Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 752: What Is Needed ()

The water in the wash basin ran red.

Neveah’s hands trembled as she furiously scrubbed them under the running water, but the blood just would not go away. It clung to the lines of her palm, beneath her nails and was buried in the creases of her fingers as though it had fused into her very being.

She had already washed her hands raw, but she could still feel it... the blood, sticky...warm...fresh.

And her hands weren’t the only thing coated in it. Lifting her head, Neveah stared at her reflection in the mirror. The image that stared back at her was a complete stranger...a ghost of what she knew herself to be. Her eyes, always so fierce were hollow, as though she was still trapped in that moment.

Her skin was even paler than usual, her lashes wet with the evidence of what she refused to acknowledge. A red smear stained the side of her jaw...more blood, Adrienne’s blood.

Neveah swallowed hard, her throat tight. The scene still played in her mind, and she could hear it clearly... deafeningly.

Menarx’s roar.

Even now... even an hour after... that sound was etched into her mind .

The sound had pierced the very skies, ripping through the night. A sound so raw, so full of anguish that the very air had trembled with it. It was neither the cry of a warrior, nor the roar of a battle lord...no, it had been a plea. A primal cry from a breaking heart...a cry for help, 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

For help that Neveah could not give.

Her grip tightened on the porcelain edge of the basin as the memory wrecked her for the hundredth time in what had been barely an hour.

In that moment, she had met Menarx’s gaze. He said not a word, he did not need to. His eyes conveyed it all... desperation, anguish, more potent than any words ever could, and the hope he clung to. And he had seen in Neveah’s gaze what he needed to.

Neveah had already done everything she could. She had bought them time, that was all. And he had known it.

Menarx had knelt in the pool of his rider’s blood, cradling Adrienne’s bruised and broken body against him as though he could shield her from the inevitable. But even he, proud, strong and unbreakable, had known that it was hopeless... Adrienne could not be saved and the severing was already coming for him.

He knew... that the moment she drew her last breath, his soul would begin to fray.

He knew that and yet he had looked to her, eyes brimming with sorrow.

And Neveah wished there and then that there was something she could do, anything... she would have given anything to spare him this pain,

But she had nothing to offer him...no words, no comfort and no power to change fate.

And she could do nothing but watch as Menarx shift tore through him in a manner Neveah had never seen before... brutal and sudden. His wings had unfurled in a slow, mournful motion as he gathered Adrienne safely in his claw, movement deliberate and reverent... like he clutched his entire world.

With one final gaze to Neveah, he took off into the night, disappearing from sight... and Neveah had let him go, knowing fully well she should have stopped him.

It had been exactly an hour since then and no one had seen or heard from Menarx. Which meant the severing could hit at any moment, it could have already begun and Menarx...he was all alone.

If only she had said something... anything, could she have kept him from leaving?

Neveah squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself against the wash basin as a violent sob wracked through her body. The sound of the running water muffled her fractured sobs.

Only a heartbeat later, a knock on the door broke the haze.

Neveah didn’t move... she didn’t want to move.

"Neveah," Xenon’s call was steady but there was a firmness to it. "Let me in."

She didn’t.

A momentary silence and then a sizzling sound. The door knob clattered to the floor, burned right through. The door creaked open and footsteps approached until a warm presence hovered behind her, waiting.

Neveah didn’t turn, she just couldn’t.

"Veah..." Xenon’s tone was softer now, yet still firm. "You’ve been in here for an hour. You need to stop."

Neveah’s gaze flickered back to the mirror, she could barely recognise herself.

A strong but gentle hand took hold of her wrist and pulled her away from the sink. Neveah let it happen, she was too numb to resist.

"Look at me." Xenon demanded sternly when Neveah’s eyes remained fixed on the floor.

Neveah complied, lifting her gaze to meet his. Xenon’s brows furrowed at the tears brimming in her eyes, he winced visibly, like the sight physically hurt him.

"I can’t..." Neveah’s voice cracked. "I can’t get it off..." She finished barely above a whisper.

Xenon’s gaze was pained, as he followed Neveah’s gaze to her hands. Without a word, he reached for a damp cloth, rubbing it gently across her palms, across the blood smears that had long been scrubbed away.

"There’s nothing left." He said quietly. "It’s gone, Veah."

But it wasn’t.

And it never would be.

"Menarx... I couldn’t stop him... I didn’t..." Neveah mumbled quietly, her tone hoarse.

"We’re already tracking him. Kirgan arrived too, he will take point...he won’t stop till he finds him." Xenon assured, his tone was grim.

It did not escape Neveah’s notice. She swallowed, her hands clenching at her sides.

"The moment Adrienne dies...if she hasn’t already..." Neveah paused, her breathing uneven. "I do not know how long...my magic can keep her..."

"He’ll undergo the severing." Xenon finished the words Neveah could not bear to say. "And if he is alone when it happens, he... won’t survive it." Xenon’s jaw tightened, his tone was heavy with the weight of their current reality.

"So, we will find him... before that happens." Xenon said firmly.

Neveah’s heart hammered against her ribs. She knew it already, but hearing it said out loud made it all too real...it was unbearable.

Xenon exhaled sharply, stepping closer, his eyes locked onto Neveah’s. "But we can’t go after him ourselves."

Neveah’s head snapped up. "What?"

"Fort Inferno is under attack." Xenon said grimly. "The Fae have just launched an offensive. And worse... the werewolves have moved to, they charged on the lower district and took the district hostage."

"They’re using the commoners as shields, the infernal dragons can’t retaliate without setting lower district on fire and killing their own people. And then there’s the volcano..."

Neveah stared up at Xenon, her gaze betrayed the helplessness she felt.

"As your lover, I hate to say this but I want to take you away...far away from it all, but I know you would not want that and it breaks my heart. I have just witnessed my brother lose his rider and all I can think of...all my mind knows is the overwhelming need to hide you away... from all this danger."

"As Lord of Onyx Scales, I am duty bound to say this...the entire stronghold is depending on you..." Xenon’s voice dropped to a whisper, but it struck harder than a stern reminder of reality. "If you break...we all break."

"So you choose, Veah. Who you want me to be... I will do whatever you ask." Xenon vowed, his eyes searching Neveah’s.

Neveah wanted to say something, to argue...to scream out her frustration.

But she couldn’t.

Because he was right.

Right now, what the stronghold needed was not two lovers mourning the impending fate of a beloved companion, what they needed was the Lord of Onyx Scales and the Dragon Queen.

"Scales! What are we to do about Narx?" Neveah whispered, her eyes going shut.