Chapter 271: The Ashes of Heaven, the Weight of a Crown
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The sky was quiet again. Not peaceful. Not healed. Just quiet. The kind of quiet that made the stars blink slower, like they too had held their breath for too long and were now unsure what came next.
Kai’s body lay still in the crater, legs sprawled, chest rising and falling with each heavy breath. A halo of scorched earth circled him like a battlefield crown, the air above still shimmering with the remnants of burned aura. His antennae twitched once. Then stopped.
"He’s alright," Vel whispered.
"Barely," Sha added, crouching at his side. She gently pressed two fingers to his temple ridge, where faint pulses of energy flickered like a dying candle.
Naaro’s arms were crossed as always, but her knuckles were white. "We need to move him. This place is unstable."
Akayoroi scanned the sky. "It is not unstable. It is cursed now. This land has witnessed a monster tier predator fall. The balance of fear will shift."
"I do not like the sound of that," said Azhara, who was still lounging dramatically across Kai’s torso as though it were a chaise longue. "Should we also shift? Maybe... to a hot spring?"
Vel rolled her eyes. "We need shelter. Aura shelter. One with reinforced grounding and spiritual dampeners."
"And a bed," Azhara added helpfully.
"And medical supplies," Naaro snapped. "His blood is seeping into the dirt."
Alka let out a low croon. She flapped her wings once, then knelt beside Kai. Gently, her beak nudged his side. She chirped. "We can take him to the mirror caves. I remember the way."