Chapter 97: The Shadow’s Respite
The towering, gothic spires of Ashborn Academy were a welcome, if intimidating, sight after the brutal, untamed wilderness of the goblin-infested forest. We reached the main gates just as the sun began to set, its last, dying rays painting the sky in hues of bruised purple and blood orange. The journey back had been a quiet, somber affair, the weight of what we had seen and done a heavy, unspoken thing between us.
As we stepped onto the familiar, polished cobblestones of the Academy grounds, a collective, weary sigh seemed to pass through our small, battered group. We were home. Or, at least, as close to a home as any of us had.
"Aurelia," I said, my voice a low, tired murmur as I stopped near the entrance to the main hall. "Handle the quest documentation. Get the report submitted to the council. Now that we’ve cleared the mission, we can all go on vacation."
Aurelia, her own face pale with a fatigue that went beyond simple physical exhaustion, looked up at me, a flicker of surprise in her sky-blue eyes. "So, you’re going back home, then?"
"I don’t have a home, Aurelia," I said, my voice flat and cold. "I am no longer a part of their family."
"You’re wrong," she corrected, her own voice a quiet but firm counterpoint to my own. "They haven’t abandoned you, Ashen. They never will. They haven’t officially declared you as disowned, either. It’s just you, assuming things, and a few malicious rumors."
"Then fine," I said, my voice a low, dangerous growl. "I have abandoned them."
"Then where will you go?" she asked, her voice filled with a genuine, and slightly annoying, concern.
"Just... chilling," I replied, my own voice a noncommittal murmur.
"Then at least tell your mother or your sister first," she insisted, her hand reaching out as if to stop me.