Aethelos Pain and Blood

The rebels had vanished. · Days without attacks. Days without a trace. · The government, however, did not ease the pressure: Solaris had to find the base and the fugitive Jonas Dorp. · Nayb left the academy with no clear destination. He needed air. He needed to stop thinking only about orders and missions. · He ended up at the park. · That was when he saw her. · Eliana was sitting near the lake, watching the water and tossing crumbs to the ducks. No aura. No combat tension. As if she were just any ordinary person on a late afternoon. · Nayb stopped. · This is my chance to catch her. · It can’t be… she’s here like she’s just a civilian. · Even so, instead of attacking, he approached. · “So this is what you do when you’re not vandalizing academies and urban areas?” · Eliana turned at once, her body tensing. · “I’m here in peace. But if you want to end the quiet of this park, I won’t hold back either.” · Nayb smiled slightly. · “If that was the plan, I would have killed you already. · I’m here as a civilian. Talking to a civilian. · I hope.” · She looked at him with disdain, then let out a short breath. · “Okay. That’s how you want it? · Hello, handsome. My name is Eliana. And I think I already know yours.” · “Really?” Nayb tilted his head. “Did you know Eliana was going to be my guess for your name?” · She almost smiled. · “And you’re Nayb. The student. The soldier. The government’s prodigy.” · “True,” he answered, ironic. “Being on the front page doesn’t exactly hide your identity.” · They sat at a careful distance. Against every expectation, the conversation did not die. · They talked about perspectives. About different worlds. · Eliana defended the decentralization of power. The division of the kingdom. The idea that a single center of command only served those already at the top. · Nayb disagreed. He still believed it was possible to live in peace under the same order — if each side gave enough. Even so, he listened. And he respected it. · The sun went down. The park lights came on. · “It’s late,” Eliana said, standing up. “Now… who leaves first?” · “You can go,” Nayb answered. · “No. I don’t know how far you won’t follow me.” · “I could say the same.” · She smiled for real, for the first time. · “I know where the Solaris Academy is.” · “Okay. I’ll go. · But I wasn’t going to follow you.” · Nayb turned and walked away along the stone path. Eliana waited a few more seconds, then headed in the opposite direction. · She did not get far. · Zakrom stepped out from between the trees, his face closed. · “You’re talking to the enemy. · Why?” · Eliana stopped. The wind moved through her hair. She did not answer right away. · In the distance, the ducks stayed on the lake, unaware of the war the two of them carried.