Soren turned toward Eris. His movements were heavy now, the cost of the transformation finally catching up to him. He found her immediately across the wreckage. He always found her.
He saw the cracks. They were fully visible now, golden fire seeping through her skin like she was a lantern with broken glass. It was critical. The divine calm in his face broke, and for the first time, he looked like a man again, a terrified, desperate man.
"Eris," he rasped, his voice hoarse. He started toward her.
Eris watched him walk. She felt the battle end, and with the end of the adrenaline, something inside her released. Her knees started to give out. They buckled, her body betraying her at the finish line.
Not yet, she thought. Not in front of him.
With a grunt of pure, stubborn pride, she caught herself on a shard of ice, pushing back up until she was standing, however shakily. When he reached her, she didn't look broken. She looked like a queen who had survived the end of the world.
