The Heir of Moon-Fire

Chapter 39

Ladon's POV

I stared at Elentiya as she stumbled backwards. Away from me. She gawked at me as if I had grown a second head, and I felt myself sag. I shouldn't've told her. 

"No," she whispered, her voice barely above a whisper as she shook her head slowly. "You don't get to say that," she cried, I stood helplessly as tears started pouring down her face. "You don't get to say that when I just lost my brother!" She stalked towards me, a snarl gracing her face. "How long have you known?" she demanded. I flinched away from her with each step she took.

"How long have you known, Archeron!" she repeated. My last name somehow added even more hate behind her words, and it tore my heart apart to hear that hate coming from her. It hurt more than the knife that had ripped through my wing.

"Two days," I replied, my voice small and timid in the face of this female that had the power of a Goddess boiling under her skin.

"We'll talk about this later," she stated dismissively as she turned away from me.

I saw her magic strike out at the bodies remaining in the street, turning them to ashes on contact. She continued stalking towards the castle, not so much as turning to make sure that I was following. 

I'd screwed up big time.

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We remained silent during the walk back to the castle. It felt like a punch to the gut each time I looked up, only to see that she adamantly kept her back to me. But even with her back turned to me, I could see the tears slipping down her elegant cheeks. I wanted to reach out a hand to comfort her, yet every time I stopped myself before I made our situation even worse.

She stalked into the small healing ward, knocking politely despite the anger I knew was coursing beneath her skin.

A young woman with dark hair and skin answered. She took one look at the two of us and opened the door. Elentiya immediately strolled in, remaining quiet as ever, while the healer held glowing hands to her skin. I watched as the many wounds littering her body closed themselves. She nodded after they were completely sealed, indicating that we could leave. I turned away, too tired to argue. 

"His wings," Elentiya stated, the first words she had spoken since turning away from me. I whipped around to face her, a spark of hope rekindling inside of me, but she had already looked away, making the spark die out instantly. My wings dropped onto the floor as my shoulders sagged. I wished more than anything at that moment that things could go back to the way they were when we had first met. I wanted to go back to being friends. Because loving a female who would never love me back was more bearable than her ignoring me for the rest of eternity. She was stubborn enough to avoid me until the day either of us died. And if that was her wish... I would find a way to live with it.

The healer approached me, raising her hands to touch closer to the wound. I flinched backwards, offering my hand instead. She didn't react in the slightest, instead, taking my hand. A small light appeared. I grimaced as the bones in my wing realigned themselves. It was more excruciating than when I had taken the knife for Elentiya. Although, that was probably due to my sole focus being her safety.

The entire process only took five minutes. I arched my eyebrows at the smiling healer, testing my wings by gently stretching them outwards to their full length. I was pleasantly surprised to find no pain. It would've taken weeks to have healed, and even so... I might've never flown again.

I chanced a glance upwards to see Elentiya watching me. Her narrowed eyes stared at me intensely while a frown graced her beautiful lips. She merely shook her head, walking out the door, leaving me alone as I felt my heartbreak for the millionth time that night.