Neon quickly took advantage of the wound he managed to inflict and began to sprint as fast as he could towards the docks,to the boat he abandoned when he initially landed in Rifthold.It still had to be there since he had anchored in a dark corner that nobody ever visited or could even see,there was no way someone stole his minuscule boat,while he was away,there just wasn't.Sensing the enraged Rowan bolting after him with everything he had,Neon took a turn and shimmied up a long pipe,barrel rolling onto a roof and climbing like hell.
The blood loss was becoming too severe for even his Lycan body to handle and his strength was starting to drain.Neon didn't allow himself to think about it.Think about the possibility of failing,leaving the world before avenging Chris,truly failing him in every way and at the hands of some low life assassin and a couple of spineless fae who had the audacity to try to lie even as they fought to kill him.He wouldn't die here,not in this cesspit,he would make it to that rutting boat and get his damned medical supplies even if it cost him his lungs.
Rowan was more agile than Neon gave him credit for,keeping up with every turn,climb and leap,determined to catch the one who struck his carranam if it was the last thing he did.Neon may have been cocky but he wouldn't risk bleeding out in the middle of the crooked rooftops just for an attempt to gut the bastard.Neon began to divert his path a little as he would have no chance to work on himself if Rowan had chased him to his boat so He slid under every arc,jumped every roof,shimmied as many piles and clung to so many windows until he was sure that he lost his pursuer.
Neon made sure he memorised exactly where he turned but felt himself stagger a bit as he began to bolt in the direction of his boat,he had strayed further away from the boat than he had hoped,at this point the amount blood he had lost was ludicrous and the only reason he was still alive was due to his Lycan physiology but even that wouldnt hold him for long.
Not now,not now
His body became more numb with every moment and an unbearable chill was slowly consuming him,death nearing ever more closer,Neon was familiar with this sensation,he had felt it 12 years ago when he watched his family's house burn down,when he realised he wouldn't see his sister or his parents ever again,he felt it when he beheld the sight of Chris' broken body just 2 years ago.He was slowly going into shock and his heartbeats served as the perfect countdown to his end.
Wait,the boat,he could see it,it was right there,all he had to do was stay conscious for just a few more minutes,long enough to get to the vessel and staunch the bleeding.He double checked one last time to make sure he wasn't being followed and put everything he had into making a bee-line for it,refusing to let his speed waver for even an infinitesimal moment.Not when he was so rutting close.It was just meters,then it was feet then...he was there,he was finally on the damned boat but he could feel his lucidity slipping away more and more.He practically tore open the compartment and yanked his kit open,wiping down the vast amounts of blood and pressing a wet compress on his open wound.He then began to frantically salve it up summoning every medicine related knowledge from his memory as his brain was now using up the last of its efficiency and his body began to give up on him.
There,it was done,the bleeding had stopped and his Lycan healing factor would take care of the rest,Neon slumped on his back and sighed in relief,no chance in hell would he let Aelin get away with this but for now he should rest and let his body heal so he gazed up at the stars and took in the majestic sight.It had been years since he really noticed the beauty of his surroundings,everything he had ever learned revolved around destroying around him,and the only thing he cared about these past 2 years was killing Maeve and her cadre.Neon felt this odd sadness creep into his heart moments before drifting of into his own world.
(Dream) Neon looked around taking in the elegance of the roof he stood on,it didn't take long to pinpoint the familiarity he felt.It was the roof of his home,his mother and father's manor,but it was completely devoid of all the ornamental accessories he never quite understood even now,but its elegant shape was a dead giveaway.Neon frowned,this place,it no longer existed,it was nothing but ash that had disappeared into nothing by now so how in hell could he possibly be back here?He looked down as if he could see through the roof,to all the chambers,down to the very foundations that held up his early childhood.The very rugs in this place radiated life,joy,everything he wasn't.
He manoeuvred to the edge of the roof,ignoring all the different emotions inhabiting his brain,even his instincts going silent when he reached the edge of the marble rooftop.It was beautiful,no beautiful was an understatement,it was the city,his city,every inch of the night sky was filled with stars,surrounded by these otherworldly swirls that were the source of so many legends in this realm.There was this massive,emerald green aurora that seemed to stretch on for eternity,The aurora that was promised to always lead him home,no matter how far he was,even if it felt like he was in another world,he would always come right back here,where he belonged,where he would always belong,in Lycria.
Neon gazed downwards to the Lycria capital city,the towers and homes,markets and restaurants and everything else a city needed,the intricate designs,the ornamental displays,they seemed to be fabricated from imaginations that transcended even the gods.
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He could see the children playing in large group without a care in the world,completely unafraid of the passing citizens who freely donned their massive Lycan forms,beasts who would never be outcasted,who had nothing to fear,even if the world would happily have them slaughtered.The lights in all the structures,emanating from the homes of joyous families or from the merry gatherings of lycans who would never experience hunger.A nation that lasted for a thousand years and should have lasted a thousand more.
There was also one more thing to be noted,the drop,it was deadly even for a Lycan,Neon felt the abyss gaze right back into him as the cold,ugly truth hit home.This wasn't real,none of it,just a memory of a world,a perfect world,a perfection he could never experience,a happiness that he could never have because Neon was doomed,forged to suffer alone through fates that would make death seem desirable,over and over again forever,even when heaven was in sight,hell would always be his destiny.
The curse of his lineage.
In that moment,Neon considered ending everything right here,right now,it would be painless,he would experience a few moments of intense adrenaline before that peaceful darkness claimed him.None of the vices that made life so painful would ever reach him again.He would see his family again.
He would see Chris again.
(End of dream) Neon's eyes fluttered open as he once again took in the night sky that was still filled with those enchanting stars.He hadn't been asleep for long.Neon sat up and thought,really thought about the person he had refused to let himself remember these past 12 years.Rosie,what would she make of this?what would she make of him?,How would Lycria react to him? And Chris,what were the thoughts that went through his mind in his last moments?Did he die believing that Neon wasn't coming for him,that the only person he had ever loved abandoned him to save his own skin?Did they hate him for this?Blame him for this?
Neon sat up and hugged his knees to his chest,trying to control his breathing but to no avail,his body was trembling as it felt like every tragedy was hitting him all at once,the Valg invasion. the fire,Maeve,Chris,the cadre,the loneliness.Neon was a monster not just in body but in heart as well.
