Chapter 362 - Aioa part 10

I cast about for Khronos, thinking he would be watching from his distant mountain stronghold, but I could not detect his invisible Eye. The God King, it seemed, had forsaken his men-- probably the moment the battle was lost.

It didn't surprise me, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed. I wanted to flaunt our victory in his face, rub a little salt in the wound. We had defeated his assassins, and hadn't suffered a single casualty. We were bruised and battered, every single one of us, but no one had died, and that, I knew, was no trifling thing. I bowed my head and sent a silent prayer of thanks to the ancestors, who were surely looking out for us today. That done, I moved on to more practical matters. Namely, tending to the wounded. I just wished I could have thumbed my nose at Khronos one more time. That wasn't too much to ask, was it? I was exultant, trembling with excitement. We had won! We had defeated the God King's assassins!

Behind me, Drago rose with Qor's head. The Eternal's mouth was still moving, cursing us, no doubt. Drago threw the head down with a look of revulsion and began to stomp on it. Eyes bright with hatred, lips curled back from his fangs, he stomped the Uroboran's head until it was a mash of brains and mangled flesh. "Heal that," he said.

He might, but it would take a very long time.

"How are your men?" I asked Rayna.

"Some gashes, a few broken bones, nothing more," she answered.

A few drops of my ancient blood would heal their wounds in moments.

"What do we do with these?" Eris asked, holding up Baalt's arms.

"They must all be Divided," I said. "And the pieces scattered across this wasteland."

"Can we not just leave them here?" Sunni asked, curling her nose in distaste. "What harm can they do us now?"

"I fear the pieces would come together again if we leave them so near to one another," I answered. "Believe me, I share your revulsion at the thought of it, but we must see this through."

Though I would not have any living creature suffer the agonies I had endured at the God King's behest, for all our sakes it must be done. We could not allow the Eternals to return to their master.

They all nodded, and turned to the revolting task of dismembering our fallen foes.

I went to Yul's body, the body I had used until I could be restored to my own. It had begun to feel familiar to me, but no longer. Now it was just the decapitated remains of an enemy. Foreign. Alien.

Inside my head, Yul was pleading with me not to do it. His ghostly voice was nearly hysterical. I pushed him out of my consciousness with but a little effort, ignoring his desperate bargaining. Now that I was no longer joined with his flesh, his hold on my mind had grown considerably weaker.

Enough, spirit! It is over for you!

I bent down beside Yul's prone remains and took his left ankle in my hands. Holding his torso down with my foot, I twisted and pulled until the leg tore free at the joint. Whipping tendrils of the Eternal's Living Blood leapt out, trying to draw the two pieces together, but I held them apart until the shining black strands withdrew into the tattered wound.

It is a terrible thing to mutilate the body of another human being—even the body of a mortal enemy—but it had to be done. Weeping a little, remembering the pain and horror I had suffered in just this manner, I moved on to the other leg. A short distance away, Eris was carving up Jelt's body with his blade. His mouth was a thin slit, his eyes unfocused. Sunni watched from over his shoulder, biting her lower lip. My soul cried out at the horror of it all. My body did not want to bend to the task, but I forced myself to kneel and grasped the ankle of Yul's other leg.

It must be done!

At last, it was finished, and we climbed wearily to the surface of the glacier. The sun was setting and the snow was the color of burnished copper. Vehnfear met us at the edge of the pit, wagging his tail anxiously. I held out my arms to let the beast inspect me. The wolf circled me once, sniffing me up and down, then one more time for good measure. He must have recognized my newly restored body, for he stood up on his hind legs, paws on my chest, and lapped my face in approval.

"Let's go home, old man," I said with a chuckle, scratching his furry neck, and the wolf dropped down and loped away.