Promise Me
Chapter 2 of 5
let's gooo, part 2 is here... good God this one was a RIDE... @secretarykang as usual, let me know if there is any inaccuracies, I'll fix them immediately and I hope you all enjoy <3
All he sees is the pouring rain and the blazing lightning. He hears no thunder - the ringing in his ears has been loud and constant for a while now. Distantly, he recalls that he needs to push himself back up - try and call for his loyal dragon, and flee from the wrath of nature.
Yet still, his body refuses to move. It's as though each finger is as heavy as a boulder of dark stone, and suddenly, fatigue is all too present in his bones. The gash across his chest should hurt - is it the cold rain soothing his aches, or has he lost sense due to blood loss?
Time seems to have stopped. Or is it moving too fast? He can't tell. This is bad, that much is clear, he's losing blood still, and his vision is dimming ever so slightly. Is the battle still raging on? If so, why hasn't anyone come to finish him, or take him away? Did they presume he died from a simple mace strike and a fall off his dragon? The mere thought makes his blood boil.
Or it would, if he could keep his consciousness afloat for much longer. Somewhere between life and death, he can only comfort himself with one thought. That his father will come to his aid. He always appears when he needs him most. He won't fail him this time.
His vision goes black.
"Sae," Devyn calls, and he turns his face to her expecting gaze. Eyes puffy and red from the tears slipping, she can see his own grief - his own tears threatening to spill any moment now - and then speaks, "never once have you broken a promise you made to me. Now I ask of you to promise me again..."
He closes his eyes, and leans his head forward, so their foreheads touch. "Promise me that he will be back to us. I need you to promise me. Promise me you'll bring him back safely."
"I will do whatever is within my power to bring our son back, head and hearty. I promise you, dearest Devyn. But I must go now - we need act with haste."
"Yes. Of course. Take care, my love, and- and please come back soon." Devyn squeezes him in her hold one last time, before letting go. "I shall stay back and keep Silas and Aurora from doing anything reckless."
"Thank you, dearest. You always do right by us."
"Do not dally any longer, my love," Devyn looks to the storms in the East, "I can hear him... I can hear him call. He can not leave me. He can not leave us this way."
Saeclus has run dry on words to speak as he mounts Nocto, taking flight as soon as his hands connect with the feathers on his neck. He's sure Nocto can feel his urgency through their bond. And not just that. He can feel his anger, his regret, and most of all his fear.
A fear he has not felt in millennia. A fear so primal and heart-wrenching and painful, he can barely stand the reason he must feel it. The fear of losing a loved one. A child. His child. Their child.
His mind races back to Devyn - who had rushed into their chambers with an unbecoming hurry to her step - eyes wide in fright and worry and uncertainty. She had told him through choked sobs that Dante's squadron has been attacked, that they have sent their fastest eagles and ravens calling for aid, and how Dante is too stubborn to allow for eagles to be sent calling for aid.
She had insisted on coming at first, and it seemed impossible to hold her back until Silas and Aurora came to the main hall, demanding to be allowed leave as well. To search for Dante, to take their brother back home, and to unleash hellish fury on those who'd dared to try and take him from them.
It had taken all of Saeclus and Devyn's authority as their parents to keep them from doing anything reckless, and they agreed that should the both of them leave, then it was likely the siblings would follow closely behind. And a warzone is no playground.
Saeclus should know. He has been on countless. He has created and decimated countless.
Is this penance? If so, then the elder demons are crueler than God.
His thoughts come to a stop at the sight of a raging battle - blood splattering and metal clanking can be heard from all the way up in the air. He can not see Dante. Even as Nocto screams and dives down, hurling lightning from his wings at the Vibora outlanders, sending them ablaze or screeching from the pain - he can not see Dante among the fighting men.
His spear is in his hand before he realizes he's summoned it, and he jumps from Nocto's back onto the charging Vibora, sending five of their heads tumbling just from one swing. And causing the rest to recoil or freeze - they had not anticipated reinforcements. And they had certainly not anticipated him.
He has no time for this. He must end the battle this instant and begin searching for Dante. And presently, despite all of his self-discipline and so-called mercy, he could not care less for any of those standing in his way.
They will burn.
And they do, as a flip of his hand bursts the ground open, sending the company leading the aggression into the burning, blazing fires at the heart of the Earth. Screaming profanities and curses at him, the men are consumed by ruthless fire as the ground closes back up.
Saeclus speeds forward in a one-man charge - his eyes glow bright gold in such a terrible, powerful gaze that frightens the rest of them into a hurried flee. Even as he calls lightning down from the storm, directed at their backs, the Vibora run for their lives. They have caught a glimpse of the fury of the Timeless - and that single instance will haunt them into sleepless nights.
The Vampires who had been pushed back now push forward, out for the blood of snakes, but Saeclus could not care less for that. Or for them. Or for battles and victories and the other wounded. He has seen his son.
He comes to a halt at his side, shouting his name in a desperate cry. "Dante!" His arms come to the back of the younger man's shoulders and beneath his knees, carefully lifting him into his embrace. The wound on his chest is no laughing matter. Nor are the broken ribs and calves. Did he fall from his dragon? That is a plausible answer, yet Dante is the most skilled rider in their family—
No. This is no time for such thoughts. Life still dwells in his veins, that much Saeclus' magic can tell him, and that is all that matters. He shall heal and bandage him at the nearby camps, and then mount Nocto with him towards the mansion, so he can receive better care and medicine than he will on the front lines.
Rushing for the nearest medical camp in the storm, he misses the way Dante's eyes twitch open to see him for a moment, and fall closed again.
