Chapter 15: Beneath the Quiet Sky
The battle was over, but peace had not yet returned.
Smoke still clung to the trees like ghosts. Blood darkened the soil near the river. Though the fires were out and the enemy had fled, the village moved quietly, like waking from a nightmare it wasn't sure was truly gone.
Elara sat on the edge of the wooden bridge overlooking the stream, her legs dangling, bandages wrapped tight around her flank. The wound stung when she moved, but she didn't complain. She welcomed the pain; it kept her grounded, real.
She ran her fingers through the water, watching the ripples fade.
Behind her, footsteps approached, quiet and steady.
"You should be resting," Aldric said, his voice warm but firm.
She didn't look up. "I don't know how to rest anymore."
He sat beside her without a word. They watched the water together.
After a while, she spoke. "Did you see their eyes? Corwin's men. They weren't soldiers. Most of them looked like they didn't even know why they were fighting."
"I saw," Aldric said. "And I also saw who stopped them."
She scoffed, a bitter sound. "I tore them apart."
"You saved your people."
"I killed to do it."
"You fought to protect them. You didn't become Corwin. You became yourself."
That silenced her.
Aldric gently took her hand. "You're not what he made you. Not anymore."
She met his gaze, her golden eyes searching his face. "Then who am I?"
He smiled. "You're Elara. Fierce, loyal, flawed. Brave. Still learning. Still healing. And so am I."
Her lips trembled, and she squeezed his hand.
Later that day, the village elders gathered to decide what would come next.
The central lodge was packed—Kaelen, Sira, Rue, the surviving fighters, even the children who had once hidden in cellars were now peeking through the cracks in the doorways. Everyone had seen the war. Everyone deserved to witness the choice that followed.
Aldric stood before them, not as a king, but as one of them, no crown, no throne.
"Elara and I have fought beside you," he began. "Not as rulers, but as neighbors, as family. You know what we lost. You know what we gained."
He looked around, eyes steady.
"I will not return to the throne," he said, and gasps rippled through the room. "The court can name its new figurehead. I've found something more honest here. I've found a home."
He turned to Elara, who stood near the door, arms crossed, eyes wary.
"I don't need power to protect. I need people worth protecting."
Sira stepped forward, her voice soft. "And what of her? Will she remain?"
Elara lifted her chin. "If you'll have me."
A long silence followed.
Then Rue, barely bandaged, grinned. "You saved my life twice. That's more than I can say for my brother."
Laughter broke the tension.
Kaelen added, "You're one of us now, wolf or not."
A cheer followed, rough and honest.
Elara didn't smile.
But her shoulders dropped, just slightly.
Like maybe, just maybe, the weight was starting to lift.
That night, Elara stood by the edge of the forest, watching the moon rise. Her body ached, her heart bruised. But something inside her felt warmer. Less hollow.
Aldric joined her. No words this time, just the closeness of shared silence.
She looked up at the moon. "I used to be afraid of who I was under this sky."
"And now?"
"I still don't know everything. But I'm starting to believe I don't have to."
They stood in the silver glow, and Aldric slipped an arm around her waist.
"You don't have to face anything alone anymore," he said. "Not the world. Not your past. Not the shadows."
Elara closed her eyes and leaned into him.
"I know."
But peace, like spring frost, is delicate.
And in the darkness beyond the trees, something moved.
A shadow lingered too long.
A raven circled thrice and flew north.
A message was sent.
And far away, across stone towers and broken lands, another figure received it.
A woman draped in green silk, her eyes black as pitch.
She read the parchment, then burned it slowly.
"So," she whispered, "the little wolf thinks she's safe."
She smiled.
The war wasn't over.
Not yet.
To be continued.....
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