124 Cocoon

High above the clouds of the inner city wall, Eudes Clarke fixed a flat stare at the woman before him. His clothes pristine and unruffled, where hers were torn and dirtied with blood.

She stared back at him venomously, though she could not hide the fear she felt. "Why? Why did you come here, Eudes? What's the point?

"Someone like you wouldn't understand. Even I look beyond myself on occasion."

The woman grit her teeth, eyes shining a multihued light as she readied to attack again, but Eudes spoke before she could.

"Don't bother. Your armies are defeated, even if you risk it all to best me, you have no force to hold the capital. Prince Aris would take it back before you found another candidate.

He was right, and she hated him for that. Vassilis had received her ascendant blood as a gift and made remarkable strides in mastering the power of it, but no matter how much she tried to aid him he never stepped into the 6th stage.