Leon and Valeria had reached something that resembled an agreement. She’d continue to follow him, and if they managed to find her father, she’d do her best to convince him to make peace with Leon. In return, Leon wouldn’t immediately try to kill Justin and would give peace a chance.

Leon wasn’t sure what Valeria would do if her attempts to make peace failed, but he began preparing himself for the worst and hoping for the best.

But all that was a problem for later—at least, Leon hoped it would be a problem for later, he wasn’t quite ready for that particular confrontation, yet. For now, though, they had to turn their attention back to the immediate situation.

“So, what should we do now?” Valeria asked.

“I suppose I should get out of this damn bed,” Leon replied.

“Should we do anything about the rumors people are spreading about you?”

Leon frowned. She’d already told him that there was rampant speculation that he was a member of House Raime given he’d used their signature lightning in the last battle, and all they’d decided to do was not confirm any of it.

“We’re not going to stop the speculation, even trying to do so would be a mistake,” Leon said. “A denial would be as much of a confirmation as a straight-up confirmation would be.”

“I’m not so sure about that…”

“I am. Regardless, just don’t say anything. If someone directly asks you, you can deny it, but we’ll make no official statement on the matter.”

Valeria nodded.

Leon then pulled himself out of bed and back onto his feet. His limbs were a little stiff and sore from having been in bed for several days, and he was now realizing that he was ravenously hungry.

“Ugh… I feel dead,” he muttered. “Where can we go to get some food?”

“I can show you to the dining facility,” Valeria replied.

“Good. First, though, we should probably check in with Alix and Anzu.”

“I would agree with that. Anzu, at least, was an absolute nightmare for us to try and calm down after you lost consciousness. Alix was the only person he allowed to approach you after you fell…”

Leon smiled in amusement, gratitude, and embarrassment. He loved that griffin.

Exiting the room, Leon and Valeria found themselves in a long hallway with a pair of guards outside the door. The hallway was decorated much like Leon’s room had been, with more wood paneling, hardwood floors, and thick carpeting as opposed to stone tiles and painted stone walls that most rich people in the Bull Kingdom preferred.

The guards almost jumped out of their skin as Leon walked out, but he paid them no mind after telling them he was fine and would see the camp commander on his own time. Instead of doing that right away, though, he made his way to the main door of the house. He could still see Alix tending to Anzu in the stables, so that was his destination.

“Where are we, exactly?” Leon asked Valeria as they walked.

“Prince August had us occupy the closest village to use as our recovery camp,” Valeria explained again. “I believe this is an estate owned by a local Baron who surrendered after our victory. He and his small retinue have been absorbed into the army while his family remained behind to see to their property.”

Leon nodded. “And that was three days ago?”

“Yes. Prince August and the rest set out in pursuit of Duke Duronius, who fled south.”

“Any reason you know of that he would go south?”

“No, and I’m not important enough for people to have told me before they left,” Valeria answered.

“Then I suppose once we get some food into us, we ought to head on out and see if we can catch up,” Leon said. “With Anzu and my flight suit, we should be able to make good time.”

In the swampy terrain of the south, Leon knew that the armies could probably make about twenty-five or thirty miles per day. This would be an excruciatingly slow pace for the stronger mages, but they were held back by the weakest members of the army. However, he could easily envision more elite units ranging ahead to harass Duronius’ rear detachments as he retreated, so the marching column was probably longer than he realized.

Still, he didn’t envision it taking longer than a few hours to catch up to Prince August’s main army by air.

The outside of the villa was more in line with the aesthetics of the Bull Kingdom, but neither Leon nor Valeria paid it any mind as they made their way over to the stables. After walking out through the front door into the busy unpaved yard, Leon could feel quite a few people staring at him. It wasn’t the most comfortable feeling, but when Leon glanced around, he could see that there wasn’t anyone staring at him maliciously. In fact, it seemed that it was mostly awe and curiosity that drew their eyes.

That didn’t make it that much better, but fortunately, Leon’s attention was soon grabbed by something else. Or rather, someone else, for he could feel the power that Naiad left in his soul realm start to quiver and shake, and he knew that she was near.

Stopping in his tracks, Leon immediately projected his magic senses. Valeria, walking just behind and slightly to his right, was taken by surprise and almost ran into him.

“Ah! Sir Leon...?” she asked, hoping to get an explanation for his strange behavior. They were still in the yard out in front of the main villa and were in the way of several healers fetching supplies, administrators organizing August’s logistics, and others going about their business. It was entirely due to Leon’s current status as a sixth-tier mage—as far as the public at large was concerned, at least—and as someone probably connected to House Raime that they weren’t getting yelled at by frustrated people whose path they’d interrupted.

“Change of plans,” Leon suddenly said. “Go let Alix know what’s happened and get her ready to go. I have something to do instead…”

“Wha—” Valeria began, but her protest was cut short as Leon practically vanished with a flash of golden lightning and a tremendous clap of thunder that had the dozens of people passing through the small yard covering their ears and swearing in anger and pain.

But Leon didn’t hear those curses, he was already long gone. He’d leaped from the yard into the air, his lightning magic and seventh-tier strength allowing him to pass over the walls of the compound from the yard—a distance of almost two hundred feet—and land in the marshy field outside, startling a pair of nearby farmers who were walking to the cultivated areas. Leon spared no thought for the wet ground and the mud that now covered him and his boots and began sprinting for the tree line as if his life depended on it. He could sense Naiad ahead of him, and he was determined to find her before she disappeared again.

In a matter of seconds, he left the field behind and entered the omnipresent forests of the Southern Territories. He kept his magic senses projected the entire time and pointed in the direction in which he could sense Naiad, which slowed him down a little. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to see anything, and could even sense Naiad’s power within his soul realm begin calming down, which he took to mean that she was moving away from him.

Without hesitation, Leon stopped projecting his magic senses and put all of his power into moving as fast as he could. Naiad was still stronger than him in terms of raw power, but he was confident that he could catch up.

Lightning began arcing all over his body, burning holes in his clothing, but he didn’t care. Compared to finding Naiad, his clothes were worthless.

He bolted through the forest, his natural skill in traversing such terrain combined with his power making him nigh-invisible by mortal standards, but it was unsustainable. In fact, after about thirty seconds of such a pace, the only way Leon was able to force himself to keep going was because he felt Naiad’s power start resonating again and doing so stronger with every step he took. He still couldn’t see her or sense her at all, but he knew she was out there.

And then, he caught up to her. Or at least, he felt like he had, but he could neither see nor hear anything. As far as his eyes and ears were concerned, he’d come to a stop in a small clearing where he stood all by his lonesome. When he projected his magic senses, he could only locate a single other person in the area, and that was a hunter more than half a mile away chasing a rabbit.

Still, Leon could feel that Naiad was close, that she was almost within reach. He was so close that he couldn’t even determine her direction, just that she was close and she wasn’t moving.

Leon stood there for a long moment, simply waiting. He hoped that she’d show herself of her own accord, since he doubted he’d be able to find her otherwise. But his hopes were dashed as second after second passed without Naiad making an appearance.

Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and declared, “I can feel you. I know you’re here.”

His words were met with deafening silence.

Leon leaned against a nearby tree and waited. He was patient, and all he wanted was to talk to her.

“I’m sorry,” he said after a minute that felt like an eternity. “I put you on the spot and tried to force you to make a decision. I won’t do that again… I just… I just want you back. Both Elise and I want you back.”

He knew she could hear him, and he didn’t make any excuses. He didn’t want to rationalize, he only wanted to express his sincerity.

“I can wait as long as you need. If you don’t want to come back… I understand that, too…”

Leon was starting to feel like he was just rambling to empty air, and he began to doubt himself. Was Naiad really here? Or was he just misinterpreting the way her power was resonating?

“We love you, Naiad. I love you.”

He said nothing more. He’d said the hardest thing to say, and that left nothing else for him to express. Either she’d reveal herself, or she wouldn’t. The ball was in her court, and Leon was more than willing to wait. No matter what she decided, he’d accept it. But that she was here—or if she was here—then it was a good sign that she was willing to forgive his rash and idiotic mistake.

So, he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

It seemed like an eternity passed before he finally noticed something. It was a small thing, nearly imperceptible amongst the small puddles and wet ground that was ubiquitous in the Southern Territories: the water in a puddle rose and then fell for no apparent reason. Leon’s eyes darted to it, and he stared at it so hard it felt like his eyes were about to fall out. But the puddle did nothing for long enough that Leon just about thought he was going crazy and starting to see things that he wanted to see.

And then the puddle rippled again, then rose, expanding far more than it ever should’ve given its size. It rose into a tall pillar, which then swiftly resolved into the powerful, voluptuous, athletic form of the river nymph Queen that Leon had been missing so badly.

Naiad had appeared before him, her tanned face pulled back into a smile that seemed half proud and half embarrassed, as if she were reveling in her appearance while also feeling nervous about seeing him again. She was characteristically nude, save for the bright green emerald ring on her left index finger. Her light brown hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back like a waterfall, while she stood in front of him without the slightest hint of shame at her state of undress.

Leon didn’t see any of that, though. As soon as his eyes met hers, they were locked in place.

Ever since Trajan had died, Leon had done nothing but lose, as far as he was concerned. He lost his mentor in Trajan, he lost his lover in Naiad, he lost the home he’d built with Elise, and it had all culminated in that terrible day earlier in the week where he’d lost his unit, Lapis and the giants, and the friendlier, more relaxed relationship he had with Valeria.

To now see one of those things that he’d felt had been lost suddenly return was too much for him to handle. All the grief of losing Trajan and Lapis came roaring back and warred with his elation at finally seeing Naiad again. His heart felt like it had risen into his throat, his mouth and chin twitched under the emotional strain, and for the first time in his memory, tears began running down his face.

[Hey there, boy,] Naiad whispered into his mind, her tone flippant, but quivering just enough for Leon to know that it was just a front. [Been a while, hasn’t it? Missed me?]

Just ‘hearing’ her voice again almost broke Leon. He couldn’t say anything in response, his throat had completely shut down. So, he did the only thing he could do to communicate his joy and his love: he pushed himself off the tree, stumbled forward, and pulled her into his arms. He held her tightly against himself and pushed away all of the other thoughts that were fighting for his attention.

Naiad was back, and for the moment, that was all that mattered.