The Demon General was gone.
Only scorched stone and thinning mana remained where he had retreated, the battlefield slowly returning to stillness. No one spoke. No one moved.
Flo stood where she had finished speaking.
Her story still hung in the air.
The raid. The flight. The years of running. The father who demanded strength when she wanted safety. The loneliness she had carried from place to place.
Jake exhaled slowly, trying to settle his thoughts.
Kale did not.
She turned sharply.
In a single motion, her blade was in her hand.
"You expect us to just accept that?" Kale said, voice tight with fury. "After everything you just said?"
Flo didn't move.
"I never asked you to," she replied.
That was enough.
Kale lunged.
Steel screamed as her strike cut straight toward Flo's neck, fast and precise, meant to kill before hesitation could interfere.
Jake reacted instantly.
He stepped between them, blade snapping up just in time. The impact rang loud across the empty battlefield, sparks flying as metal met metal.
"Kale!" Jake barked. "Enough!"
She shoved against him, eyes blazing. "Get out of the way! She's a demon—royal blood or not, you heard what she said!"
"I heard all of it," Jake said, teeth clenched. "And you're not killing her."
Flo stood frozen behind him, not shielding herself, not summoning mana. She watched silently, accepting whatever came next.
Kale stared at Jake like he'd betrayed her.
"She lied to us," Kale snapped. "Every step, every word—"
"She lied to survive," Jake shot back.
"That doesn't make it okay!"
"No," he said. "But it makes it understandable."
Kale laughed harshly. "You're really going to defend her?"
Jake didn't answer immediately.
He lowered his weapon, but he didn't step aside.
"I don't trust her," he said finally. "Not fully. Not anymore."
Flo's fingers tightened at her sides, but she said nothing.
"But," Jake continued, "I've seen people lie because they want power. And I've seen people lie because the world gives them no other choice."
He glanced back at Flo, just briefly.
"She didn't run toward a throne. She ran away from one."
Kale's grip shook.
"You're letting emotion cloud your judgment," she said.
"Maybe," Jake replied. "But I'm not letting fear make decisions for me."
Silence stretched again.
Slowly, Kale lowered her blade.
"This doesn't mean I forgive her," she said coldly.
Flo nodded. "I didn't expect forgiveness."
"It also doesn't mean I trust you," Kale added.
"That's fair," Flo replied.
Kale turned away sharply. "If you betray us—if I even think you're about to—"
"You won't have to finish that sentence," Flo said quietly.
Jake watched them both, tension still coiled tight in his chest.
Nothing had been resolved.
Nothing had been erased.
But something fragile had formed in the space between them—not trust, not peace.
A line.
And for now, no one crossed it.
They gathered their things in silence and began to move again, leaving the ruined battlefield behind.
Flo walked a step behind Jake.
Not because she was ordered to.
But because she wasn't sure she deserved to walk beside him yet.