Page 254 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“I see. I will take care. I happen to dislike him immensely.”

“Good. He is…not all bad but not good either. Despite working under Commander Azerius for so long, I still do not know much about Cerenios. The only other person he interacts with other than the commander is Aethon.”

“He was the other general in the room when I spoke with them, no?”

He nods.

“You don’t have to worry about Aethon. He is an honorary general who lends his skills in battle when there is need. But he does not like to get involved in politics or conflicts. He keeps to himself.”

“Thank you for the warning, Kai,” I add softly as I reach his side and press my hand against his arm. “You’re a good brother.”

His features tighten.

“Not as good as I would like to,” he whispers, his voice conflicted.

I open my mouth to assure him that I know he struggles drawing a line between duty and family, but I cannot utter a word because I feel a tight pressure in my heart.

My skin prickles with awareness, and a whoosh of air wafts past my ears.

I blink.

The moment my eyes open again, I am no longer in my room, nor is Kai next to me anymore.

It is dark. It’s never this dark in Aperion.

The ground is laden with heavy snow, the temperature in the air in the negatives—far too cold for humans to be out and about, especially in flimsy clothes. Yet that is exactly the case of tens ofhuman males who work on clearing a path of snow, their clothes tattered, their boots almost soleless and full of holes.

I look around. There are barracks on each side of the ground, and in the distance there are security towers littered all around the area.

Light shines from the towers, the only glimmer of light in the otherwise dreary environment.

What is this? Where am I?

Barbed wire surrounds the barracks, a sign this is an entrapment of some kind.

I don’t even know what date it is in Anthropa or how long I’ve been gone. But by the looks of it, the war is far from over.

I pivot, cloaking my presence to the normal eye.

If I was teleported here without notice, there can only be one explanation.

He used my sigil.

“Mine?” I call out. Since he can see the spiritual world, my voice should be for his ears only.

More males move around the courtyard, some taking up shovels to clean the snow while others return to the warmth of the barracks.

“Mine?” I shout again, looking all around me.

So many people. All males. Even more inside the barracks. And they all look the same—haggard, tired, and cold.

Fear that Mine would be experiencing a similar fate grows in my breast, and I run around the area, my only purpose to find him.

As I go around one of the barracks, I finally come face-to-face with him. Or rather, with his blood dripping onto the white snow.

He’s wearing only a shirt, one of sleeves folded up his arm to reveal a bleeding wound—my sigil carved in his flesh.

My eyes instantly move up his body, scanning him for other injuries. He’s dirtier than I’ve ever seen him, smudges of coal all over his once white shirt, his collar, and face.

---