The Weight of Victory
Leon blinked slowly, once. "…What did you say?"
Aden's eyes met his, unflinching despite the turmoil tearing in his bloodshot eyes. There was a brutal truth in the manner he regarded Leon, the type that could cut through armor, through every wall Leon had constructed around himself. "You won, Leon."
For the space of one heartbeat, the world paused. The crater that surrounded them held its breath. The wind, that had whipped and screamed mere moments before, had disappeared, leaving the merest hint of wreckage fluttering in the distance. Silence fell over the battlefield like a creature, weighing down upon every battered soldier, every knelt knight, every wounded heart. All looked to the two men at its center, stuck, mouthed in terror and wonder, hearts trembling between relief and fear. Aden's words sat there, heavy and molten, unignorable, the finality of something wild and the beginnings of something brittle.
