Chapter 203: The Saint
>>Aelin
"I think Tala was just testing me when he asked me if I wanted to stay there, probably to test my resolve." I quietly touched my wingpin that I had put back in my hair
"I see," He stared at my face, "So the symbol of the sun is now going to stay there?" He asked and I gently touched my forehead for a second, before bringing my hand down to him again.
I nodded.
The symbol will stay there now but it’ll glow only when I’m using my power.
When my magic finally dimmed and the last of his wounds sealed shut, Draegon drew in a deep breath and slowly pushed himself upright.
He didn’t speak at first. He just sat there, elbows resting on his knees, head bowed slightly as he listened to me recount everything, the spirit realm, Tala, Salem, Asha... every detail I could give him. I watched his expression shift with every turn of the story, his eyes darkening in some moments, softening in others.
"I think your mother could have known what happened to the Solwyn people but Salem might have chosen to keep it a secret so that Leo could remain safe, and the information about their death eventually got lost in time."
When I finished, he was quiet for a long beat. Then, finally, he looked up at me and gave me the gentlest smile, one that made something deep in my chest ache.
"I wish," he said softly, "I could have met Asha too."
The warmth of his words curled through me like sunlight. I wanted to stay in that feeling, to hold it for longer, but the world didn’t allow it.
Because outside the shrieks of the abyss monsters made their way to us. In the far distance we could also hear the cries of the people.
"We need to go," I said, my voice sharpening. "There are still monsters running loose." Draegon rose to his feet beside me, his gaze steady.
I began to walk ahead when he caught my wrist and stopped me.
I looked back at him and noticed the worry in his eyes, "Draegon?" I called his name, "Is something wrong?"
He paused, for a moment he pondered on something.
"Draegon?" His eyes met mine, it looked like he wanted to say something, "Is there something you want to say?"
He opened his mouth to speak but then the shrieks of monsters made their way to us again and he shook his head, "No," He let my wrist go, "How exactly do you plan on facing the monsters?"
I couldn’t help the small, almost dangerous smile that tugged at my lips. "There’s so much power thrumming inside me right now," I said, my fingers flexing as if the magic might crack through my skin, "that if I don’t let some of it out... I think I might explode."
"Still," He said, "You do have a plan, don’t you?"
I smiled, "Remember when Alishay almost killed you in the forest? And I suddenly went berserk?"
"Hmm?"
"Apparently," I looked down at my palms, "I was able to open my magic core briefly then." I looked up at him, "And I was able to kill all the abyss related things at one time." I clenched my fists, "And that happened only for a few minutes," We looked into each other’s eyes, "Now I’m even stronger than that time."
The look in my eyes was so firm, he was stunned for a moment, then relaxed and nodded
"Alright, let’s do this."
***
>>Ariston
I’d stopped counting how many I’d cut down and burned.
It was all the same, blade through flesh, a surge of fire through the core, the hiss of burning abyss energy turning to smoke. My arms were slick with blood, my lungs raw from shouting commands I barely heard myself give. The streets were drowning in rain and corpses.
Another one lunged at me, a wolf-thing with six eyes and a jaw too wide for its head, and I drove my sword through its throat, the heat in the hilt pulsing as I burned its core to nothing. I pulled free, ready for the next, when it exploded.
!!?!?!
I froze
What?
Not just that one, all of them.
A wet, deafening chain of ruptures rippled through the battlefield. The monsters shrieked once before bursting apart, their twisted bodies breaking into smoke and black mist that faded into the air.
I froze.
All around me, soldiers stopped mid-swing, staring as their enemies simply... died.
The rain had begun to thin, no longer a pounding wall but a scattered drizzle. The clouds above were breaking apart, letting thin shafts of light bleed through.
I heard the roar of a big beast and looked up.
And then I saw it.
High above the rooftops, wings like a storm’s shadow spread wide, sleek, black scales catching the dim light. A dragon. Massive, impossible to miss.
My gaze locked on the figure riding its back.
Golden hair whipped in the wind, strands catching the newborn sunlight. Her arms were stretched outward, palms open, and her eyes...
Her eyes were glowing gold.
The breath I’d been holding left me in a quiet rush, my fingers tightening around the hilt of my sword.
"...Aelin," I whispered.
***
>>Draken
The city was quiet again, eerily so. No more shrieks. No more pounding of abyssal claws on stone. Just the wind carrying the smell of smoke and blood.
Vesper and I had dropped ourselves onto a side path, backs against the half-collapsed wall of an old merchant house. The adrenaline had finally begun to drain from my veins, leaving only exhaustion, aches, and the sting of cuts I hadn’t even felt in the fight. My clothes were a mess. Her clothes were scorched. We looked like we’d been through the jaws of hell and barely crawled out.
I caught her looking at me. She was pale but smiling faintly, though there was confusion in her eyes. I probably looked the same.
"I can’t believe how easy it was for her," she said, gaze turning back toward the street. "She obliterated them from so far away."
I remembered the sight clearly, just a streak of white-gold light above the rooftops, and in its wake, abyss monsters falling like shadows dissolving in sunlight.
I nodded slowly. "She looked like a saint when she passed above us."
"A saint?" she asked, frowning like she wasn’t sure she’d heard me right.
I didn’t answer with words at first, just pointed toward the street.
Her eyes followed my finger. And then she froze.
The demons there, soldiers and common people, battle-worn and dust-covered, were still standing in the middle of the road. None of them spoke. Their faces were lifted toward the sky where Draegon and Aelin had flown away.
Their hands were clasped.
Eyes closed. Lips moving silently.
They were praying. Worshipping her.
***
>>Drakkar
I stood quietly in the forest, staring at the woman who came a bit too late.
My fists were quietly clenched as she and my brother soared through the sky.
Then I looked down at the body lying beside my feet.
Some things are inevitable I guess...
