A tale of heroes and gods

Helios didn't wake when morning came.

The fever still clung to him, tight as a vice. His skin was flushed and damp, his breaths shallow. Aelira checked him as the light bled into the trees, jaw set, movements precise.

"He's stable," she muttered, "but just barely. We can't stay here."

I stood over him, fists clenched. He looked so much smaller like this — not the towering shield-bearer who'd saved me time and again, but just a man, broken and burning up from within.

"He needs a real healer," Aelira said. "Something beyond moss and bandages. If we stay out here, he won't make it."

I nodded once. "Then we move."

We didn't speak after that — just worked.

I wrapped Stonewake in canvas and tied it across my back. Aelira secured Helios's gear, then we built a rough stretcher from branches and cloak-fiber. It wasn't graceful. It barely held together. But it was enough.

He didn't stir when we lifted him. His body was heavy with fever and weight — but I bore it. We both did.

The forest watched us go.

The path home wasn't clear — not through thickets and uneven stone — but I remembered enough. The angle of the sun. The pull of the wind. Somewhere east, beyond these hills, was the forge. The valley. My father.

We took turns carrying the weight. I bore most of it. Emberhands gave me strength — and something else, too. That inner warmth that never quite cooled, even when exhaustion crept in.

Aelira didn't complain. She never did.

But I saw her worry.

Not just for Helios — for me.

"Aaron," she said as we paused by a creek, catching our breath. "You need to rest too."

"I will. When we're there."

She didn't argue. Not directly. Just looked at me with that searching gaze that had nothing to do with the trail.

"Are you okay?" she asked, quiet.

"No."

It surprised me, how easily the word came.

I wasn't okay. My hands still smelled of blood. My dreams were filled with twisted necks and breathless gasps. I'd gone into that bandit camp a wildfire — and I hadn't looked back.

But I didn't regret it.

And that's what scared me.

"I'm just… tired," I added, softer.

"We'll get him to your father," she said. "And then maybe you can rest."

I hoped so.

We pressed on. The sun climbed, then fell. The trail widened, then vanished again. Twice, we almost lost the stretcher to the slope — but we kept moving.

Helios murmured once — a whisper of my name — then sank back into silence.

That night, we camped beneath the roots of a half-fallen pine. I kept first watch while Aelira tended the fire, checking Helios's pulse every hour.

She wouldn't admit it, but she was scared too.

She caught me watching and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" I said, trying to sound casual but knowing I'd been caught.

"You've been staring at him all night."

"I'm just making sure he's still breathing."

"You haven't slept."

"Neither have you."

We sat by the fire, the silence stretching comfortably between us. Her face softened a little in the firelight, eyes catching mine with a spark of mischief.

"You know," I said, "when we first met, I thought you were going to rob me."

She smirked. "And I thought you were going to punch me in the face."

"Maybe I still want to."

She laughed quietly. "Try it, big guy."

I leaned a bit closer, lowering my voice. "I'm glad you didn't run."

"Funny," she said, "I was thinking the same."

I caught her hand before she pulled away. "Why did you stick around?"

Her eyes met mine steady and sure. "Because sometimes survival means knowing who's on your side."

"And you?"

"I thought trust was a luxury." She gave a small smile. "Now, maybe it's a necessity."

I smiled back. "Looks like we're both learning."

"Yeah," she said, squeezing my hand lightly. "Don't get too soft on me."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

We stayed like that, hands brushing, a quiet understanding between us — two people bound not just by circumstance, but something harder to name.

The next day, we moved slower.

Helios burned like a furnace. Even breathing was a struggle for him. Aelira wrapped cool cloth around his neck every few hours, but the fever didn't break.

By midday, I was carrying him alone — stretcher long abandoned. Just me, arms locked around his back and knees, sweat pouring from my brow.

Aelira tried to take him once.

I shook my head. "I've got him."

Her jaw clenched. "You're going to collapse."

"Not yet."

"You can't carry everything, Aaron."

She didn't press it. Just stepped beside me, hand brushing my shoulder briefly, then moving to lead the way.

We stopped that evening under a sky streaked orange.

"We're close," I said, setting Helios down gently. "Another day. Maybe two."

Aelira crouched beside me. "You did good today."

I didn't feel good.

I felt like I was falling apart from the inside.

But Helios still breathed. That was enough.

I stared into the fire as darkness fell. Emberhands rested beside me, glowing faintly.

Tomorrow, we'd keep going.

And soon… I'd be home.