Chapter 1115: War of Establishment XII
The pain that Leon felt from his burned arm grew worse and worse as he led his group back through the misty veil. Anastasios and Eva met him partway to the southern Talon, but by then, he was hardly able to return their greetings—it was all he could do to pretend that everything was fine while he worked out a way to hide his grievous arm injury.
Naturally, the others were concerned, especially his wives, but a single barked order for them to wait until they made it back was enough to keep them quiet. This wasn’t out of any sense of misplaced bravado, but rather out of a need for public presentation—Leon didn’t want to look weak in front of the rank-and-file, and so was doing his best to hold himself together until he made it back to his portable villa and got out of the public eye.
So, he hid his arm beneath a long-sleeved tunic and conjured a pair of gloves over his hands, barely managing to weave it over his right hand, which was still locked around Iron Pride. He had to move quickly, though, because despite applying some healing spells, he was still bleeding from cracks in his burned skin.
When his people finally reached the southern Talon, he could hear all of his people in the valley shouting and crying out in triumph at seeing their enemy retreat. They had taken more losses and much of their infrastructure was in ruins, but the end of this conflict was drawing near, everyone could feel it.
The Jaguar and many of the remaining high officers and elders met Leon’s group over the southern Talon. Leon held it together as best as he could then, but as stoically as he could, he transferred all command over to his Marshall for the time being before proceeding on to his villa. He flew back with a chorus of jubilant cheers at his back which he couldn’t participate in, not with how damaged his arm was.
Finally, he touched down in the small courtyard outside of his ruined bedroom. Elise was already there, her emerald eyes swimming with worry.
“Go,” she ordered the healers beside her, and they immediately rushed to Leon, light magic already pouring from their fingers.
Leon almost collapsed from the pain as his feet touched the ground, but Maia and Valeria were at his side and caught him. Pain burned through his mind with renewed intensity as Valeria’s hands tightened around his right arm, but he bore with it as the healers reached him. Clear Day and Eva landed only a moment after he did, and they added their power to the healers’, and the pain in his arm was almost immediately soothed.
He was rushed back into his bedroom and placed down on the nearest chair. Once there, he pulled his tunic and glove back into his soul realm, revealing the extent of his burns for all to see. Several people in the room gasped in horror, though none louder than Elise. She went to Leon’s side and took his uninjured hand, providing comfort with nothing more than her presence.