Chapter 477: The Observer’s Last Breath

Sophia nodded slowly.

Maybe Eldric was right.

Maybe her wolf was not gone at all.

Maybe she was simply... locked behind something she could no longer reach.

Her chest tightened at the thought.

Eldric watched her quietly, then he adjusted his glasses.

He lifted one hand and gestured faintly around the house.

"I have left some things behind for you," he said gently.

Orion and Sophia’s gazes followed his motion.

"These," Eldric continued, "are the visions I have seen while I have been here."

"Some are clearer than others," he added quietly. "Some are broken. Some arrive in pieces. Some arrive too early. Some too late... some I think I misread. One is the vision I saw of you and Dolion."

His fingers curled slightly at his side.

"But all of them are... something."

He turned to Orion.

"Perhaps," he said softly, "they will help you both."

For a moment, none of them spoke. Eldric straightened slowly on the chair.

Then, to Sophia’s surprise, he bowed his head.

"To the both of you," he said quietly. "I am sorry."

Sophia’s throat tightened.

"I cannot give you all the answers you seek. Neither can I give you the answers I promised to give you."

His gaze lifted.

"But I hope... that the little I have given you will be enough to guide you forward."

He hesitated.

Then lifted his head fully.

"And... it was nice to meet you," Eldric said softly, his eyes meeting Sophia’s.

Something gentle passed through his expression.

"Especially you," he told her.

Sophia smiled at him. "Not my mate?" she asked Eldric, who chuckled and then shrugged.

Even Orion laughed at that.

"Remember," Eldric said, his voice steady again, "you must work together. I’m sure there will be challenges thrown your way, but do not give up on each other."

Orion huffed quietly.

"We got that part."

Eldric’s lips twitched faintly.

"With time," he continued, ignoring the comment, "you will find the answers you are searching for."

His gaze sharpened slightly.

"But they will not fall into your hands."

Sophia tilted her head.

"You will have to look for them," Eldric said. "You will have to uncover them. You will have to fight for them."

He paused before he continued.

"And sometimes," he added softly, "you will have to be brave enough to accept the answers you do not want. Answers that will test the both of you, and perhaps everyone you care for."

"So this is goodbye?" Sophia asked him.

Eldric nodded.

"As much as I would like to stay and help you... I don’t think you need my help. You will do well without me. My hope is that you continue to do well," he told her.

"Can we at least get your name?" Orion asked him. "Since we wouldn’t be seeing you anymore?"

"Subtle," Eldric muttered as he adjusted his glasses.

Then something in his posture shifted, like the air around him had grown tighter. His gaze drifted upward, unfocused.

As though he was no longer fully in the room with them.

Eldric’s voice dropped into an unfamiliar rhythm, one that Sophia knew.

"Vyn’esh thoran...

zha’kyr bounda velis thal."

Sophia’s breath stilled.

"Sul’vyn drae... sul’vyn drae...

kyr’s."

Orion frowned. He did not understand what Eldric was saying, but the words didn’t send him on alert like a threat would, and Sophia just stared at Eldric with a frown.

"Zha’vyn seen.

Zha’vyn named.

Zha’vyn walked."

His head tilted slightly.

"Kor’esh na salva..."

Eldric’s voice softened further.

"Zha’vyn I am..."

He exhaled slowly.

"Oculum."

And then Eldric closed his eyes. His head tipped forward. Orion frowned.

"Eldric?" he called out, but there was no reply.

He quickly crossed the distance, catching Eldric by the shoulders before his body could slump too far.

"Eldric—"

He froze.

Then frowned, because there was some dick joke at play here.

He leaned in and realized it wasn’t a joke. He heard soft snores coming from Eldric.

"...You’ve got to be kidding me," he said in disbelief. "He’s asleep?"

Sophia let out a shaky breath.

"No... I mean, yes, Eldric is asleep, but the person we were speaking to is gone," she told him.

Orion looked at her. "You’re certain?"

Sophia nodded.

"Yes, what he said to us before he left was a goodbye message, one that ended with him telling us his name," she told him.

Orion exhaled sharply through his nose.

"You understood what he said, didn’t you?" he asked her.

Sophia nodded. "It’s the same language as the one on the altar in the shrine."

"He said..." her voice was quiet.

"The vision that was foretold has come to pass."

She paused.

"Two souls bound to one another have appeared."

Orion’s chest rose slowly.

"The observer’s duty is finished. There is nothing more he is allowed to change. His name is Oculum. The watcher of what must be seen."

She swallowed.

"And that his work is done."

There was silence in the room.

"Um... Oculum is a strange name," Orion said.

"Really? That’s the only thing you can say after everything?" she asked him.

Orion shrugged. "What more do you want me to say? It’s not surprising that you can understand his language. It’s not surprising, too, that Oculum could speak the language after everything he’s told us... honestly, that was the only thing I could think of to say."

Sophia huffed a laugh. "You are a big oaf."

"As far as you’re the one calling me that, it doesn’t hurt," he told her.

Then he placed Eldric’s hand over his body and picked him up.

"What are you doing?" Sophia asked him.

"Taking Eldric to Daniel and Caspian so they can get him to the medical facility. He was pierced by someone else after all, we have to be certain everything is okay and he’s back to his annoying self," Orion told her.

Sophia nodded. "Oooh, you are smart sometimes."

Orion rolled his eyes. "Take a look around the house, shorty..." He paused. "...on second thoughts, don’t move. You’re still in pain."

"So... you expect me to just sit here?" she asked him.

Orion nodded. "I’ll be right back, shorty." He began moving toward the door when Sophia called out to him.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"Many things happened while I was unconscious, right?" she asked him.

"Not really, but there are questions to be answered and, um... information to be shared," he told her. "The majority of it happened while you were conscious, but information reached us when you were unconscious. I’ll tell you everything soon."

"I have something to tell you too," she told him quietly.

Orion gave her a look. "Did you have... did you see something from your past?" he asked her.

She nodded once.