Chapter 16: Wind Demon Nine Fingers

"Y-You… you really came back?!" Lucian Lawes smiled faintly as he looked toward the center of the courtyard, his tone edged with mockery. "You made such a racket about winning the Dragon Seal, and this is how you crawled back? Pathetic. Fine. I'll go win you back a little dignity." Lydia Yare had never imagined he would actually show up. Her mind still felt like it had short-circuited. That confident, almost carefree smile of his left her frozen in place. Then the memory of her brother's death...