The Shadows of Athanasius… pray that you never become a target of theirs. No matter where you go. No matter how far you run. They will never, EVER, give up the hunt.

  -Lusha Barus

  Aria stuck like glue to Sana and Onas once they’d woken up on the day they had to say goodbye.

  She almost felt like a stalker with how closely she followed them around, but neither of them seemed to mind. They too wanted to spend as much time as possible with her before they went their separate ways.

  They helped her make sure her own preparations were done before she, in turn, helped them and the other freed elves with theirs. Many were still malnourished and in poor health from their harsh lives as slaves, but the stronger among them worked extra hard to assist the weaker ones.

  She’d spoken with many of them during her time here, and had found that all of them planned to join the Rebellion. Aria had to admit that they were in good hands, going by what she’d seen. This thought annoyed her as it was Lusha, the half-blood, who would be leading them in lieu of Zareb’s absence. However, she suppressed the irritation, knowing she was being unfair to the half-elf. She’d more than proven herself worthy of at least that much.

  As Aria, Sana, and Onas helped their people, she noticed some of the human rebels coming to assist them. At their head was none other than Zareb, Lusha, and Daxton.

  She frowned, confused as to why they were here. She’d figured they’d be having a meeting or something.

  Daxton beamed when he noticed her, and sped up his gait.

  “Hey!” he grinned, “I hope you slept well last night?”

  “I did… surprisingly so,” Aria placed the crate she’d been carrying on a supply cart, “why are you here?”

  “To help you guys out, of course,” Daxton raised a brow, “why ask?”

  “I’d figured you, Zareb, and Lusha would be in a meeting or something,” Aria answered.

  “Without you?”

  She shrugged, “I’d have refused to attend anyway.”

  “Why’s that?”

  She gestured to Sana and Onas, who had stopped working to study Daxton intently. “I want to spend as much time with them as possible before… before we leave.”

  “Ah,” he nodded, a look of understanding crossing his features. “I understand. But, um…”

  He looked to Sana and Onas, tilting his head quizzically at their lingering gazes. “Uh… can I help you two?”

  “So,” Sana looked him up and down, “you’re the one the Dominion summoned to be their new Champion.”

  “That’s me,” Daxton confirmed, looking awkward under her and Onas’s scrutinizing gazes.

  “Lady Aria wasn’t kidding,” Onas chuckled, “you are around her age.”

  “Does she ever kid around?” Daxton asked, eliciting a frown from her.

  Onas snorted jovially, “You got me there.”

  “Hey!” Aria protested, though her cry was ignored.

  “We’ve seen you already… Daxton, was it? Though we hadn’t had the chance to speak with you,” Sana seemed oddly curious. “Aria has told us much about you.”

  “She has?” Daxton asked, looking to her with a questioning look.

  Aria flushed, crying out in protest, “I have not! They’re exaggerating!”

  “Please, you’ve hardly spoken of anyone else,” Sana teased.

  “Well,” Daxton cleared his throat, “I hope what she’s said about me are good things.”

  “Some of them were,” Onas gave him a half-smile.

  “I see…” Daxton seemed crestfallen at the implication for some reason.

  “You know…” Sana circled him, making him feel nervous, “I’ve been meaning to speak with you, but now that we’ll be parting ways soon, I’m afraid this can’t wait. Come.”

  “But what about helping-” Daxton protested.

  “The others have it handled,” Sana interrupted, “and this is important. Now, come!”

  She walked off, passing Aria as she did.

  “Sana, what are you-” Aria began.

  “Just want to confirm some things is all,” Sana winked at her before continuing her walk, Onas following and Daxton behind him with far more reluctance.

  He shot her a look, to which Aria just shrugged, making him groan.

  ***

  “So, what is this about?” Galen asked crossing his arms as he and the two elves walked out of ear shot. And that was by elf standards, so they were quite a ways away from everyone else.

  “It’s about Aria,” Sana answered, crossing her arms.

  He’d noticed how both this woman and the man, Onas, referred to Tufani by her given name. If he remembered right, was an indication of how close they were with her. He also noted how the elf woman, Sana, regarded him with suspicion.

  Onas, though friendlier, also seemed wary.

  “What about her?” he asked.

  “What is she to you, Champion?” Sana asked.

  Galen choked at the unexpected question, his cheeks flushing. It took an embarrassingly long moment for him to regain his composure, as he stammered, “Uh… w-what?!! What kind of question is that? And, by the way, I’m NOT the Champion. I turned my back on that.”

  “To help Aria, right? That’s what she told us,” Onas asked.

  He nodded to the elf, “That’s right.”

  He looked back to Sana, who now seemed, for some reason, even MORE suspicious of him.

  What did I do?! he questioned in his mind.

  “You still haven’t answered my question,” Sana pressed, “what is Aria to you, former Champion?”

  He opened his mouth and had been about to reflexively say, “A friend”. However, he stopped himself. WERE they friends? They certainly weren’t enemies. At least, he HOPED Tufani didn’t view him as one, or even a potential one. He WANTED to be able to say they were friends, but he wasn’t sure if the elf girl felt the same way. The uncertainty made his stomach sink.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “I…” Galen swallowed, and answered honestly, “I don’t know…”

  Sana raised a brow.

  “Hey, I’m being honest!” Galen defended, “I don’t know what to make of our relationship. We’re not enemies, obviously. At least, I hope it’s obvious. But-”

  “I didn’t ask what your relationship was to her,” Sana clarified, “I asked what she was to you. What does she mean to you?”

  Galen frowned, “Why do you keep asking?”

  “I’m assessing you,” Sana admitted, “I’ve become incredibly curious about you ever since Aria told us of how you two met. A hume making a sacrifice as you did for one not of his race? It’s unheard of… particularly given what your purpose was meant to be when you were summoned to our world.”

  “So… you’re essentially asking why I saved her?” he asked.

  “Aria already told us your reasoning for why you did as you did,” Sana waved that away. “Now, stop dodging the question! What is she to you?”

  Galen fidgeted, looking within himself and searching his feelings. Just what was Tufani to him? Another elf? Just another person? An acquaintance? A friend? A…

  He shook his head, his cheeks flushing. He sobered immediately when he remembered the woman from his recurring dream. A woman who looked exactly like Tufani, if a bit older, and someone whom he suspected was, in fact, the elf girl in question.

  “Tufani… she’s…” he gulped, and then came out with it, “she’s someone important to me.”

  Sana raised her brows, apparently surprised by his answer. She narrowed her eyes and looked him in the eyes. He met her gaze and maintained eye contact.

  “Winds… you’re serious, aren’t you?” Sana asked.

  Galen nodded, realizing for himself that it was the truth.

  “Why?” Onas suddenly spoke up, appearing beside Sana, giving him a questioning look. “You two haven’t even known each other for very long. And besides, you’re a human, and she’s an elf!”

  Galen sighed, “Remember that I come from another world. Please don’t judge me with what you consider the norm here.”

  “Still… it’s… well, it’s a strange notion,” Onas shook his head, as if unable to imagine such a scenario.

  Galen took a step forward, “So, allow me to ask a question of my own. Why ask to speak with me privately? Why ask me such a question? For what purpose?”

  Sana sighed, “Well, given Aria is about to go on a journey with you and Barus, I wanted to know what kind of person she was going to be traveling with.”

  “You care for her a lot, don’t you?” he asked with a smile, “both of you. Given how you use her given name, and all.”

  “You know of our custom of addressing others?” Onas asked.

  “Yes. Tufani explained it to me,” Galen answered.

  “To answer your question,” Sana interjected, “yes, we care for her a lot. Were it not for her, we’d have remained slaves not just in body, but in mind too. She’s… she’s a fragile state right now. I don’t think you realize by how much.”

  “I think I know more than you think,” he argued, remembering how he and Tufani had comforted each other the other day coming to mind.

  He flushed at the memory.

  “Regardless,” Sana continued, “I worry for her. Winds… I almost view her like a daughter, even though I shouldn’t. It feels wrong to see her that way, given her recent loss. Nonetheless, I do care for her. And as such, I want to make sure she’s going to have reliable people near her on her journey to Vindanna. The fact that the two going with her are humans…”

  Onas put a hand to her shoulder, and continued for her, “We know Barus is capable and trustworthy. Malachi, for as insufferable as he is, isn’t a liar. At least, I don’t believe so. He told us much of the Rebellion’s general as he led us here. And everything he told us has been validated by what we’ve seen of him thus far. You, however-”

  “I’m an unknown to you both,” Galen surmised, crossing his arms, “and given I was originally meant to be the Dominion’s new Champion… well, that probably didn’t give you a favorable view of me.”

  “You’re right,” Onas confirmed, “it didn’t. At least, initially.”

  Galen frowned, though Sana answered his unspoken question, “As I’ve mentioned, Aria told us a lot about you. I don’t think you realize just how deeply her hatred of humes runs within her.”

  Galen’s shoulders sagged at that, thinking that Tufani really did hate him.

  “And yet,” Sana smiled, “much of what she’d said about you was rather positive. Even if she doesn’t seem to realize it.”

  “Really?” Galen asked hopefully.

  Onas nodded, “We wanted to talk to you ourselves to put the remainder of our worries to rest. And I believe we have.”

  Sana confirmed the sentiment with her own nod.

  “Now,” she stepped forward, closing in on Galen, “we ask you this. Please, protect Aria. Take care of her, in our stead. Please.”

  Galen met her eyes and nodded, “I will. I was already planning to do that anyway.”

  Sana looked into his eyes, searching for something. She must have found it, for she smiled as she stepped back. She then added, “Oh, and I believe this goes without saying, but if you do anything at all to hurt Aria, I WILL break half of every bone in your body.”

  Galen gulped, seeing how serious she was in spite of her smile, which seemed more menacing now, “Half?”

  “Of course!” Onas gave him the same intimidating smile as Sana. “She has to leave some for me, after all.”

  Galen shuddered, “Okay, I get your point! As unnecessary as it was to make, anyway.”

  “Just wanted to make things clear,” Sana smiled more genuinely this time, “come on. If we dally any longer, Aria will get angry. And I want to cherish what little time we have left with her.”

  “Amen to that, Sana,” Onas agreed.

  With that, the three of them returned back to where everyone was packing the remainder of the supplies.

  ***

  When Aria saw Sana and Onas return with Daxton in tow, she couldn’t help her curiosity at what they could have been talking about. She doubted she’d get much from either elf, so she made her way to Daxton.

  He flushed when he saw her, which only made her more curious as to what he’d discussed earlier.

  “Hey,” she breathed out as she reached him, “what did Sana and Onas want to talk to you about?”

  “Oh, um…” he glanced to the two elves in question. They hadn’t noticed him looking their way as they found a group of struggling elves and helped them carry supplies.

  “Well?” she pressed, hands on her hips.

  “If I tell you not to worry about it, will you drop-”

  “No.”

  “Figured,” Daxton sighed, “well, I guess it can’t hurt. Besides, they didn’t tell me to NOT tell you so…”

  He frowned suddenly before rolling his eyes and muttering, “Yes, Redian… I know that was a double negative. What are you, an elementary school teacher?”

  Aria scowled with annoyance. She reached over his shoulder and smacked the pommel of Daxton’s sword.

  He blinked, “Did… did you just smack-”

  “Yes. Tell your sword to shut up so you can answer my question.”

  He blinked again, frowning again as his eyes became distant, “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard Redian sound so befuddled before… and…”

  His eyes suddenly bugged out as he gave a nervous chuckle, “DAMN! I’ve never heard him curse so much either. You really ticked him off! I- wow he’s borderline eloquent with the way he’s stringing together those cuss words…”

  She snapped her fingers in front of him, “Focus!”

  He blinked, startled before shaking his head, “Right, right. Sorry. Anyway, what were we talking about?”

  Aria glared at him.

  “Joking! I’m joking!” he quickly said, “so, Sana and Onas simply asked me to keep an eye on you when we set out on your mission. To protect you, you know?”

  “That was it?”

  He nodded.

  “Really?” Aria frowned, “they asked you to do that? YOU? A hume- a human?”

  “Hey! What does that mean?!” he asked, offended.

  “I’m not belittling you,” she quickly clarified, “winds, I’m just surprised they made such a request of you given what the ashborn have done to them.”

  “They were cautious at first,” Daxton admitted, “but much of that was alleviated by you, actually.”

  “What?” her frown deepened, “what did I do?”

  “Apparently you’ve spoken to them about me?” Daxton gave her a hopeful look, “and according them, much of what you said was positive. Is that true?”

  Aria flushed, “N-no! Void no!”

  “Was that a stutter I heard?” he asked, clearly teasing.

  “To the winds with you!” she hissed, turning to walk away and return to Sana and Onas.

  To her embarrassment, Daxton called after her, “I can’t help but notice that you didn’t double down on your refusal!”

  Her blush reached her ears as she dipped her head down.

  She was going to have a talk with Sana and Onas about this.

  Though, perhaps that could wait until just before they left. She still wanted to enjoy her time with them, after all.

  Just as she thought that, a rumble was felt through the floor, followed by distant screams.

  Next chapter will be released Monday, December 29th, 2025 at 3:00 PM PST.

  A huge thank you and special shoutout to my Page Turner tier Patron, LOOKOUT, Myth Keeper tier Patron, Lukas Votava, and my Lore Master tier Patrons, Mountain Knight, Conman2731, ThoMiCroN, MCE 2 Munchen 2, and Voltrus. Your support is sincerely and greatly appreciated.