There had been roars last night. Shrieks like a beast in anguish. Thundering like a monster angered. A symphony of wails and howls roaming the forest to tumble over the city walls.
It had been the first night in my week in this city that it was silent. Citizens held their breath. When the ground had rumbled like something monstrous unburied, they quieted their alarm. Listened with their clinging anxiety for when a monster might finally breach their gates. Where Aestos, their god, had also resided within.
My friend had wanted to be valiant—I had said he was honorable—and strike down the terrorizing creature. I stopped him. These citizens would need to learn to rely on their military. Aestos would be away from them for a year. And when we returned from Hethonious, he would be without otherworldly abilities. No one knew but Nikolas' small group of trusted men.
They had not judged him. Everyone else would learn it eventually.
