The Weight of Victory
Leon blinked once slowly. He said "What did you say?"
Aden looked at Leon his eyes locked on his and he did not look away even though his eyes were red, from being tired. There was something true in the way Aden looked at Leon something that could get through to him no matter how hard Leon tried to keep people out. "You won, Leon."
For a heartbeat, the world seemed to stop. The crater around them held its breath. The wind that had whipped and howled just moments before had vanished, leaving the faintest whisper of debris stirring in the distance. Silence settled over the battlefield like a living thing, pressing in on every scarred soldier, every kneeling knight, every wounded soul. All eyes turned to the two men at the center, frozen, wide with awe and disbelief, hearts caught between relief and terror. Aden's words hung there, molten and heavy, impossible to ignore, marking the end of something fierce and the beginning of something fragile.
