Chapter 6 / The road ahead

March 22nd, 15.001.  

Eloen Reach, Eloria [Elf Continent]

Days blurred together on the road. The boy, Risha, spoke little, but Eloise and Dominique never left his side. Eloise taught him about plants and bugs, while Dominique found his perfect companion for playing any sort of games to kill time on the road. He clung to them, slowly warming, though he still startled at sudden noises.

Elon and Sukira kept their distance from the boy. Whenever danger came, they stood in front, weapons drawn, powers unleashed. But when Risha reached out to them, neither knew how to answer. Elon offered a quiet nod, maybe a rare word of reassurance. Sukira pretended not to notice him, though her eyes consistently tracked the kid when he strayed too far.

By midday of the 22nd, the group reached one of the coastal cities on the edge of Eloen Reach. The air was sharp with salt, the cries of gulls circling above the market square. Stalls crowded every corner, selling everything from dried fish to seashell jewelry, and the narrow streets buzzed with traders and travelers.

They stopped at a plaza where a fountain spilled clear water. Dominique spread bread, dried meat, and cheese on a bench while Eloise disappeared into the crowd to negotiate for supplies. She returned with baskets of fruit and vegetables, and two jars of honey, smiling proudly as if she had just pulled off a grand heist. She started explaining how honey could be used as medicine. Dominique and Risha listened attentively. 

Risha followed Sukira like a shadow. His eyes sparkled when he noticed a stall stacked with wooden toys and practice weapons. He tugged at her sleeve without hesitation, but as soon as he realized, he couldn’t speak a word. 

“Let’s take a look.” Her voice was small but firm. It was their first one-on-one interaction, and, honestly, she was more nervous than the kid. 

She walked him over, crouched low to the rack, and held up a small wooden sword.

“Perfect size,” she said, passing it to him.

The boy gripped the sword with both hands, shoulders squared, copying the stance he had probably seen in storybooks or imagined in his head. He swung once, nearly hitting Dominique’s knee, who followed them as she couldn’t miss anything that was happening. She laughed, caught the blade, and fixed his grip.

“Like this, little warrior. Don’t break my leg before she can teach you.”

Eloise couldn’t help noticing Risha’s clumsy swordplay. “He’ll hurt himself,” she muttered.

Sukira smirked without humor. “Then it’ll be a good lesson.”

Risha, meanwhile, spun toward them proudly, holding his new sword aloft. “Look! I can fight now!”

Dominique ruffled his hair. “You’ll be better than all of us soon, pup!”

The boy laughed, leaning into her touch without hesitation. For a child who had spent the last days wrapped in silence and fear, he now beamed with a light that startled everyone. Eloise exchanged a glance with Dominique, one full of relief.

When lunch ended, they packed the food back into baskets and loaded the truck. The market noise carried behind them as they left the city, the sea breeze growing stronger. Risha sat in the back, sword resting across his knees. He hummed a tune to himself, head leaning on Dominique’s arm.

♥︎

March 23rd, 15.001. 

The Old Coastal Road, Eloen Reach, [Elf Continent]

The sun was bright, cutting through the mist that lingered in the low hills. They followed a narrow road that twisted between abandoned watchtowers, their stones cracked and covered in moss.

By midday, they stopped under a stand of tall cedar trees to rest. Eloise spread a cloth on the grass and began slicing the fruit she had bought the day before. Risha sat cross-legged beside her, biting into a peach with juice running down his chin. 

“You’re worse than me at breakfast.” Dominique laughed and handed him a napkin.

The boy wiped his mouth but leaned against her shoulder anyway, sticky hands clinging like glue. He never seemed to care about personal space. Dominique didn’t mind; she leaned into him just as easily.

Elon sat apart, sketching sigils in the dirt with a stick. Risha watched him for a long while, eyes shining.

“What’s that?”

“Protection wards,” Elon said without looking up. “So nothing follows us. I’m perfecting the spell.”

“WoOoah. How do you do that? Can other people do that? Can I do that? Can you teach me?”

Elon genuinely laughed. The boy’s eagerness reminded him of the joy of knowledge. He finally shook his head. “Not yet.”

Risha pouted. “I’m not that young.”

From the other side of the fire pit, Sukira snorted. “You’re ten. You’re basically a pebble.”

The boy grinned. “A pebble with a sword.” He held up the wooden blade, making a dramatic swing.

Even Sukira cracked a faint smile, though she hid it behind her cup.

That afternoon, as they drove, the road opened toward the sea. Waves broke against cliffs below, the air heavy with salt. That was when the ambush came.

Arrows hissed from the rocks above. Elon reacted instantly, as he was feeling them from before, sweeping his hand through the air. A wave of power curled into the wind, and everyone around collapsed into sudden sleep, even Dominique, Eloise, Risha — they all fell into a soft, dreamlike slumber. The spell caught her too, but when Elon turned his side in order to grab the wheel, he met her furious glare.

Elon turned the wheel with one hand, parking the car on the side, abruptly but safely. 

“How is it that you are still awake? Just surrender to the cast, please. Sleep. Sleep. I won’t let you kill them.” His voice showed he was annoyed; he was genuinely exhausted from her constantly fighting his magic.

Sukira’s lips curved into a sharp smile, though sweat glistened at her forehead. “Well, it’s taking me a lot of energy, I’m not gonna lie.” Her voice cracked slightly, but she kept her feet planted, hand clutched at the wheel, using it to keep her body still; she was fighting the spell with all her will.

The magic thickened, pressing harder, filling the air with weight. For a moment, it seemed neither would yield. The sleeping cast pressed on her like drowning water.

Then she exhaled through her teeth, long and slow. “Fine.”

Her body slackened, and she let herself fall back against the seat, finally slipping into unconsciousness. 

♥︎

March 24th, 15.001.  

The Old Coastal Road, Eloen Reach, [Elf Continent]

Eloen Reach spread wide along the coast, full of cities woven with rivers and shaded groves that spilled gently into the sea. It was a place of respite, known across the continent as a summer retreat where elves and travelers alike came to escape the demands of their homelands. Unlike the deeper forests of Eloria, no beasts prowled its borders, no wild spirits lingered in its fields; only in the farthest waters, where the coastline bent toward Whispergroove, were strange sea creatures and half-forgotten spirits said to stir. 

To the east, Eloen Reach shared a border with Concordia’s famed Sunny Side Province — a human haven of sun-washed markets and sand, its harbors glittering with ships in festival colors. The two cities became twin centers of leisure, attracting wealthy travelers and curious visitors from both continents.

The morning came bright and restless. A line of pale clouds stretched across the sky, sunlight breaking in golden shafts through their edges. The group walked along the trade road, the scent of salt faint in the air, proof they were nearing the coast.

Risha trotted beside Cloud, and every so often, he glanced at Elon, his eyes sparking with curiosity.

“Was it hard?” the boy asked suddenly.

Elon raised an eyebrow. “What?”. He talked to him as he would talk to any other adult. 

“Making everyone fall asleep like that. Yesterday.” His voice held awe, not fear. “You didn’t even say anything. Just—” he mimicked a wave of the hand with dramatic flair, “—and poof!”

Eloise laughed, adjusting the pack on her shoulder. “He’s been talking about it since dawn. Yesterday, he fell asleep asking us a bunch of questions. I think you’ve got yourself a fan, Elon.”

Elon’s lips twitched, but he kept walking. “It wasn’t hard.” He didn’t elaborate, and Dominique noticed the way he avoided looking at Sukira, who was striding a few paces ahead.

“So… can you make just one person sleep? Like, if I wanted to nap but her”—he pointed at Sukira—“wanted to keep walking, could you do that?”

“No.” Elon’s voice was calm, almost rehearsed. “Magic isn’t for games.”

“But you could! You can! You did it yesterday,” Risha pressed.

Before Elon could answer, Sukira spoke without turning. “Yesterday was luck. Don’t think too highly of him, kid. Not everyone can be bent that easily.”

Elon’s eyes narrowed. “It wasn’t luck.”

“Sure,” she muttered.

Eloise, sensing the sharp edge forming again, stepped closer to Risha and pointed out a cluster of wildflowers growing along the ditch. The boy dashed over to pick a handful.

♥︎

By midday, they stopped in a roadside clearing for lunch. Bread, dried fruit, cheese—the regular things they had lately—were simple and quick to eat. Risha plopped down beside Elon again, stubbornly ignoring the others, and began arranging his flowers into uneven patterns.

“Is this a spell? Or a sigil?” he asked, tilting his head.

Elon glanced down. “Not even close.”

It's ridiculous, he almost got it. Elon hesitated, then reached down and moved one stem. “This one should be here. Now it makes more sense. Can you see the balance now?”

The boy lit up like a lantern. “You do teach!”

Dominique grinned, nudging Eloise. “Fan.”

Sukira said nothing. She ate her bread in silence, gaze fixed on the horizon, the sound of the sea growing stronger in the wind.

♥︎

That night, the second ambush came.

They had made camp on the edge of a grove, a few trees hissing faintly with the sea wind. Dominique settled Risha into his blanket when the first bolt shot, grazing the wall behind her. Shouts followed, steel boots hammering the dirt, men and women with weapons rushing in from both sides.

Eloise reacted immediately, a flare of blue light bursting across her hand. Sigils etched themselves in the air, weaving a shield before the cart. The mercenaries recoiled, their blades sparking against the barrier.

“Stay back!” Eloise cried.

Seeing the magic barrier, most mercenaries broke and fled into the night. Only one remained, collapsed on the ground with a gaping wound across his abdomen, choking on his own blood. The cast cut him deep as he was in the middle while it was being cast. 

Eloise ran and knelt beside him, murmuring a low incantation to keep him alive a moment longer. “We could still—”

Sukira pointed her gun at him. “Eloise, move”. 

“I don’t like watching people dying.” 

“Then look the other way,” Sukira said with the conviction of someone who had understood death from years of watching it closely. 

The man’s breath stopped.

Eloise moved back to the tent where Dominique and Cloud were guarding Risha.

Elon was fixated on Sukira’s hand. 

“He was suffering.” 

For a long moment, the air was still.

Elon lowered his eyes. “I know,” he said at last, voice flat. “I understand.”

Behind them, Dominique held Risha tight, shielding him even tho the danger was gone. He whispered against her shoulder, trembling a little: “Why… why are people after us?”

“It doesn’t matter. Adult stuff you don’t need to worry about”. 

♥︎

March 25th, 15.001.  

Coast roads, Eloen Reach, Eloria. [Elf Continent]

Dawn painted the horizon pale gold—the camp packed up in silence, the kind of silence that isn’t peace but exhaustion. Risha stayed close to Eloise, one hand clutching her sleeve, the other rubbing sleep from his eyes.

He broke the quiet first. “Why did she do that?” he asked softly, not looking at Sukira. “The man… he was already hurt. What happened?”

Eloise smoothed his hair, searching for an answer. Dominique, nearby, spoke before Sukira could. “Sometimes grown-ups make choices we wish we didn’t see,” she said gently. “You don’t have to carry it with you, Risha.”

“But she… she didn’t even wait.” His voice cracked at the memory.

Sukira was sitting apart, cleaning her gun, and didn’t bother pretending she hadn’t heard. 

“He was dying,” he said flatly. “She ended his suffering,” Elon said, like he would have done the same if he had the guts. 

Risha’s eyes snapped to her, wide and wet. 

“Come on,” she said to the others, her voice steady but distant. “We have a long road ahead.”

For a while, the only sound was the van’s wheels crunching over the dirt. The boy’s usual chatter was gone, replaced with furtive glances.

♥︎

By midday, when they stopped to eat, Risha returned to his usual self in bursts, but his questions had shifted. Sitting cross-legged in the grass, he tugged at Elon’s sleeve.

“If your magic can… put people to sleep… why didn’t you do it last night? Why didn’t you stop her?”

Elon stared at the river flowing nearby, without turning back at him, his expression unreadable and his voice was low. “Because…”

“Oh no, no, let me reply to this one.” She looked at Risha using the car’s mirror. 

“Kid, do you remember that some people attacked us a few days ago? When blondie over here put us to sleep. Well, those guys were the same people who attacked us yesterday. Funny, right? We forgive their lives, but they keep coming back.”

Eloise quickly intervened, pressing him to her chest. “That’s enough,” she hissed. 

♥︎

March 26th, 15.001.  

Waystation Village, Eloen Reach, Eloria. [Elf Continent]

The village was little more than a scattered group of small houses clustered around a waystation inn. Smoke curled from chimneys, carrying the smell of fish and wet wood. Travelers came and went, barely glancing at the strange group in the corner of the square.

They had camped just outside, under the shade of a crooked elm. Sukira crouched by the firepit, showing Risha how to build a proper blaze.

“Not like that,” she said, tapping his wrist with a stick. “Stack them crossways, leave air in between. Fire eats air before it eats wood.”

Risha bit his lip, carefully rearranging the sticks. His small hands grew dark with soot, but he didn’t complain. When the spark finally caught and the flame licked up between the twigs, his face lit brighter than the fire itself.

He glanced up at her, almost shyly. “Did I do it right?”

Sukira leaned back, arms crossed, and gave a short nod. “Good enough. Won’t keep you warm all night, but it’ll boil a pot of soup.”

He smiled at the praise, then blurted the question he had clearly been holding in. “Are you also a vampire?”

Eloise, sitting nearby with her embroidery, stiffened. Dominique froze halfway through biting an apple. Even Elon raised his head from his notes.

Sukira didn’t flinch. She pulled a twig from the ground and twirled it between her fingers like a knife. 

“No,” she said evenly. “I’m human. Like you, we even have the same hair.”

Dominique nearly choked on her apple.

Risha frowned. He believed her words, but somehow, he knew he was right. He stared at her as something didn’t quite make sense, but he couldn’t put it into words. 

She smirked as the kid’s face was transforming into a worrying parade. “You are sharp, kid. Yes. I’m a vampire. I don’t know what gave you the note, but yes.” 

“But… Dominique has red eyes and fangs. Why don’t you?”

Sukira cut her off with a smile. “Because she’s better than me”, she said sharply and fast, without a glance of sarcasm, and then immediately continued: “So, you noticed I am a vampire, but most people don’t. Let’s keep it that way. Would you keep the secret for me?”

The boy’s eyes went wide. “Of-of course. But why is her hair pink and yours black?” 

This kid and its questions. 

“Not all vampires look the same. She’s one kind. I’m another. Even the shade of eyes is different. Look–” she made her eyes go red in an instant. Showing a dark crimson red, while Dominique’s ones were more like a bright, almost fluorescent shade of red. He looked back and forth between the two of them, amused. 

Risha tilted his head, still studying Sukira’s eyes. “So there are many kinds??”

“Plenty,” Sukira said, her voice even. “Some are like Dominique, loud and too proud to hide what they are. Some are like me, and like lying low. And others are monsters, like the one who invaded your village.”

The boy froze, his lips parting. His hands went still, fingers curling against his knees.

“Why would—” he began, voice trembling.

Eloise’s embroidery snapped shut in her lap. “Stop with that,” she cut in strongly, the thread still caught between her fingers. Her eyes locked on Sukira’s. “He doesn’t need that.”

Sukira didn’t look away. “That happened,” she said flatly. “Pretending otherwise won’t make it less true.”

The two women locked eyes, tension thick enough to cut.

Risha tugged on Eloise’s sleeve, confused by the sudden weight in the air. 

Sukira knelt again, this time meeting the boy’s gaze level. “Keep asking questions, kid. Don’t ever stop. Just remember, I’ll always answer you with the honest truth, whether you like it or not.”

♥︎

March 28th, 15.001.  

Plain Road, Eloen Reach, [Elf Continent]

The grassland stretched wide beneath a pale sky, wind whipping across the empty plain. Their caravan had stopped near a crooked milestone, the last checkpoint before the port where they would hop onto a ship that would take them to Umbra, the vampire continent. They worked in quiet relief, murmuring about how tomorrow they would finally rest in real beds, eat hot food made by someone else, and sleep behind walls instead of canvas.

The peace lasted nothing.

Sukira was already moving, her pistols drawn in a flash. The first three mercenaries tumbled before they even hit the slope. Dominique rushed forward beside her, jewelry glinting as it twisted and locked into place, becoming iron-hard gauntlets that braced her fists. She caught the first mercenary by the throat, slammed him into the dirt, and struck again with a crack that split bone.

“Stay behind me!” said Eloise, arms lifting, sigils spiraling into the air. Her barrier shimmered like glass just in time to catch the second barrage. Sparks rained as steel struck against magic. Risha whimpered, clutching at her skirt.

Elon, with a hand already sketching a ward in the air, felt a cold metal pressed to his heart. Sukira’s whisper was low, and her breath was hot as hell itself: “Do me a favor and spend some time healing yourself and stay out of my fight.”  

She didn’t take the blade away with her. Instead, she left it there, as a reaffirmation of her will to only injure him, knowing perfectly well that if she’d taken it off, the bleeding would become unmanageable. She had learned how slow he was at healing himself compared to casting. A wound like that wouldn’t kill him—but it would keep him busy for quite some time.

Elon gasped, reaching for her arm, but his hand closed on nothing. Sukira had already slipped into her void, leaving behind a swirl of black dust that shimmered in the fading light, as if mocking him.

The attackers surged from both sides, this time armored, their formation tight. Sukira was already moving. Her pistols cracked, one after the other, each shot deliberate, ruthless. She didn’t aim to wound — every bullet went for the head, the throat, the knee, followed by a shot to the skull. When one mercenary charged her, she vanished in a blur of black and red dust, reappearing at his back. Sukira stole the man’s knife and slid clean into the gap of his silver vest, then ripped sideways until his scream tore the night. Blood spattered her jaw, and she didn’t even blink.

One of them closed too fast, she didn’t retreat, she let the pistols vanish into a pulse of shadow, kicking them, stealing the vandit’s own knife from their belt, and opened a throat before the enemy could blink. Another came at her blindside; her hand flared with void-light. A straight shot to the forehead, and he fell as if it were nothing.

Another wave hit her. She caught the blade with a twist of her pistol, forcing it wide, and drove the barrel point-blank into his eye. The body dropped before his sword even hit the dirt. She fought like someone who had practiced ending lives a thousand times, each motion ruthless, economical, unflinching.

Dominique, by contrast, was a storm held on a leash. Her rings had unfolded into gloves, catching the moonlight as her fists. She never struck to kill. Ribs cracked, jaws shattered, men and women crumpled into the dirt unconscious but alive. When one mercenary tried to flank Elon, still healing himself, Dominique darted in, grabbing his arm and twisting until the bone popped with a sick snap, then flung him aside like refuse. Her eyes glowed red, but she pulled her punches, always careful to stop just shy of death.

Blood pooled on one side of the camp, silence and breathless whimpers on the other.

Eloise knelt with Risha inside her barrier, pale with strain as sparks flew against her wards. 

The ground was slick when the last of them fell. Sukira stood at the center of the carnage, both pistols still warm, her breath heavy but steady. Dominique’s gloves dripped with other people’s blood, her hands trembling with the effort of restraint.

By the time the last mercenary stumbled to his knees, bleeding from a dozen wounds, the field had gone quiet. The grass was matted with blood stains, and the smell of iron was heavy in the air.

Sukira dragged the back of her hand across her cheek, smearing a streak of blood rather than cleaning it.

Her gaze swept to the survivors; she smelled three. Slowly, she walked toward them, boots squelching in the grass thick with blood. She shot while staring at a woman on the floor, not even looking at the targets she hit. Two clean shots left only one survivor.

“You’re lucky,” she said, voice low but carrying. She holstered one pistol, keeping the other casually pointed at the ground. “Not because you’re alive, but because she”—her chin tipped toward Dominique, still flexing her bloodied fists—“doesn’t have it in her to finish you. And I’ve chosen you for an important mission.”

The woman whimpered, dragging herself backward through the dirt. Sukira crouched down to her level, her smile sharp and humorless while grabbing her face. 

“You are quite beautiful, don’t cry, and listen carefully. I want you to crawl back from where you came and tell every bounty out there exactly what you saw here. Tell them I didn't kill you because I’m traveling with a pain in the ass that would scold me if I did it. Tell them next time, there won’t be anyone left to stop me. Would you do that for me?”

She stood again, letting the woman’s face go, twirling her pistol, sliding it back into her void.

“Next time, no survivors. Spread the word.”

The mercenary didn’t wait to be told twice. Broken and stumbling, she scattered into the night, leaving only a trail of blood behind her.

♥︎

The campfire sputtered low, its smoke bitter in the night air. None of them had much appetite, but Dominique forced down bread between winces while Eloise dabbed at her bruises with careful fingers.

Risha sat curled close, his eyes darting from one face to another. “Why do people keep coming after us?” he asked, voice small. No one answered right away.

Sukira tossed him a crust of bread, as if distraction would serve better than truth. “Eat. Questions later.”

Eloise shifted, lips pressing thin, but she said nothing.

Long silence, only the fire cracking and the chewing. Risha handed Cloud some pieces while Sukira looked at them. 

Finally, someone broke the silence. 

“You stabbed me.”

“Oookay, Risha, let’s go to bed.” Dominique stood up like lightning and grabbed the boy by his arms; his feet flew through the air. 

“NOooOoo”, the kid complained, but Dominique and Eloise didn’t give him a choice. This time, Cloud stayed still with his owner. 

Sukira didn’t look at him, waiting for the rest to leave. After a moment, she met his deep blue eyes that were staring at her from across the fire.

“Speaking of, I’ll be taking my knife back now.” Her hand wide open towards him, waiting for the blade to be returned. 

He gave a short, humorless laugh, pulling the knife from beside him and tossing it across the fire. She caught it without even glancing.

“You killed more than four people today,” he said at last, his voice fragile.

“What was the fair number, then? Less than four?”

“None. The correct number is always zero.”

“You’re so irritating.” She leaned back, twirling the knife idly in her hand and then putting it on her tight garter while rolling her eyes. 

“They attacked us three times,” she went on, eyes narrowing. “And they would have kept trying to kill us if I didn’t kill them first. Now they won’t. I killed them all so you can rest comfortably at night, prince. Give me a rest.”

Elon leaned forward, his voice sharp. “Comfort? Do you think this butchery helps me sleep? You make it sound like you’re doing us a favor, but you’re no better than the ones chasing us. ”

Sukira’s smile faded into something colder. “Oh, but there is a difference. A big one. The difference is that we are still breathing. Thanks to me.”

After a long, too long, silence and after taking a deep breath, she stood and walked toward him, offering a cigarette. He accepted, and a floating flame lit both of their cigs at once.

He was sitting on a thick fallen branch, while she lingered beside him, eyes drawn to the campfire’s glow. Then, with deliberate slowness, she bent down, tugging open the collar of his half-buttoned shirt with the hand she was holding her lit cigarette. 

She wasn’t wearing her gloves, and with her bare fingers, cold as ice, she traced the skin around the place her knife had pierced him, like walking a map. 

“Mhh. Shame it didn’t leave a scar.” She put the cigarette back in her mouth and bit the tip as she spoke, smoke curling past her lips. “I was aiming for your heart”. 

“Stop playing,” he muttered, pushing her hand away, though his voice lacked conviction. He knew her game by now. How she twisted menace into something that felt uncomfortably close, how she made even mockery feel like intimacy. 

“You are so boring to tease”. She headed straight to the tent, and Cloud followed her, leaving the sorcerer behind.  

Elon sat stiffly, alone with the fading fire, his hand pressed against his chest. The knife was gone now, but the ache still lingered. 

You didn’t miss. 

♥︎

March 29th, 15.001.  

Commercial Port of The Coastal Edge, Eloen Reach [Elf Continent]

The harbor stretched wide, sails rising like white teeth biting into the sky. Merchants barked their prices, gulls wheeled overhead, and the whole place smelled of roasted fish and dried salt. It was loud, alive, and for the first time in days, unthreatening.

Dominique had kicked off her boots, letting the tide lap over her ankles, her bright hair blowing wild in the sea wind. Risha was at her side, trousers rolled up, poking sticks into the foam as though dueling the ocean itself.

“Will it be the same there?” he asked suddenly, eyes fixed on the horizon. “Umbra. Does it also have oceans?”

Dominique crouched beside him, smirking. “Oh, Umbra’s got oceans, Riri. Much colder ones. But the coasts aren’t sandy like this. They’re cliffs — sharp enough to split a ship in half if the captain isn’t careful.” She said while playing to rip his stomach apart like he was a boat being cut in half. 

Risha’s eyes widened, and he tugged at Dominique’s sleeve for more answers. But before he could start firing questions again, she chuckled and scooped him up, tossing him over her shoulder as he squealed. “Enough for now, little sailor. Let’s go find some seashells.”

With Risha laughing against Dominique’s back, the air grew quieter where the others stood. Eloise carefully braided her hair, her gaze turned seaward. Elon had his notes open on his knee, but for once, the ink hadn’t moved in a while.

Eloise’s eyes flicked toward the boy, now busy trying to spook Dominique with a dead jellyfish. “He shouldn’t be coming,” she said simply. The way she phrased that was not like her at all. 

Sukira’s hands stilled. “We’ve already decided.”

“You decided,” Eloise corrected. “Umbra isn’t a place for children. You know what waits there. We should find him a home here.”

Elon finally looked up, eyes dark. “Umbra is not hell, Eloise. Listen to yourself. I understand you’ve never been to the vampire continent, but maybe you’re projecting your own fears onto this. Besides, leaving him here isn’t an option. You know that as well as everyone else.”

Sukira’s smirk was humorless. “For once, I agree with the prince.”

For a moment, only the waves spoke, crashing faintly against the docks. Then Dominique returned, dropping down with Risha clinging to her neck, cheeks flushed from laughter. “What are you brooding about?” she asked, eyeing the tension.

“Nothing worth spoiling his day,” Eloise replied quickly, smoothing her skirt.

That night, they found a narrow hostel tucked between the port's warehouses and taverns, its walls creaking with the sound of waves beneath the floorboards. The beds were hard, and the air smelled of salt and old wood, but it was shelter. By dawn, they were back at the docks, packs slung over their shoulders. The ship to Umbra loomed above them, its sails dark against the morning sky, waiting to carry them away from Eloria’s shores.

♥︎