CHAPTER 85: CH 85: A REWARD FOR YOU - PART 1

For a moment, there was only silence.

Queen Gorgon’s twisted body slumped to the cracked stone below, still burning from within.

The divine energy she once wielded drained into the earth like spilled ink, fading into ash.

Her monstrous wings curled inward and withered to nothing. The final vestiges of her curse evaporated into thin air.

And then—

A roar of cheers erupted across the battlefield.

Soldiers shouted. Clerics fell to their knees in stunned relief. The people of Callex—those who had remained behind stone walls praying for a miracle—now stood at the shattered gates and wept.

The nightmare was over.

Nova stood back as it all unfolded. He sheathed his blade, still glowing faintly with the core’s echo, and let the waves of noise wash over him. He didn’t smile. He didn’t even blink.

The job was done. That was all.

Queen Eleysa stepped forward, raising her blade high with trembling hands.

"The curse is broken! And Callex still stands!"

She cried.

Another wave of cheers answered her declaration.

She lowered her sword and turned, commanding with a voice stronger than it had any right to be.

"Seal the city. Purge any remaining filth. Secure every border by nightfall!"

The soldiers saluted and immediately scattered, moving with a purpose renewed by hope.

Within hours, Callex would be reborn from its ruins. Within a day, the perimeter was sealed, the last of the monsters hunted, and the air began to feel breathable again.

But Nova wasn’t among them. He was already walking.

Down the shattered corridor of scorched earth and bloodied stone, he made his way to where Malrik had fallen—where divine fire had burned a crater through the plaza floor.

He found him there.

Malrik was lying half-buried in the rubble, his body twitching slightly with every breath.

The seal on his shoulder still pulsed faintly, though the glow had dimmed to embers. Nova stepped into the crater and crouched beside him.

"Still breathing."

He said.

Malrik cracked open an eye, blinking against the fading sunlight.

"Barely."

Nova looked at the scorched remnants of Gorgon’s corpse.

"Satisfied?"

Malrik coughed, then laughed. It hurt.

"Not even close. That fight lit something up in me. Like I’m starving for more now."

He muttered.

Nova nodded.

"Then rest for now. You’re no good to anyone like this."

"I can’t move my legs."

"You’ll get feeling back in a day or two."

"Great."

Nova stood again, brushing dust from his coat.

"Once you’re stable, we’ll leave for the ship. The sooner we’re off this planet, the better."

Malrik’s eyes flickered open just long enough to catch Nova’s silhouette framed by sunlight.

"Alright. Let me sleep first."

He whispered.

He was out before the sentence finished.

Nova looked down at him for a second longer, then turned.

He didn’t get far.

Queen Eleysa approached, her steps graceful despite the fatigue in her limbs. Her regal armor shimmered with divine residue, her face lined with exhaustion but not defeat.

A light smile touched her lips.

"I thought I’d find you here."

She said, eyes falling briefly on Malrik before returning to Nova.

"You don’t miss much."

He replied flatly.

"I try not to."

She came to a stop just beside him and folded her hands.

"You saved Callex, you know."

Nova didn’t answer.

Eleysa leaned in slightly, her voice lower now.

"Which is why I’ve arranged a feast. In your honor. To thank you, of course... and to talk."

There it was—that second layer, polished and poised.

Nova’s eyes narrowed just slightly.

"You mean a political gathering disguised as a celebration."

She smiled again, unbothered.

"Call it what you like."

"I don’t like crowds."

"And yet, this may be his last night with us. Would you really deny him that farewell?"

She said, with a glance toward Malrik.

Nova exhaled through his nose.

"You’re more manipulative than you look."

Eleysa tilted her head, amusement flickering in her tired eyes.

"I’m a Queen."

Nova looked back down at Malrik, lying unconscious amidst ash and divine wreckage. For all his bluster, the man had earned it—this moment, this final celebration.

The next part of the journey would be cruel, cold, and far from home.

"...Fine, I’ll come."

Nova muttered.

Eleysa’s smile widened.

"Excellent. Sunset. Don’t be late."

She turned with a practiced swish of her cape and walked off into the recovering city, her guards falling into formation behind her.

Nova stood there for a long moment, watching the flicker of torches being lit in the distance, the smoke beginning to clear from the once-doomed city.

He didn’t care for feasts.

He didn’t care for politics.

But for Malrik—for the fight he’d just survived, for the gods he still believed in, and for the people who would likely never see him again—it felt right to stay. Just this once.

He looked down one last time.

"Rest well. Tomorrow, we move."

He murmured.

And then he turned toward the city, toward the feast, and toward the final hours of peace Callex would ever know.

______

Half the imperial palace was rubble and it made a lot of people clench their teeth in rage.

Marble towers lay split down the middle, golden statues broken at the knees.

But somehow, miraculously, the eastern wing remained intact—untouched by the quake, the divine surge, or Queen Gorgon’s madness.

Nova walked through its silent halls with Malrik slung over his shoulder like a sack of grain.

Malrik groaned faintly.

"You’re enjoying this too much."

"Well, it’s not everyday I get to mamhandle others as I like."

Nova replied.

"Rude."

They reached a door gilded in silver vines. A pair of servants jumped aside as Nova kicked it open and stepped in.

The room was luxurious, too clean for warriors soaked in blood and divine ash. Nova dropped Malrik onto one of the beds, ignoring the faint grunt that followed.

He crossed to the window and opened it. The city beyond was still bustling—repairs underway, troops organizing, nobles trying to regain their footing.

The worst was over, but Callex didn’t look saved. It looked hollow.

Queen Eleysa appeared at the doorway.

She leaned against the frame, arms folded, her expression a mask of poise.

"Get some rest. The feast begins in a few hours."

She said.

Nova nodded once.

"And whatever the ministers say tonight, don’t take it seriously. They’re frayed. Grasping for order. We just survived a collapse—physically and politically."

She added, tone sharper.

Nova met her eyes.

"I don’t judge by words."

A flicker of appreciation touched her gaze, but it didn’t soften the tension in her shoulders.

She lingered for another second. Then turned and walked off, her guards trailing behind.

But even as her footsteps faded down the marble corridor, the unease didn’t leave.

Nova closed the door slowly.

Something was off. Too many nobles had survived. Too many were silent.

And Eleysa’s warning hadn’t been casual—it had been calculated.

Nova glanced at Malrik, who had already started snoring.

He looked out the window again.

This city might have been saved... but peace was just another illusion. And tonight’s feast would show whether Callex still had a future—or just the memory of one.

"Only time will tell how things shape out to be. Let’s hope it’s nothing dangerous this time."