Chapter 51 A City That Had Lost the Art of Standing

Chapter 51 A City That Had Lost the Art of Standing
Five days had passed since the day Eryndal's sky almost broke, and still, the city stood.

But standing still is synonymous with life.

The nominated district is still a mere network of stone and smoke. The skyscrapers that once stood in clueless glory, casting shadows of envy, are now shattered midway, as if the skies got bored with them. Refugee tents scatter about the streets in the lower parts. With their knees hugged to them, the parents look at what used to be the walls of the house.
There was a new announcement board in the square beside the ruins.

Rumors spread faster than help.

A young man is holding two Cores.

It was almost the end of Eryndal, a creature of sunken eyes with the face of man.
He never gets talked about very much. Not because people forget. Instead, they are afraid that name will respond.

Ren Ashford was in the emergency recovery room when he woke up.
A crack runs in the ceiling above him. It smelled like medicine, blood, and damp dirt in the air. This is the type of room that was once a classroom at the Academy. The chalkboard remains on the wall, one half a lesson worth of sentences penciled upon it.

Ren took a deep breath.

His heart is beating fast.

From that point on, something else began to descend.
Like an ancient bell tolling at the bottom of the world.

Ren held his breath.

Heart rate in humans.

Another beat. "That was vile," he muttered. Your first sentence after five days of lying unconscious? In his brain, Lyra's voice had sounded quieter than before. Your love for drama is getting pretty sad. Are you still alive? Yes, unfortunately for everyone concerned.

Ren lifted his left hand.

His fingers move very slowly.

Pitch black skin from palm to elbow. That does not sting like a burn—it is night that must lie beneath the surface. He doesn't feel any pain. That was what worried him. The healing was done by a healer in the neighboring room using their magic.

Ren's left hand moved by itself, palm open as if to absorb.

Ren immediately stopped him with his right hand.

The curtains by the bed were pulled back.

Aela walks in with a clipboard, finds one of my smaller blades, and has the same face I had when reading the list of victims like it was just some grocery list. An indentation where one of his fingers had once been in front of his right glove. He said, "You wake up." Very good observation. Your mouth is still operating. "A small loss for the world."

After that, Kael came in.

He looks as though he has not slept since the first moron learned about the fight. Her hair was wild and untamed like the creature she was, her eyes bloodshot, and her healer's robe stained with dried blood.

As soon as he spotted Ren, his expression changed. First, relief. Then rage." "You were almost dead," he said.

Ren gazed at him. "I have heard much of this recently."
There was a laugh; Kael, once, did not touch on humor. "Three nights I kept your organs functioning." It's as if your chest is drumming something from inside a coffin. Sorry I did not get to your joke.

Again, they heard the second heartbeat behind her chest.
Void is constantly hungry. Always clear.

Another Nexus.

She had her knee up while sitting at the edge of the broken window. Her crimson eyes stared at Ren, as if trying to ascertain whether he was still human or if he had become a new issue. He goes, "You look bad." Thanks. That's not a bad thing. "That's a report."

The bulletin board was placed by the side of the bed by Aela. "The city's problems are bad." A quarter of the central district is uninhabitable. All three noble groups are trapped. Dead that night was the head of House Verant. House Maldren is falling apart. They forget so quickly. Definitely, that political loyalty has soft bones. Dorian? Still alive. "Stable." The majority of his Awakened powers were taken away now.

But it has yet to feel like a victory for some reason. What's the Accord?" she asked.

Aela pointed at the window. "Now they had put signs all over the city." In not-so-official circles, the story goes that they saved Eryndal from an unknown Void anomaly. You have not been called. Not yet. Yes. They are trying to find out if, being them as you, they would be better off in some secret hideaway or armed and walking the streets, better off considered either by weapon or proud monster in their own media. A nice choice.

Kael glared at him. "You probably heard the public part about the monster, and you guys still joke? Kael looked at him angrily. "You heard the part about public monster, and you can still crack jokes?

He didn't have any armor on. He wore a simple dark cloak but had his hair braided back, and his face was pale from lack of sleep. He has a map in a tube.
He halted a fair distance from the bed. Ren.

When he said it, it sounded weird.

Not a stranger. Not known.

Worse. Just like an old song he used to remember so well but with its melody stolen out of his mind.
Ren searched him for anger, desire, hurt—anything.
Only a space that resembles someone. Sera," he said.
He ate something he does not mention. He opened the map on the table next to him. Some of the various channels for information from the Accord are still open to me. The old Sentinel post is active now. Information about the "two core bearers" is sold on the black market.

Nyx got out of the window. "How much is the data? Then an urgent question follows, "At what price? Very high. "And that means the hunter will come.
Sera looked at the map. "Finished."

That red line from Eryndal might weave into other spots in the Broken Lands. Northern Path. Border with Sylvaren.

Ren hasn't even learned to stand yet, but people are hunting him.

An out-of-breath young troop entered. "Who is Aela Voss?"
Aela turned around. "What?" The underground detention room door had been opened. There are also a number of missing prisoners at Sentinel.
Aela came up. "Name."

The soldier lowered his head. "Commander Voss."

Ren's second heartbeat sounded louder. The soldier added: "There is a smear on the wall of his cell." "An etching. A sign predating the Collapse: "But it's in black roots."

Ren made his body wake up. Kael stopped him. "Don't."
"Not dead yet." That's not how a doctor usually operated.
But Ren stayed standing.

The door was not smashed in the underground cell belonging to Voss. It wasn't broken into. He cleared it from the inside without an issue.
They have the Gallax symbol etched deep into the backing wall. A circle that is dark.

Ren looked at the carving. "What is that?"
At last Lyra said in a deep, taut voice, "Not a sign of escape."
His left hand, feeling dead, flexed. Then?
Invite.