Chapter 71.5: Aftermath - The Gut Punch

"GAH!"

Blood spewed from Orion's mouth as the Enforcers finally pinned him, delivering a vicious gut punch. His energy was spent, and his magic was depleted.

Struggling to keep his eyes open, labored breaths escaped his lips, blood dripping onto the ground.

"I'm disappointed in you, Orion," Greyson's voice rang out from the entrance of the alleyway. "After all this time, this is how you return to us."

"Wasn't my goal," Orion coughed with a weak chuckle. "Just the roll of the dice again..."

Stepping closer, her expression darkened, sharp with judgment. "That 'informant'- it was you, wasn't it? And that extravagant display of magic? Just another coincidence?"

"You could say that," he chuckled weakly again, slumping further into the Enforcer's grip. "I stopped a disaster. Well, multiple. One magical, one because of Clan Ferros."

A momentary silence followed as she eyed him up and down, weighing his words. When she finally spoke, her voice was measured.

"As far as I can see, you are the disaster. Everywhere you go, chaos follows."

Orion didn't respond. It felt true. The explosions, the chaos- she only knew half of the story, and she always would.

"Not going to ask about Clan Ferros?" Orion asked after a pause, his eyelids fluttering as he met her gaze.

Greyson shook her head. "We knew what they were doing. It was sanctioned work."

"Including their Syntixi project?"

"No," she admitted. "That, you uncovered. Thankfully."

Still restrained, Orion raised his hands in an exaggerated shrug. "So… going to let me go? I saved you a host of problems."

"And you created just as many," Greyson countered curtly. "Dead Enforcers-"

"Not my fault."

"Explosions in the Undercity, injuring civilians."

"Should've cleared them away."

"And that display of magic?" Greyson's voice turned cold. Orion had no comeback this time. "The entire city will be in turmoil again because of you."

Rubbing her temples, she turned away, clearly wrestling with a decision while the Enforcers holding him remained silent, their masked faces unreadable.

"I can't let you walk, Orion," Greyson finally said, her back still turned to him. "You've caused too many problems- and if I let you go, you'll only cause more. I've seen this story too many times before."

Orion let out a bitter laugh, though it quickly turned into a pained cough. His arms were starting to go numb from how tightly the Enforcers held him, but it was the weight of the moment that pressed down the most.

This was it.

"Figured you'd say that," he muttered, shifting slightly. He winced as an Enforcer wrenched his arm higher, making it clear he wouldn't be getting a shred of mercy tonight.

Greyson sighed. "You always had potential. If only you had picked a different path."

Orion scoffed. "A different path? What, like you? Swallowed by the system and pretending it changes anything?" His voice was rough, bitter. "If I hadn't stopped Ferros, you'd all be drowning in that shit soon enough."

Greyson's jaw tightened. She didn't respond. Maybe she knew he was right. Maybe she just didn't care.

A sharp yank.

Orion grunted as the Enforcers dragged him forward, his boots scraping against the wet stone. He barely had the strength to fight back, and even if he did, where the hell would he go? He was running out of exits, running out of cards to play.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked, but he already knew the answer.

"Where all magic users go," Greyson replied, her voice hollow. "No one will know you existed."

The ominous undertone sent chills through Orion. His breathing hitched, adrenaline spiking his system.

He had to do something. He had to think of something.

Before he could, metal restraints snapped onto his wrists. At first, he didn't think anything of it until he noticed his connection with the Arcane was severed.

Looking down, etchings glowed faintly blue. Anti-magic runes.

Whatever fight he had left died in his throat.

For the first time in a long time, Orion felt truly trapped.

He would be sent to a place where people rarely returned from with specialized containment fields surrounding it, and natural barriers preventing escape.

Stillwater Hold.

((Short chapter - Marking chapter 100 and over 100k words! A full novel!

Thank you everyone for the continued support!

Sorry for the slowdown. I stopped writing entirely last week because I've been writing almost daily since November.

I'll continue writing this, and if anyone wants to check out two originals that I'm attempting to write, it would be much appreciated! Especially critiques!

World Weaver is the main currently.

Crownless Citadel is on hold as I'm debating re-writing it to make the story flow better.))