Teclos knelt there with Saldia in his arms for a long moment, unmoving.
The ruined machines groaned around him, and the blue mana was still dripping into the cracked basins.
His gaze was fixed on Saldia, the same way his gaze had been fixed on Gillard back then.
Her body rested in his embrace, fragile enough that it felt as if she might crumble if he held her too tightly. Her face was twisted by the fear and pain she had endured. He tried to smooth her hair back with trembling fingers.
"No..." he whispered again.
His world was gone. What he had taken for granted had been taken away.
Pitch-black tears fell onto her face, one after another, sliding down his cheeks like ink. The shadows around him trembled, reacting to every heartbeat, and his grief no longer had anywhere to go.
That was when something snapped inside him, and a strange calm settled over him.
He wanted revenge.
