips curve, “You sure, Cole? You’re not exactly known for sticking around.”
Cole scowls. “Hey. I could commit… for her.”
“Cole Sanchez, ladies' man turned devoted boyfriend… no, I can’t see it.” I tease.
He groans. “Sparks, I’m serious.”
Sirena considers him for a moment, snow dusting her dark lashes.
“Brynn rarely takes a liking to anyone,” she says carefully.
“She’s been leading squads since she was barely out of training.
Always busy and always responsible. She’s never been interested in making time to date…
so I don’t know. You might be taking a shot in the dark, quite literally. ”
His shoulders dip just slightly, his expression turning somewhat defeated, but he smothers the emotion in an instant. “I’m still going to ask her on a date when we get to the northern line.”
I smile despite myself. “Yeah?”
He nods, determination bright in his eyes. “I’ll never know if I don’t try.”
Sirena tilts her head to the side, a soft smile tugging her lips. “That’s the spirit.”
A few steps pass in comfortable silence before Sirena’s eyes flick sideways to me.
“Speaking of relationships,” she says lightly. “How’s it going with you and Kaden?”
“Oh, we’re not in a relationship.” I state, adjusting the strap of my sheath.
Sirena scoffs. “I think you’d better tell him that.”
I glance up at her sharply. “What do you mean?”
She flicks her gaze downward toward the custom armour hugging my torso. Blue hues and cerulium inlays glinting faintly beneath the grey sky.
“Only love makes someone that protective, darling,” she says, deliberately drawing out my old nickname. “And that spectacularly stupid.”
Heat creeps up my neck, but I shake it off. “He doesn’t love me.”
Cole lets out a short, disbelieving laugh. “Yeah, right. And the sky isn’t blue.”
“I’ve known Kaden my whole life—well, most of it,” Sirena adds. “And in all that time, I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. He’s never bought a woman gifts, and he’s definitely never had armour custom-made for one either.”
I open my mouth to argue, but Cole cuts in before I can.
“Also,” he says, lowering his voice just enough to make it conspiratorial, “the man’s had his shadows practically worshipping at your feet since we crossed the border yesterday. I’d bet one hundred lunars he can hear this conversation right now.”
My gaze drops.
Sure enough, a faint veil of shadow curls lazily around my ankles, barely more than a whisper against the snow.
How have I not noticed?
Cole turns his head back, grinning broadly as he waves to Kaden. “You know she can handle herself, right?” he hollers across the ruins.
Kaden doesn’t bother responding, but I feel his shadows loosen a fraction in quiet concession.
I clear my throat and decide to deflect. “Did it ever occur to either of you that maybe he’s just trying to keep me alive because we’re bonded? Or that he’s being civil because we’re stuck together for the rest of our lives?”
“Yeah, no,” Cole replies far too quickly.
Sirena scoffs. “That’s not Kaden’s style. He’s got one ex that I know of, and he was never like this with her. So no, he’s not just being kind.”
“He only has one ex?” I ask, the question slipping out before I can stop it.
“Yeah, just Eris.” She looks at me, brow furrowing, “He hasn’t told you?”
Something twists sharp and unpleasant in my gut, jealousy flaring hot and unwelcome. I’m suddenly grateful for the shield rippling faintly over my skin, dulling the bond just enough to keep the worst of it from bleeding through.
I can’t say I’m surprised. It was evident there must have been something between them. It was clear in the way she looked at him, the way his shoulders tightened whenever she got too close or spoke his name.
I shake my head. “No, it didn’t come up.”
“Oh… I’m sure he would have told you,” Sirena says, her voice just a touch too careful to be casual.
“Well, he’s not your boyfriend, right?” Cole chimes in, bumping my shoulder with his elbow. “So it probably doesn’t matter.”
I flip him off for good measure as he grins wider than a lacwyvern about to score its next meal.
“How long were they together?” I ask, already aware I’m wading somewhere I probably shouldn’t.
Sirena hums at my side, “I’d say three years in total, but they were on and off a lot, mostly off. She was blindly infatuated and he, well… wasn’t.”
“I never would’ve pegged him for the relationship type,” Cole says, taking a sip from his canteen.
Sirena laughs softly. “Trust me, he isn’t. Eris was the only thing even resembling a relationship. Other than that, it’s been the occasional fling but nothing serious.”
“Yep, him being a ladies' man, I can get behind. He’s got that whole dark and mysterious thing going on that all the women seem to drop their panties for.”
He looks pointedly down at me, one brow arched.
I flip him off again.
Sirena snorts. “I wouldn’t call him a ladies’ man either. I could count the number of women he’s slept with on one hand.” She pauses, then looks at me, “And that’s including you.”
“Enough,” Kaden calls from behind us, voice carrying easily over the wind. “We’re stopping here.”
A circular half-burned building squats between a cluster of faintly aglow trees, its stone walls scorched black but still standing strong, its domed ceiling partially collapsed.
Snow and fluorescent flowers gather in the eaves, and the trees around it form a natural barrier against the wind and most importantly, the lacwyvern.
Relief ripples through the group as we start toward it, packs shifting, boots crunching through snow.
Once inside, it's evident the building used to be a celestial temple, somewhere people used to worship the gods. The domed, fractured ceiling rises high above us, its once-pristine crystal star map shattered into jagged remnants that cling to the stone like broken constellations.
Through the cracks in the ceiling, starlight begins to spill freely as night falls, thin silver beams cutting through the darkness, illuminating drifting dust motes that move like slow, distant galaxies.
At the temple’s heart lies a wide, sunken hearth, its stone blackened with age and old fire. Long ago, flames were lit there not for warmth, but to chart stars by firelight in hopes of following the paths of every soul Noctis guided.
Stone benches curve along the inner walls, and every wall is etched with symbols… crescent moons entwined with starbursts and constellations.
Neytiri is everywhere here, a reminder of the belief that she breathed life into the world under moonlight.
Noctis is right next to her, always. It was believed he did not kill, but guided, turning souls into stars so they would never be lost. He was the night, and she was the life within it, the light that warmed the darkness he carried.
“Elysia,” Edric calls softly, nodding toward the hearth.
I return the gesture in quiet understanding and flick my wrist. The hearth catches at once, flames sparking to life and casting warm amber light that spills outward, shadows now dancing across the stone floor and mural-covered walls.
My feet carry me toward a carving set deeper into the wall.
Neytiri and Noctis stand entwined beneath a crescent moon and a sky scattered with stars. Night coils reverently at his feet, while her skin is etched with a faint, radiant glow as light spills from her heart, illuminating his own.
I can’t explain the pull I feel toward them, the sense of familiarity that hums beneath my skin like a half-remembered song. Maybe it’s because I see pieces of myself in Neytiri, or perhaps it’s the bond humming with my light and Kaden’s darkness.
Either way, standing before them feels less like worship… and more like coming home.