Chapter 141: Ash, Rain, and Steel
The sky over the Empire of Bertha finally broke.
Heavy, bruised clouds rolled across the shattered horizon, swallowing the last of the battlefield's smoke before unleashing a cold, torrential downpour. The rain washed ash from collapsed rooftops, thinned the crimson running through the capital's gutters, and hissed against the vitrified stone of the central plaza.
Through the curtain of rain, Micah walked in silence.
He carried Dax's unconscious body cradled against his chest. Raindrops struck the boy's porcelain-like, fractured skin and flashed into wisps of steam wherever they touched the embers of stardust still weeping from his veins. Behind Micah, the earth shuddered with every deliberate step of Cain. The four-winged wyvern stalked through the mud and debris like a primordial shadow, wings folded tight, reptilian eyes daring any surviving soul in the ruined city to step into their path.
None did.
