Page 168 of Eryx

“No,” I said, looking at him one more time before pulling him to my chest. “I will not leave you.”

If there was even a chance he could’ve survived, I would’ve picked him up and fled. However, his wounds were too deep. And I’d rather die with him on this battlefield than live a single moment without him.

Our fate was sealed.

A soldier stabbed me in the back. I didn’t feel the pain at first. But then another plunged a sword into my shoulder, and I gasped, holding Axios tighter. I shielded him with my body, protecting him for as long as breath filled my lungs.

Forgive me, my warrior. My pride has damned us both.

Another sword pierced my back, this time going all the way through me and hitting Axios too. My vision became distorted as everything blurred together. I rasped as I tried to breathe, and my eyes fell shut.

Axios whimpered and pressed his face against my neck, and I rested my cheek on the top of his head.

“Do all stories end in tragedy?”I had asked my father so long ago.“Is there not one that ends happy?”

“We are Spartans,”he had answered.“We do not get happy endings.”

Chills spread along my skin and I lost control of my muscles, not able to move my arms any longer.

I desperately clung onto the last glimmer of light. Of life. And then I heard the flapping of heavy wings. The raven. I imagined myself running through the field in Sparta, my gaze searching the sky. For so long I had begged the raven not to leave me, and now I was the one leaving.

My final thought was of Axios as he smiled up at me, his honey eyes warm. I yearned for that warmth, but all I felt was a deep chill.

My warrior. My heart.

Darkness wrapped around me, and there was nothing more.

***

Until there was.

I opened my eyes to a blue sky. Waves softly crashed in the distance, and as I sat up, I saw a small home sitting near the shore.

“About time you got here,” a familiar voice said from above me. I looked up to see Theon. His bright smile greeted me as Quill approached with a handful of berries. “We’ve been waiting.”

Quill looked over my shoulder and smiled. “And you’re not alone.”

My soul sensed Axios without me even turning around.

I rose to my feet and faced him. Gone were the wounds and the blood. There was no pain and no sorrow. Only joy.

We closed the distance between us, and I slid my hand along his neck. His lips parted before I claimed them, our mouths moving softly together.

“Where are we?” he asked, looking toward the sea before returning his gaze to me.

“Imagine it, Ery,”Axios had said as we sat on the shore in Aphytis.“We could build a house right there. We’d have a view of the sea and hear the crashing of waves as we slept. As we made love.”

“We’re home,” I said and brought our lips together again.

After a lifetime of winter, spring had arrived at last.

Epilogue

Haden

Five Years Later

“Where are you going?” Leanna asked, as I walked out of the house. She was knelt down in her garden, working hard under the sun’s rays. Without me saying a word, she added, “To see them?”