Chapter 414: Raven's Return [Part 1]
Late in the night, Northern's eyes slowly opened. Using just a fraction of what the Void could do came with overwhelming tiredness.
His Void essence was now limitless, but it placed a huge burden on his stamina, hence the reason why Northern slept from daybreak around 5 AM till 11 PM.
Of course, while he was asleep, a lot of things had transpired.
Northern sluggishly stood from the bed, which was supposedly Annette's.
He strutted towards the door. When he got out, his movement became less sluggish; it was almost like his body easily transitioned to suit the reality of the current situation, even though milliseconds ago, he felt very tired and as if the sleep fixed nothing.
Northern nodded at everyone outside, surprised as their eyes glittered at him. It made him want to shrink.
Finally finding Ellis bent in front of a fire, skewering meat, he bent down also and stared into the flames.
Ellis, who was already consumed in what he was doing, belatedly looked to the side and almost staggered to his butt; however, Northern saved him.
And pulled him back to a stabilized position.
"Should you really be outside right now? It's kind of cold."
Ellis had sustained a lot of injuries, of course, just like everyone else. And with a useful
resource like Braham not available, recovery had been tremendously slow.
"I'm hungry, and you have been sleeping all day. You had to eat if you wake up," Ellis replied, staring into the flickering flames beneath the lap of steak.
Northern downturned his lips and flashed a barely noticed smile.
"If you wanted to impress me, it's not working."
"Why would anyone want to impress you?"
"Ouch."
Ellis chuckled a bit, and slowly, his expression became serious as he stared into the fire once
more.
After a breath, Northern heard his voice, "You saved all of us. Vida told me what happened." Northern cocked his head. "Vida?"
Ellis frowned in disbelief. "You don't know Vida?"
"Am I supposed to?"
"Annette's protégé, the dark-skinned girl with braids. Strong, really strong. She was in the rift, and she saw you defeat a being they could barely stand in front of. Not to say you defeated it so easily, it didn't cost you a sweat... Well, at least that was how she put it."
Ellis sounded a little bit more elated than the explanation needed, almost seemed vexed that Northern didn't know this person. The energy he put into describing her also warranted special attention.
Northern observed him with squinted eyes. At that point, Ellis began to get uncomfortable. "Wha-what?"
"Nothing," Northern responded with a dubious grin.
Ellis looked away for a couple of seconds and looked back, but Northern's face was still smeared with that grin.
"Stop it."
"Stop what?"
"Whatever you are doing. My heart only belongs to Lady Raven."
Northern suddenly frowned. He was silent for a couple of seconds, then he asked,
"Speaking of Raven. Have you heard anything about her?"
Ellis responded with a heavy heart, "No, Helena and the oracle left this morning to find her, but none of them have returned."
Northern's gaze drifted deeper into the fire. "I see..."
Silence ensued between the two of them, with the soft crackling of the flames and wood
beneath the skewering meat being the only sound that could be heard.
Not long after, Ellis looked at Northern with compassion alight in his eyes.
"Can't you go too?"
"And why exactly would I do that?" Northern's response was firm and resolute, as was his expression.
Ellis' compassion shattered into a frown as he pulled his head back and turned to the fire. "You are wicked."
"You have no idea what you are talking about, Ellis. Besides, Raven is strong. She'll make it back alive." He removed the meat from the fire and easily tore apart a large portion of it.
Ellis looked at him, his expression lifted.
"Really, you think so?" His voice danced.
Northern tore a chunk of the meat into his mouth and stood up. Looking down at Ellis, he responded while munching,
"No, I just said that to make you feel better."
He walked away, and Ellis glared viciously at his back, but could in the end do nothing but eat
the small portion of meat that had been left for him.
As Northern walked amidst the crowd, he realized something:
'The shelter seems more populated than the last time.'
He remembered very well that Terence had tended to the wounded of both sides and
demanded that they all be brought in together.
'That darned goody-shoes.'
Northern didn't want to deal with any headache after saving their asses from Koll, so he gave in to his tiredness and went to sleep.
Now that he was awake, he also didn't want to deal with any headache, so he planned to just rest a little bit more and figure out a way into Luinngard and finally go home.
He stopped in his tracks while thinking about it.
'Am I sure I really want to go to Luinngard?'
With what Jeci had said to him, things sounded like he would be welcomed with open arms, considering that the Emperor of Luinngard right now is his mother's brother, his uncle.
But there were certain underlying complications.
Jeci is a knight that was sent to kill him but not only failed in her mission but also betrayed the
Empire.
There's a high chance that the Luinngard Empire is involved in whatever Rughsbourgh has
been playing in the Central Plains.
In fact, Northern was of the opinion that Rughsbourgh created the rifts.
'If I can do it, that means it's possible. There's no telling that he can't.'
All these complications put together would put him in a tough spot should there be a need to
choose anything from anything at all.
When Northern thought about the possibility of that part, he suddenly felt distressed and uncomfortable. The thought felt foreboding.
He exhaled and raised his head, immediately smacking his lips, as he looked forward to see
the people that were entering into the shelter.
"Damnit, the meat suddenly doesn't taste good anymore."