Chapter 44: Now You Answer to Me
A deafening explosion tore through the forest.
BOOM!
The ground beneath me shook violently.
Trees snapped.
Dirt and splinters blasted through the air.
For a moment, I thought Garron had attacked.
Then a familiar voice reached my ears.
"Alash."
My eyes opened immediately.
A figure stood in front of me.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Wrapped in a dark coat that moved gently despite the violent wind rushing through the forest.
For several seconds, my mind refused to process what I was seeing.
Then recognition struck.
"...Father?"
Duke Vortex stood between me and the battlefield.
My father.
The man I had barely seen throughout most of my childhood.
The man who was always buried beneath responsibilities, politics, and war.
The man I hadn’t expected to see anywhere near beastkin territory.
He was here.
Right in front of me.
Water spiraled around his body in several dense streams, moving like living serpents.
Behind him, several trees had been completely destroyed.
And farther away, I saw Garron.
The Bear clan leader was buried against the remains of a shattered tree.
The trunk behind him had been split apart.
Fragments of bark covered the ground.
Garron slowly pushed himself away from the wreckage, blood running from the corner of his mouth.
My eyes widened.
Father had done that?
Garron’s gaze burned with fury.
But my father didn’t even look at him.
His attention remained entirely on me.
His eyes moved over my blood-covered cloak.
My hands.
Nyra’s body beside me.
Vessa.
Caelum.
Something changed in his expression.
Only for a second.
His jaw tightened.
Then his hand moved.
Water surged upward from the ground.
A sphere formed around us.
Not a thin barrier.
Not a wall.
An entire sphere of water.
Perfectly clear from inside.
The surface rotated slowly around us, layers of mana compressing into something that looked almost gentle.
But I could feel the power inside it.
Dense.
Heavy.
Terrifying.
Outside, Garron raised his axe.
He swung.
A wave of force struck the sphere.
BOOM!
The entire forest shook again.
I flinched.
The water rippled.
That was all.
Not even a crack.
My eyes widened.
Father didn’t react.
He reached inside his coat and pulled out something folded.
Old paper.
Yellowed with age.
Several dark runes covered its surface.
Mana radiated from it.
He held it toward me.
"Take this."
I stared at it.
"What is it?"
"A teleportation talisman."
I accepted it carefully.
The paper felt strange.
Almost brittle.
But the runes pulsed beneath my fingers.
"Tear it."
I looked up.
"What?"
"Tear it in half."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"It will teleport you directly to Valerian."
My fingers tightened around the talisman.
Valerian.
So close.
Safety.
Home.
But I looked past Father.
Garron had recovered.
He rolled one shoulder.
Then lifted his axe again.
The bear soldiers who remained alive were gathering behind him.
I looked back toward Father.
"What about you?"
"I’ll finish things here."
The words were simple.
Like he was discussing paperwork.
I frowned.
"Father..."
"Alash."
His voice became firmer.
"Go."
I didn’t move.
My eyes returned to Garron.
The memory of Caelum being crushed flashed through my mind.
Nyra falling.
Vessa hanging helplessly from Garron’s hand.
My stomach twisted.
"He’s powerful."
Father finally looked toward Garron.
Just briefly.
"I know."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You don’t understand."
My voice came out sharper than I intended.
"He killed all three of them."
My eyes dropped toward Nyra.
Then Vessa.
Then where Caelum had fallen.
"They were strong."
My throat tightened.
"Really strong."
Father was silent.
I looked at him again.
"So be careful."
For a moment...
He simply stared at me.
Then something softened in his expression.
Almost invisible.
"I will."
Outside the sphere, Garron roared.
Mana erupted around him.
Dark pressure rolled through the forest.
The remaining trees bent.
Leaves exploded from their branches.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
Father’s water barrier continued rotating.
Calm.
Unbothered.
Garron lifted his axe.
"You dare enter my territory?!"
Father finally turned toward him.
His expression changed completely.
The tired man I remembered from home disappeared.
The distant duke.
The absent father.
Gone.
What remained was something else.
Something colder.
He stepped toward the edge of the water sphere.
The water around him began rising.
One stream.
Then ten.
Then hundreds.
Every puddle.
Every drop of moisture in the soil.
Water pulled from broken plants.
From leaves.
From the air itself.
The forest began to tremble.
I stared.
I had heard stories.
Of course I had.
Everyone knew Duke Vortex.
Everyone knew his title.
But he was still my father.
A man I had spent most of my life seeing exhausted behind a desk or absent from the estate.
I had never really understood what his title meant.
Not until now.
’Archon of the Undrowned.’
The water around him multiplied.
It didn’t splash.
It didn’t flow randomly.
It obeyed.
Entire rivers of water formed in the air.
Circling him.
Layer upon layer.
A silent ocean suspended between the trees.
The remaining Bear soldiers began stepping backward.
Even Garron’s expression changed.
Just slightly.
Father raised one hand.
The floating water stopped.
Every drop.
Perfectly still.
Then he spoke.
His voice was quiet.
"You attacked my son."
Garron tightened his grip around his axe.
Father’s eyes became cold.
"So now..."
The water behind him rose higher.
Higher.
Until it towered above the forest like a suspended tidal wave.
"...you answer to me."
My breath caught.
Garron smiled.
It was ugly.
Excited.
"Archon of the Undrowned."
Father said nothing.
Garron’s grin widened.
"I’ve always wanted to fight you."
Father’s gaze didn’t change.
"I haven’t."
For some reason...
That sounded far more threatening.
The talisman trembled slightly in my hand.
Father glanced back.
"Alash."
Right.
I looked down at it.
Escape.
Valerian.
Safety.
My fingers moved toward the center.
Then stopped.
"Father."
He looked at me.
I hesitated.
There was too much I wanted to say.
About the beastkin.
About Mia.
About the letters.
About what had happened.
About Garron.
About the corruption.
But there wasn’t time.
So I settled for the only thing that mattered.
"Don’t die."
For the briefest second...
My father’s eyes widened.
Then he gave me a small nod.
"I won’t."
That was enough.
I gripped the talisman with both hands.
And tore it.
The runes ignited.
Bright blue light exploded around me.
Space twisted.
The last thing I saw was my father stepping out of the water sphere.
Behind him
an ocean hung in the sky.
And Garron raised his axe.
Then everything disappeared.