Eclipsed

Chapter 48

Ren sat motionless for a long moment, his hands gripping his head, the weight of what had just happened crashing down on him. The snow continued to fall, the world around him silent and still, as if time itself was pausing in sorrow. His voice trembled as he whispered to the wind, "Where did I go wrong... Valen, where did I go wrong?"

The cold air bit at his skin, but it felt distant, almost unimportant in the face of his grief. Ren slowly stood up, his body feeling heavier with each passing second. He pulled his cloak up over his head, as if trying to shield himself from the world. He looked around, searching for something, anything, that could help him in this moment of despair.

His eyes landed on a small patch of soft snow nearby, and with no words, he walked over to it. He found a jagged rock sticking out of the snow and used it to begin digging. His movements were slow and deliberate, his hands shaking from the cold, but he didn't care. His mind was focused solely on the task at hand.

The hole grew deeper, and with every scoop of snow and earth, Ren's emotions seemed to release, though the pain in his heart only grew heavier. Finally, when the hole was deep enough, Ren carefully placed Valen's lifeless body into it. His hands trembled as he gently arranged Valen in the grave, making sure he was lying at peace.

Once the body was covered, Ren stood for a moment, his chest tight with emotion. The snow had covered everything, the fresh burial blending into the white blanket of the world around him. With a deep, shaky breath, Ren took a single red rose from his cloak and gently placed it on the mound of snow marking Valen's grave. The bright red of the flower contrasted with the cold white of the snow, an unspoken tribute to a friend lost too soon.

Ren stood there for a minute longer, his mind filled with memories of their time together. Valen's strength, his calm leadership, and the moments they shared in their journey. It all seemed so far away now. Ren whispered quietly to the wind, "The least I can do for you... is kill off the disciples."

As he turned away, his resolve hardened. Valen's death would not be in vain. He would finish what they started, no matter the cost. With that, Ren pulled his cloak tighter around him and walked into the snowy expanse, a new determination fueling his steps.

Ren's expression was a hollow mask-tired, cold, and devoid of any emotion. The weight of his loss, of everything he had endured, hung heavily on him as he trudged forward, the path to the Kingdom of Mizugan seeming endless. His every step was mechanical, a mindless continuation of a journey he no longer cared about. The only thing keeping him going was the flicker of a thought in the back of his mind: Rhaegar. He had to find him.

When Ren finally arrived at the Kingdom of Mizugan, the place was eerily quiet. His heart sank when he noticed that Rhaegar was nowhere to be found. The chains that once held the dragon were left loose, and the heavy weight of realization hit him like a cold gust of wind. I see... Kael and Alina must have taken him.

Ren's face remained unreadable as he processed the information. He clenched his jaw, but there was no fire, no anger left to fuel him. Just a deep, profound sense of emptiness. He turned and entered the Kingdom, moving without purpose, but still searching. The cold walls of the kingdom felt like a suffocating weight pressing on him, each step in the cobbled streets only adding to the despair he carried.

His eyes eventually found a barn-an old, weathered structure that smelled of hay and horses. A quiet part of him noted the familiar sounds of horses whinnying in the stables, but the sensation was distant, like he was outside himself, looking in. Ren walked inside without hesitation.

The barn owner, a middle-aged man with a weather-beaten face, looked up as Ren approached. His gaze flicked to Ren's expression-eyes deadened by sorrow and fatigue-and though he noticed, he didn't dare ask. He had seen enough of the world to recognize when someone was carrying a burden too heavy for words. The man merely nodded and waited for Ren's request.