Thousands of miles away from Moon's location, deep within the Second Sanctuary, Selene stood alone atop a mountain peak.
Her breathing was heavy. Each exhale came out ragged, small puffs of cold air escaping her velvet plush lips.
The staff on her right hand was the only thing keeping her upright, the end of it driven into the stone beneath her feet as she leaned her full weight against it.
Around her, in every direction for tens of meters, hundreds of monsters lay dead. Their bodies were piled across the rocky summit, slumped over boulders, draped across ledges, drowning in pools of their own blood.
The stench of death hung thick in the thin mountain air.
"I did it. Finally."
The words left her mouth in a whisper that the wind nearly stole.
Ever since her near-death experience, ever since Julian had pulled her back from the edge of a true death, Selene had not known rest.
She hadn't taken a day off.
