Aegis

Chapter Eighteen--Heroes' Reunion

When Erianthe woke up, she sat up on her cot and leaned against the wall.

After her short nap, most of the effects of that beautiful woman's eyes had worn off. Erianthe scanned the area for anything that might help her escape. The wooden planks would be useful if she could find something to hold them together. Erianthe doubted that dusty bandages would be good enough, and she didn't have anything to pull out nails from the fallen shelf.

The dirty, white, plaster walls were too high to jump over on her own and too smooth to climb by herself.

Erianthe didn't want to escape alone anyway.

She understood why Kyros felt the need to stay with the Rogues. She really did. Despite that, Erianthe couldn't support the logic behind it. As much as Kyros wanted to protect her, he didn't have to work with the people who destroyed their town.

That was too high a price to pay. Even if he was a prisoner, Erianthe felt it was too much to let Kyros continue being complacent with the Rogues.

Kyros entered the room. "You have an hour to run. I have your sword."

After she took her sword from Kyros and latched it to her belt, Erianthe waited for the rest of his instructions like usual. It was always Kyros who guided her actions and helped her know what to do.

In the past, Kyros and his guidance had been her security. Now she dreaded it. Erianthe knew Kyros would ask her to escape on her own.

"Listen, while we were traveling here, I heard Ares and Reyna talk about where they were meeting the rest of the Rogues to assemble the Orichalcum," Kyros said.

"Where?"

"At a place called Altera by the next full moon. A man named Hades is all ready there."

"Altera. Full moon. Hades," Erianthe repeated.

Taking Erianthe's hand, Kyros led her to a lower part of the walls as if he were escorting her somewhere far away. The wall was at most twenty feet away.

"Ky, why are the Rogues here?"

"They want the thing my dad used to contain the Orichalcum. Ares thinks he can use it in place of your Orichalcum piece."

Erianthe sighed. She had no doubt that one of the Rogues had all ready gone to take the device from its underground chamber. Now they had no way to stop the Rogues from using the Orichalcum.

Kyros' face twisted in some sort of pain.

"And I led them here," he said and slumped down. "You at least have to get out. You can fight."

Erianthe stilled. "You led them here?" For a moment, she couldn't believe him. "Why?"

"So that they wouldn't hunt you. I made a deal," Kyros said. "Your life for my cooperation."

Watching Kyros hold his head down stirred something inside Erianthe. It wasn't like him to feel such guilt. But it wasn't like her to hold back the truth either.

"You shouldn't have made that deal," Erianthe murmured. "We promised to fight the Rogues together."

Erianthe gently laid a hand on Kyros' arm while ignoring his wince. Then she pulled him up.

"But listen, Kyros, you can still fight. I won't stop fighting and neither should you. I meant what I said earlier," Erianthe said. "I know I was a bit dazed, but I truly meant what I said. You're incredible and strong."

For some reason, Kyros' cheeks tinged pink. Then Erianthe remembered everything she said. My hero.

Ignoring her slight embarrassment, Erianthe continued, "I don't want to lose you again. I won't hold your deal against you. And if you're still worried about the Rogues, we have allies now. They can help us."