Ethan barely spared a glance at the battle raging below before scanning the surroundings. His eyes finally landed on the figure he had been searching for. Leaning against a boulder at the base of the cliff was a man, slumped and unmoving. Ethan recognized him immediately—Baleron.
The sight was grim. Baleron's left arm had been severed clean at the shoulder, and blood had soaked nearly half of his body. He lay unconscious, his face ashen. Beside him rested a shattered warhorse saber, broken neatly into two pieces.
In that instant, the situation became clear. Julian, currently trapped and fighting for his life, wasn't holding a weapon because it had already been broken. Ethan guessed that Julian must have run into Baleron by chance, and the two had clashed fiercely. Overmatched, Baleron had fled this way, leaving Julian to be surrounded shortly after. As for Astrid's presence in this mess, Ethan could only guess.
