"You want to go to the Capital with Radagon?" Rennala asked blankly, her face still stained with tears. "But... why?"
"I am the cause of all of this. Why Astel and the Fallingstar Beasts attacked Caria, why Leyndell sent assassins, why this war broke out—I've realized it now. I am their target." Raven placed his hands on Rennala's shoulders. "As long as I remain in Caria, everyone will be in danger."
"I guarantee the boy's safety in the Capital. He shall be placed under strict supervision and guard, enjoying a status befitting a demigod—" Radagon began.
"No one is talking to you!" Rennala snapped at him, before turning back to Raven. "Who told you this? Tell me... who instigated these thoughts?"
"I thought of this myself. So many have already died because of me; I don't want to place those around me in danger any longer. I cannot be so selfish as to hide behind walls and in bunkers, asking others to shed their blood and sacrifice their lives, refusing to surrender until the last defender is bled dry."
Raven turned his face away, not daring to meet Rennala's eyes. To spare himself the weight of a guilty conscience, he was breaking his mother's heart—was that not its own form of selfishness?
Radagon recited in a voice like a monotonous machine: "'Let my love surround you like sunlight, yet give you the freedom of the light.' This is—"
"Shut up!"
"—this is a poem composed by St. Trina, the fourth stanza, eleventh line," Radagon continued regardless. "You would sacrifice the lives of countless people throughout the entire kingdom just to protect him; you have lost the heart of a hero. If he is willing to do this, then it should be as he wishes."
"And what of me? After all these years, can I not be selfish for just this once? I do not wish to be alone, Radagon. I will not let my child die," Rennala said. Her voice was calm, yet it carried an absolute, unquestionable resolve.
"I have made my decision, Mother. You cannot change it." Raven took a deep breath and looked Rennala in the eye, knowing how deeply his words would wound her. "I am leaving with Radagon."
Rennala closed her eyes and gave a slow nod.
"Then, do we have an agreement?" Radagon asked. "Shall peace be restored between the Golden Order and Caria?"
"We have an agreement," Rennala said. "But I have more to say. I am willing to believe the Golden Order will not harm my child, but I am a woman prone to suspicion. Therefore, if any misfortune befalls my son—if some knight 'accidentally' kills him during a duel—then my suspicion will lead me to believe that malice still targets my child.
"If my son is struck by lightning during a storm; if the carriage he rides in tumbles from a mountain path; if he contracts some fatal illness or eats a poisonous fruit by mistake; if the very tectonic plates shift and the entire Royal Capital is buried beneath the earth... I will consider it the work of someone harboring ill intent within the Golden Order. I will summon my entire host, invade the Altus Plateau, and slaughter every single person who could possibly be held responsible."
"We have an agreement." Radagon nodded, then turned to Raven. "Will you ride with me, or do you require a horse of your own?"
"I have a horse named Rice Shower," Raven said. "But she is still in Raya Lucaria. Until she can be brought to me, I'll borrow a horse to ride."
Radagon turned to a Leyndell knight behind him. "Give him your horse."
"There is one more thing. The vanguard of the Royal Army murdered the people of Caria," Rennala's voice was icy, having fully regained her composure as the Queen of the Full Moon, the embodiment of the elegant night. "I must see this handled."
"Call Hector here," Radagon commanded.
A Leyndell knight went to fulfill the order. Shortly after, Hector rode forward. "I am here, my King."
"Did you order the attack on the Carian civilians?"
"...I did. I believed those heretics were engaged in hostile reconnaissance," Hector replied.
"How many were killed?"
"We are still tallying, but it should be no more than a hundred or two. I will pay restitution at a fair price. If the Full Moon Queen remains unsatisfied, I can select twice that number of able-bodied slaves from my own domain and transfer them to Caria as compensation," Hector said.
Radagon shook his head. "Not enough."
Hector took a deep breath and turned to Rennala. "Furthermore, as the Leader of the Tree Sentinels, Hector of the Draconic Sentinels, I offer my sincere apologies to Her Majesty, the Full Moon Queen of Caria, and beg her forgiveness."
"Dismount," Radagon said.
Hector dismounted with obvious reluctance and stood on the ground, giving Rennala a slight bow. "I apologize once more to Her Majesty the Queen, and beg—"
"Too high. Lower your body," Radagon said. "Still too high. Lower."
Hector's nostrils flared as he exhaled sharp gusts of breath. He stood still for several seconds before finally, inch by inch, bending his legs until one knee touched the ground. Keeping his neck stiff and his head high, he said, "I offer my— to the Queen—"
CRACK!
Hector's massive frame toppled over. An expression of utter disbelief remained etched onto half of his face; until the very end, he had never imagined that the Lord he served so loyally, Radagon the Elden Lord, would strike him from behind without a word.
Radagon wiped his stone hammer against Hector's armor, cleaning the blood and brain matter from the head of the weapon. He turned to Rennala without expression. "Is this sufficient?"
"Radagon, you have truly become a faithful hound of the Golden Order." Rennala ignored him and looked at Raven. "Child, come here."
She drew a magnificent straight sword. Its edge was like the eternal snow atop a high peak, while its obsidian spine was etched with mysterious, shimmering blue runes. She ran a hand along the blade, and countless magical runes ignited one by one. She then sheathed the weapon and handed the scabbard—encrusted with blue and purple gemstones like a river of stars—to Raven.
"This is the Sword of Night and Flame. It was forged by the ancient smiths of the Giants using the Flame of Ruin and later enchanted with profound sorcery by the Carian Astrologers. It symbolizes the friendship between the Carian Royals and the race of Giants. Though the Giants are gone and the Flame of Ruin no longer burns, legend says the heroic spirits of Caria's past still protect the one who wields it."
Rennala paused, her voice trembling slightly at the end. "May the moonlight illuminate your path, my child."
Raven took the sword with both hands and fastened it solemnly to his waist. "I will never betray the Carian Royals' faith in the Moon."
"No. If necessary, believe in whatever you must," Rennala said. "Just... come back to me."
Raven nodded silently. He mounted the Leyndell knight's horse and turned to face Radagon. He wasn't sure what to call this father he had never met until today.
Radagon gave Rennala a curt bow, then wheeled his horse around and galloped back toward his main host, seemingly unwilling to even exchange a greeting with Raven. Raven stood there in a daze for a moment before shaking his head with a faint, wry smile.
"I will return, Mother," he said, clicking his tongue and nudging the horse's flanks. "Yah!"
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring(56 Chapter - Ongoing)
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