Albedo didn’t rember much of the journey back to the city, with only fragnts of that journey staying with him, like the way the wind cut against his face as he moved back through the forest, and the distant alarm bells ringing as the Northern sentries finally realized sothing catastrophic had occurred.
The faint, uneven rise and fall of Lilian’s chest against his own as he carried her without ever loosening his grip. His mana was a hollowed-out thing, scraped raw and barely responsive, but his body kept moving through stubborn will alone. Every step was guided by a single, unyielding thought.
’Get her sowhere safe.’
By the ti he reached his residence, the sky had begun to pale at the edges, dawn creeping in hesitantly as if uncertain whether the world it was lighting still deserved it. Guards took one look at him, bloodstained, eyes dulled with exhaustion, carrying the unconscious Heiress of BloodHaven, and moved without questions.
All the doors were opened for him and the corridors cleared, a direct order from Raven to treat him with respect.
Albedo carried Lilian straight to his room and he laid her gently on the bed, movents careful despite how badly his arms trembled now that the danger was past. The mont he released her, his knees nearly buckled, but he caught himself on the edge of the mattress and forced his breathing to steady.
Lilian looked impossibly small lying there, her crimson hair fanned across dark sheets, her skin pale but no longer deathly so. The violent pulse of blood-mana he had sensed earlier was calr now, fractured but knitting itself back together slowly, instinctively.
She was healing. Slowly, but she was definitely healing from the cruel injuries she had suffered.
Albedo reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from her face, his fingers lingering for just a second longer than necessary.
Relief hit him then, sharp and almost painful, loosening sothing in his chest that had been locked tight since the ritual chamber. He exhaled, a quiet, shuddering sound.
"You scared the hell out of ," he murmured softly, voice rough, "You’re going to need real rest. Not forced healing. Not mana circulation. Just... sleep."
Lilian didn’t stir, but her breathing evened slightly, as if she heard him anyway.
Albedo leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, lingering there before shifting just enough to brush his lips against hers, soft, brief, careful not to draw her back toward consciousness. It wasn’t desperation or heat. It was reassurance, a promise made in silence.
"I’ll be here," he whispered. "When you wake up."
He straightened slowly, pulling a blanket up over her shoulders and adjusting it with ticulous care. Only when he was certain she was settled did he finally step away, his legs protesting sharply as he turned toward the door.
The mont it closed behind him, the weight he’d been carrying threatened to crush him outright. He didn’t make it far down the hall before Raven stepped out of the shadows.
She looked... different, now that the battle was over. The oppressive, blade-edged presence she carried in the ritual chamber was gone, folded back into sothing restrained but no less dangerous.
Her eyes, sharp and assessing as ever, flicked once toward the door Albedo had just exited as if waiting for him to respond.
"She’s stable," Albedo said before she could ask.
Raven nodded once. Just once. The tension in her shoulders eased by a fraction. "Good."
They stood there in silence for a mont, the echoes of the night still heavy between them. The city was quiet now, the kind of uneasy calm that followed disasters no one fully understood yet.
Raven broke it first.
"You broke an Abyss-anchored ritual while half-dead and under pressure," she said flatly. "You desynchronized a summoning designed to permanently corrupt an entire region’s ley lines. Most people with twice your experience would’ve failed."
Albedo huffed weakly. "Most people don’t have the skills I do,"
The corner of Raven’s mouth twitched, not quite a smile, but close enough to count. She stepped closer, her gaze locking onto his with an intensity that made him straighten despite his exhaustion.
"You made the correct call," she continued. "You prioritized the sacrifice over the summoning. You trusted your read instead of hesitating. And you didn’t freeze when it went wrong anyway."
She reached out and, surprisingly, placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Well done," Raven said. "Truly."
The words carried weight. Not praise given lightly. Not encouragent ant to soothe. This was acknowledgnt, clean and unambiguous.
Albedo swallowed, so of the tension finally bleeding out of him. "I couldn’t let it happen," he said quietly.
"I know," Raven replied. Her grip tightened briefly before she withdrew her hand. "That’s why I didn’t interfere with the array. I wanted to see what you’d choose."
Albedo looked at her sharply, "You were testing ? Even in such a dangerous scenario?"
"I was trusting you," Raven corrected calmly. "There’s a difference, and see, it worked. Besides, if you failed, only you’d die, I had my ways of getting Lilian safe,"
She turned slightly, gazing down the corridor as if she could see all the way back to the ruins of the Everglade ritual site. "The Abyss doesn’t lose often. Tonight, it did. Because you forced it into a position where power alone wasn’t enough."
Her eyes returned to him, sharper now. "That matters."
Albedo let out a tired breath and leaned back against the wall, finally allowing his body to sag. "What happens now?"
Raven’s expression hardened. "The Northern Region will be unstable for a while. Corrupted ley lines don’t settle overnight. The Everglade Clan is finished, what little survived will be hunted down once the truth cos out."
"And Lilian?"
"She’ll recover," Raven said without hesitation. "She’s stronger than they realized. Stronger than even she knows."
She paused, then added more quietly, "And she won’t be facing that strength alone anymore."
Albedo nodded, eyes drifting back toward the door to his room. "Good."
Raven watched him for a long mont, sothing unreadable passing through her gaze. "Get so rest," she said. "You’re no use to anyone if you collapse now."
Albedo gave a tired smile. "I’ll try."
As Raven turned and walked away, her footsteps fading into the quiet of the residence, Albedo pushed himself upright once more. He glanced back at the door, listening faintly to the steady rhythm of Lilian’s breathing beyond it.
The Abyss had been pushed back.
Reviews
All reviews (0)