The courtyard hesitated to move at first.
For a brief moment, everything held still, as if no one fully understood what they were seeing.
Aldric's body finally gave in. His knees struck the dirt beneath him and this time, he did not hold himself up.
"Aldric–!"
Valera was the first to move.
She rushed forward without thinking, catching him just as he began to fall. Her arms wrapped around him tightly, pulling him in as if afraid he would disappear again.
The pressure forced a sharp breath out of him.
Pain tore through his side, but he didn't push her away.
He couldn't.
"...you're back..." she whispered as her voice was shaking.
Her hands gripped his torn surcoat tightly.
Aldric tried to speak
Nothing came at first. His throat was dry, his breath was uneven. He swallowed slowly, forcing air into his lungs as his body trembled under its own weight.
"...I..."
The word barely formed.
He struggled again, weaker this time.
"...promised..."
A pause. His breath didn't come easy.
"...to return."
The words were quiet. But they were enough for Valera to hear it.
Valera didn't answer. She only held him tighter for a second longer.
Behind them, the courtyard came back to life.
"Move!" the captain shouted.
"Get the High Vael now!"
Boots moved and orders were followed.
Two guards stepped in quickly, taking Aldric's weight as Valera was forced to let go. She hesitated for a moment before stepping back, her hands lingering on him as if she wasn't ready to release him yet.
Aldric barely registered any of it.
His vision blurred.
The last thing he saw before everything went dark was her face...
***
Darkness came, but not peacefully.
At first, there was nothing.
Then pain followed.
Cold ground beneath him.
A body that refused to obey him.
Air tearing into his lungs as he forced himself to breathe.
Then–
Aldric's eyes opened.
He tried to move.
Pain answered instantly.
The fall should have killed him.
It didn't.
He lay where he had landed, unable to move, his ears ringing so violently that the world felt distant. His chest refused to rise properly, each attempt to breathe catching halfway before forcing its way through.
Then air came back– too fast and sharp.
He coughed and spat blood into the dirt.
He didn't understand how he was alive.
But that didn't matter.
Because he wasn't alone.
Voices above.
Not far.
Coming closer.
They were coming down.
Of course they were.
Aldric forced his body to move.
It didn't listen.
His limbs felt like stone dragged through mud. He tried to push himself up, only to collapse again immediately.
His hand searched blindly for his sword.
But there was nothing.
It was gone.
Still above. On the cliff.
A branch snapped.
It's close.
Aldric turned his head slightly.
A figure moved through the trees.
It's one of them.
The hunter stepped forward with calm certainty, descending toward him without hesitation. There was no rush in his movements.
Aldric tried to move again.
His body dragged instead of lifting.
The hunter saw him. He paused only briefly. Then continued.
The sound of a sword being drawn.
His breath quickened.
He couldn't stand. Couldn't fight. Even thought was starting to slip.
The hunter lunged.
Aldric reacted on instinct.
It wasn't clean.
He twisted aside just enough for the blade to miss his chest, but it still carved across his already wounded side. Pain exploded through him.
He grabbed blindly and pulled.
They both went down.
There was no space between them.
The hunter tried to push himself up.
But Aldric held on desperately.
The hunter tried to reach for his belt.
For his dagger.
Aldric saw it.
His arm slammed into the hunter's wrist.
They struggled in the dirt, locked together, neither gaining ground.
But Aldric was fading.
His strength slipping with every second.
His vision blurred at the edges.
"No..."
His hand moved across the ground without direction.
Fingers dragging through dirt and stone.
Then–
Then he felt it.
Something solid.
He grabbed it.
The rock felt heavy in his hand.
It was rough and unbalanced.
He didn't think.
KLANG–!
The impact stroke the helmet with a dull, violent ring.
The hunter's ears rang violently, the sound trapped inside the steel, echoing through his skull. His grip faltered for just a moment– just enough to break his rhythm.
Not enough.
Aldric swung again.
KLANG–!
He struck again. Harder than before.
The hunter's movements slowed. His balance broke. The ringing inside the helmet swallowed his focus.
Aldric didn't hesitate.
He dropped the rock and forced himself on top of him, both hands clawing at the helmet.
Metal slipped under his fingers just once.
Then he caught it.
The hunter reacted immediately.
His arm shot up–! too fast.
Steel flashed.
The dagger struck Aldric in the thigh.
Pain exploded. Searing through his body.
Still, Aldric held on.
He pulled.
The visor resisted.
For a second, it didn't move.
Then–
CLICK–!
It lifted.
Air rushed in.
The hunter's face was exposed.
That was enough.
The rock was back in Aldric's hand instantly.
He didn't even aim.
He brought it down
The first hit landed wrong.
It struck the edge of the lifted visor, glancing off and scraping across the man's face.
A grunt escaped from beneath the helmet.
The hunter reacted violently beneath him. He pushed the dagger deeper inside the wound.
The pain was unbearable.
But Aldric held on.
Harder this time.
He struck again.
The second hit landed clean.
A wet impact followed.
The hunter's body jerked hard.
The dagger slipped from his hand.
Aldric struck again.
And again.
Until–
the body beneath him stopped resisting.
For a moment, Aldric didn't understand what changed.
His arms were still moving–
Still striking–
But something in the rhythm had broken.
Then it hit him.
His hands froze mid-motion.
The rock slipped from his fingers and fell beside him with a dull thud.
Only then did his body seem to remember how to stop.
He finally rolled off the body slowly, collapsing onto his side.
Aldric stared at him.
At the broken stillness beneath the helmet.
At what he had just done.
His hands trembled as he lifted them.
Blood.... dirt, and something else he didn't want to name.
He stared at them for a second.
He couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
But the forest did not stay silent.
Voices again.
Closer.
Aldric forced himself up.
Pain shot through him immediately, but he ignored it.
He had no choice.
He took the hunter's weapon without looking at it. Barely holding it.
Then he stood.
Barely.
And walked.
Each step heavier than the last.
Each breath worse than the one before.
But he kept moving.
Until even the sound behind him began to fade...
...
"...Aldric?"
He blinked–
The world snapped back into focus.
Stone walls... Warm air, and a bed beneath him.
He turned his head slightly.
Seren sat beside the bed, watching him carefully.
"...you're awake," she said.
Aldric swallowed.
"...how long...?"
"Two days," Seren replied.
He blinked once.
Two days...
It didn't feel real.
He tried to move.
Pain answered immediately.
"Don't," Seren said calmly. "You're not in a condition to move yet."
Aldric exhaled slowly, settling back.
"...how am I still alive...?"
Seren paused.
"Because we had a High Vael here."
Aldric's brow tightened slightly.
"...Vael...?"
Seren glanced toward the door where a woman stood in white robes and green gloves, medical tools carefully strapped to her belt.
"They're healers," she said. "Not ordinary ones."
"They're trained to keep people alive when they shouldn't be."
Aldric listened without interruption.
"They serve strongholds, cities and battlefields... wherever death comes too often for normal hands to handle."
Her voice lowered slightly.
"And a High Vael is above them all. Better training. Better tools and rare medicines most will never even see."
Aldric looked at her.
"...I don't know how I could repay you," he said quietly.
"You don't need to," the High Vael replied.
"That is our duty."
Aldric let out a slow breath.
"...so I should've died."
Silence.
Seren answered at last.
"...yes."
Aldric didn't react.
He simply accepted it.
A moment of silence lingered in the room.
He shifted slightly, the movement pulling the blanket loose.
"...my clothes..." he asked.
Seren blinked.
Valera, who had been standing quietly near the bed, froze slightly.
Her eyes lowered the moment she saw his stitched torso.
She didn't speak.
But her fingers tightened briefly at her side, just once, like she was holding something in place.
"...your clothes were soaked in blood," Seren said carefully. "They had to be removed."
Aldric hesitated.
"...who did it?"
Silence.
Then the High Vael, without looking up:
"I did."
A pause.
Aldric's eyes widened slightly.
"...so that means you..."
He stopped.
Realization hit him late.
Aldric didn't speak.
For a moment, he simply stared at her.
"...you saw everything?"
Valera's face turned slightly red. Seren immediately looked away trying to hide her smile.
The High Vael tilted her head.
"Yes..."
A beat.
"...you're sturdier than I expected."
For a brief second, the room went silent.
Aldric froze.
His mouth opened slightly, then closed again.
"...everything..."
His voice came out quieter this time.
His face turned red.
The blanket fell slightly down as he straightened upward revealing even more of his body, it was stitched and bandaged. But it couldn't hide his toned lean body.
Valera coughed sharply, turning away.
"I– I need air."
Seren covered her mouth, failing to hide her smile.
Even the High Vael's cheeks tinted faintly.
"...I meant medically," she added quickly
But it was already too late.
Aldric slowly sank back into the bed, mortified.
"...I survived just to die here..." he muttered.
That finally broke Seren. A quiet laugh escaped her.
The moment eased and silence slowly returned.
Valera stepped closer again, quieter now.
"...I thought you weren't coming back," she said softly.
Aldric turned his head slightly toward her.
"...Remember my promise?" He replied.
Valera lowered her gaze.
But she didn't step away this time.
She didn't ask him to explain.
That was enough for her.
***
Later that evening...
Aldric stared at the ceiling.
The room was quiet, it was warm and safe.
But his fingers twitched once against the blanket.
Just once.
Like they were still holding something that wasn't there anymore.