Kingdom of Ash

soldiers and Darghan cavalry streaming for
the city, silence fell where Rowan strode
down the battlement stairs, bearing Gavriel.
He barely managed a grateful, relieved nod
to a battered and bloody Enda and Sellene,
catching their breath with a cluster of their
cousins by the remnants of their catapults. His
blood and kin, yet the warrior over his
shoulder—Gavriel had also been family. Even
when he had not realized it.
The impossible, hideous weight at his
shoulder grew worse with every step to where
Aedion stood at the foot of the stairs, the
Sword of Orynth dangling from his hand.
“He could have stayed,” was all Aedion
said as Rowan gently set Gavriel down on the
first of the steps. “He could have stayed.”
Rowan looked at his fallen friend. His
closest friend. Who had gone with him into so
many wars and dangers. Who had deserved