Pertemis A Moon's Tale

Chapter XXVI: Tale of Goodbye

My eyes fluttered and opened with stars, only to be shut by that splitting headache. I closed my eyes eyes for awhile more, trying to adjust to the dizziness in me. Slowly, I could bring myself to a sitting position and the surroundings struck me hard.

Where am I?

The first thing I felt about this place was cold. That freezing atmosphere sipped into my bones as I hugged myself and clattered my teeth. The place looked like another cave again, but I knew it wasn't Perseus's cave. Because instead of the stone wall and pillars, everything here were carved from solid ice, as if a glacier had been dug inward to make this cave. The bed I sat on was also made of crystallised ice, smooth and sharping cold. Near where I was had a few pools of hot springs, as that steam covered the room in layers of fog.

The walls to my left groaned, and the doors opened. No, it was more like a wall collapsed into itself and finally disappeared to reveal an entrance. That immense power struck me, my instinct was sharpened.

"Hah! You're awake just as expected" Claurion appeared, dressed in white as usual. His face masked behind that cold and emotionless layer. He approached me, his hand carried a metal elixir.

It only took me a second to get over the shock before I tried to scramble out of the bed to make my stance. I couldn't go down without a fight.

"It's unwise to step off the Ice Bed" Claurion stated and I halted. "It's been preserving your life until now, the moment you step off it. I don't think even the best medicine can save your life."

Then I realised that there was no point fighting him anyway. He would snuff me out with a flick of his fingers. Without much more reason to fight. I finally sat back on that bed.

"Where am I?"

Claurion rolled his eyes for the obvious. "My place of course. Well, it's a hidden cave inside my palace. Therion is hunting you across the Territory as we speak. I couldn't risk having you in my room, could I?"

"You are betraying your brother?" I said in disbelief. I knew Claurion was uninterested in many affairs. But to have him stepped into matter like this not only opposed his principles, but to even go against his brother sound unbelievable.

"Technically, not." Claurion clicked his tongue as he approached me. "Saving you means helping Perseus. So I might have...opposed Therion's method in dealing with Perseus's legitimacy for the Throne. But I have not betrayed any of my brothers, not Perseus of course."

The sipping cold now came again, and I shivered with each wave of it. Claurion handed me the elixir he had been holding.

"Drink this. It'll help you to adjust to the place"

My fingers wrapped around that metallic container. The green liquid inside gave off a spicy aroma. I took a sniff, still hesitant to gulp it down.

Claurion at the sight of me chuckled. "If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead by now. Why bother bringing you here and kill you off with this lowly method?"

What he said made me realise how stupid I was. Without hesitation, I swallowed all of that with one go. The warmth engulfed my blood, travelling to the spine as I sighed with relief. But I don't know whether the cold that froze or perhaps numbed my mind from remembering what Therion did. Because the moment I felt heat returning to my body, that wound followed. The blast Therion sent which hit me square on the back must have damaged my internal organs. My lung felt ragged, as if I was breathing out fire. I was surprised Claurion could keep me alive until now.

"How long...have I been unconscious?"

By the aching bones and muscles, I guessed I must have laid in this bed for a few days. Then again, that aching could have come from the wound that was now spreading across my body.