Though The Stars May Burn [hs]

chapter fourteen

TW: THEMES OF DEATH/DISTRESS

"We will take Redmond home," I said as my eyes grazed his lifeless body on the floor. "Bury him properly; we can't leave him here."

"As for the boy?" Philip asked as he looked down at Adrien. My eyes looked at Adrien, his eyes empty as he laid out where the crystal had put him. I felt a surge of disgust boiling in my chest as my nose twitched at the sight of him.

The sun was reaching just behind the horizon, finally saying farewell to the land it had graced for the day, ready for slumber as the moon would take over. The air was freezing as the snow finally found its way to Eliran, surely making its next stop at Galadia.

My steps were numb as we walked out of the castle, my eyes dried over from the sting of the winter air, or maybe it was my own doing.

I couldn't tell the difference anymore.

Giles laid down the heavy bundle of burlap onto the dewy grass before taking a step back. I stared down at it, knowing what needed to be done.

My heart pounded hard behind my ribcage with violence. I reached a hand behind me and pulled the sword from my back, letting the ring of its metal resonate in my ears. Stood there in the wet snow between Giles and Philip, I felt the total control those long ago once feared falling into the wrong hands.

I stared down at the body concealed under the sack before the tip of the sword lit up, bright white and hot. It reached from the bottom before slowly lighting the rest of the way just before the handle.

"Let justice be done," Philip said solemnly with a head nod.

Lifting my hand, I touched the end of the sword to the sack, watching as a fire grew. The entirety of the burlap caught flame, smoldering before our eyes. I felt the heat, reaching out towards my dress, but never fully touching as the confined fire kept to its rightful place.

The heat was nothing compared to the intensity of the blaze burning through my veins. Like a wildfire that caught onto a bush, slowly making its way to the bladed grass, to the dry brush, quickly alighting then moving to the trees; I was engulfed in something I had never truly felt, suffocating from the inside at the smoke from the need for vengeance.

The three of us stood, battered on both the inside and out as we watched him burn on the grounds of the home he had once known, now forever changed.

I will find you.

I spoke within my mind, hoping Harry was somewhere there. I was going manic, surely. My mental state was the last thing on my mind.

You saved me, and just as you prophesized, it is my turn to save us.

"What are we to do?" Giles spoke up as he turned to look at me. I felt Philip turn his head, his eyes landing on me, awaiting my response. I took in a deep breath, my eyes full of the fire as it smoldered orange and red in front of us, letting off plumes of black into the dusk of day.

"We will bring Redmond home," I said.

A silence fell over us as I looked up at the sky before letting my eyes close slowly.

"And we will fight."

"Aye," Philip agreed.

"Though the heavens may fall."

-------