Chapter 40 - 39 - The Shadow Overhead
Riven stared at his sister, still sleeping peacefully—as if untouched by the chaos surrounding them. The distant rumble and subtle tremors crawling through the ground didn’t stir her in the slightest. Mira’s face remained calm—almost sacred—partially hidden beneath the edge of the jacket that shielded her from the cold.
Riven didn’t know whether to feel grateful... or just hollow.
The pain from the earlier battle crept back into his nerves the moment the adrenaline faded. Each breath stabbed at his lungs, each pulse felt like fire along frayed nerves. But still, he tried to keep his face calm—at least in front of Ashtoria.
Yet his body grew weaker by the second. The arms that once swung a sword now couldn’t lift a single leaf. His head throbbed, his mind clouded. He didn’t even have the strength to question why the beasts hadn’t approached them... or how terrifying Ashtoria’s power truly was.
He no longer cared.
All that mattered was that Mira—and Ashtoria—were safe.
Ashtoria, who had sat beside him in complete silence, hadn’t once looked away from his face. Her crimson eyes studied him with an intensity that felt unfamiliar—not anger, not fear, but something else... a quiet turmoil cloaked in stillness.
Her breathing was calm, but her gaze rippled with emotions she couldn’t name. And when she saw his body begin to tremble, the blood staining his clothes darkening with the cold night air, she could no longer stay still.
With a slow, cautious motion, she moved closer. Her arms slid beneath his shoulders, and with a gentle yet unyielding strength, she pulled Riven toward her.
Riven had no strength left to resist.
Slowly, Ashtoria positioned Riven to lean against her—his back resting against her thighs, his head guided tenderly to nestle between her soft, full breasts. Ashtoria’s chest was warm despite her pale skin and frost-crimson eyes. But as Riven’s body molded against hers, a subtle warmth and tenderness radiated from her chest, spreading through him to the very tips of his fingers.