He blinked at the second punch, his surprise unhidden, and then lifted his arm to tuck her under it. She would feel the rise of his ribs as he drew in a slow, deep breath of relief and then turned to wrap her in a proper hug. "Yes," he rumbled quietly in acquiescence to her command. Sunset burned its dying fire in the western sky and the stars were beginning to twinkle to the east as the sea breeze brought a welcome breath of coolness to the lingering heat of the day. He was alive, and Flora was well, and the clean, sacred sand of Safrin's isle was soft beneath his bare feet.
And he was no long beneath the cursed island, trapped in its too-small tunnels and battling for his life and his people and his world. He had survived, and he drew another breath to savor the moment, borrowing some of Flora's strength even as she leaned into his side until she was ready for him to speak again.
"Mmn. I did." The confirmation was simple and unadorned at first, but only while he put his thoughts in order, casting back to the shadows and the pain as rocks fell around them and the Mirewyrm fled their ability to end it. "The Wyrm retreats each time. And then joins the next guardian. Each battle already grows more difficult. But this has become a war. A quiet one, but it is more than one battle. One victory. And when Jack left, we had earned time to heal. To try to lure the Wyrm back to finish it. So that the next battle might be easier." He had been thinking ahead to the battles yet to come, to the friends who would be facing them, not wanting to expose them to further dangers.
But in the end his good intentions had not been enough.
Although not entirely fruitless. "One of Vi's demigods, Noah Olsen, may have finally returned to us, however." And there was a gleam of satisfaction in emerald eyes that spoke of more than just the Halovian demigod's physical presence. "At the end, after Jack left, he finally seemed to.. remember... who and what he is." Vi's oldest living demigod. A leader and a protector. Forsaken, but still powerful in his own right. And Caido needed every warrior it could get these days.
And he was no long beneath the cursed island, trapped in its too-small tunnels and battling for his life and his people and his world. He had survived, and he drew another breath to savor the moment, borrowing some of Flora's strength even as she leaned into his side until she was ready for him to speak again.
"Mmn. I did." The confirmation was simple and unadorned at first, but only while he put his thoughts in order, casting back to the shadows and the pain as rocks fell around them and the Mirewyrm fled their ability to end it. "The Wyrm retreats each time. And then joins the next guardian. Each battle already grows more difficult. But this has become a war. A quiet one, but it is more than one battle. One victory. And when Jack left, we had earned time to heal. To try to lure the Wyrm back to finish it. So that the next battle might be easier." He had been thinking ahead to the battles yet to come, to the friends who would be facing them, not wanting to expose them to further dangers.
But in the end his good intentions had not been enough.
Although not entirely fruitless. "One of Vi's demigods, Noah Olsen, may have finally returned to us, however." And there was a gleam of satisfaction in emerald eyes that spoke of more than just the Halovian demigod's physical presence. "At the end, after Jack left, he finally seemed to.. remember... who and what he is." Vi's oldest living demigod. A leader and a protector. Forsaken, but still powerful in his own right. And Caido needed every warrior it could get these days.
