Chapter 08……………………………
“Insane? Is that really what you say to a friend who has just returned from the underworld?”
Panake had arrived.
Ellexena’s lips curled upward. The cold that had lingered in her body moments ago was now replaced by boiling blood. Her heart pounded fiercely, and vitality surged through her entire body.
“Panake, look closely. This body is different, but I am your friend Ellexena. The Ellexena who died a thousand years ago by the verdict of the divine trial. That is me.”
Panake’s eyes burned red.
After Ellexena’s death, no one had ever been allowed to speak her name in front of Panake again.
“Stop talking nonsense!”
Panake shouted. He had no intention of listening to any more of this woman’s absurd lies.
He lunged forward, trying to bite down and swallow the woman claiming to be Ellexena whole—but she quickly dodged aside.
She dodged it?
Only heroes with divine blood were capable of avoiding Panake’s attacks. So it seemed this woman was not foolish for claiming that name after all.
After evading the strike, she smiled.
“So you really became a birdbrain after all? Calling you a birdbrain was too generous. I didn’t think you’d forget me just because a thousand years passed.”
Her fearless tone was no different from Ellexena in her prime.
Panake revealed his massive fangs. After confirming what he needed to know, he intended to slowly poison her with the venom in those teeth.
“One question. Was it you who gave the signal earlier?”
“Yes.”
“How did you know it?”
“Because I am Ellexena.”
“You have no intention of answering properly. Fine.”
Three long whistles. Then three short ones.
That signal was known only to Ellexena and Panake.
After Ellexena’s death, it had never been heard again.
“Then die for daring to speak Ellexena’s name!”
He didn’t care how she knew the signal. The woman before him could not possibly be Ellexena.
He had never heard of the dead returning in another body, and even if such a thing were possible, Ellexena would never do it.
Panake had never once forgotten her in over a thousand years. Nor had he forgotten what she looked like before she died.
Ellexena, who had been sentenced to death, had herself wished for death.
Ellexena—the one burdened with unforgivable sins, countless crimes, and Panake’s dearest companion.
Her crimes were so great that humanity could not judge her, and she was brought before the divine tribunal of the gods.
There, she was unanimously sentenced to death.
No one came to see her after that verdict.
Except Panake.
“Ellexena. Appeal again. I will beg my mother and father for mercy.”
Panake had been the only one who refused to accept her death. He had intended to overturn the judgment with everything he had.
His father was the god of death, and his mother the goddess of life. If anyone could influence the divine court, it was them.
If execution could be avoided, any trial could be completed instead. Panake was willing to walk that path with her.
But her response was cold.
“Panake… I just want to die like this.”
Her hands trembled as she clung to the bars.
In that moment, she no longer looked like a hero.
She was just a human exhausted by tragedy.
“I’ve lost everything… my family, my minstrel, my love… I have nothing left to do. Nothing I want to do…”
“Ellexena!”
Was that really her? That hollow voice. That frail body. That tangled hair. That barely breathing figure.
For the first time, Panake was afraid to face her.
“Humans cannot escape their fate. Even great heroes meet tragic ends. I am no exception. Please… accept that this is my fate.”
Humans were weak. Even heroes were still human.
In the end, Ellexena went to her execution without resistance.
After that, Panake never left the rocky cliffs of the Symena Strait. He stopped hunting ships that drifted too close. He only curled up in his nest, swallowing rumors and reliving that day’s misery over and over.
No matter if he opened or closed his eyes, that day remained.
The empty gaze. The trembling hands on the bars. The weak, collapsing body. And the voice that wished for death.
And when those memories overwhelmed him, Panake always wondered:
Ellexena… what was I to you?
Son of Stepanos. Glory of Palakium. Daughter of the sky god. And my only companion.
Why did you despair as if you had lost everything? Why did you not think of me, who would be left behind?
Why did you choose death and leave me?
So Ellexena could not possibly return.
Panake had never expected it. Nor did he wish to be disappointed again.
He only resented the woman who resembled her.
“Let me give you one piece of advice before you die.”
His eyes deepened to a blood-red glow. His sharp talons scraped her shoulder.
“Do not speak Ellexena’s name again.”
“It’s my name. I can say it whenever I want, birdbrain.”
Panake did not hesitate any longer.
His fangs tore through her clothing in an instant. If she had been a fraction slower, they would have pierced her skin.
“I almost got sent back to the underworld right after coming back to life!”
“You dodge like a rat.”
Ellexena laughed loudly, brushing her hair back.
A thousand years had passed. It was only natural that Panake would not believe her. Then there was only one way left—to prove it through their first meeting, something only the two of them knew.
This time was different. No proper weapon. And Panake was far more enraged than before.
This time, she might truly have to risk her life.
“Panake, I’ll make even your birdbrain understand that I am the real Ellexena.”
She broke a long branch from a nearby tree and held it like a sword.
“I am Ellexena, son of Stepanos. Panake, may I take your tears?”
The same stance. The same words.
Memories flooded into her.
Back when she was young and fearless. When she could do anything and wanted everything. When she first met Panake at the princess’s request—and was completely captivated by the magnificent beast.
Panake’s eyes wavered.
No. That couldn’t be Ellexena.
“Didn’t I tell you never to speak that name!”
“If you won’t give it willingly, I’ll take it by force.”
She leapt.
Just like then.
A battle between a hero and a monster.
But something was different.
The cliffside was gone. The sea was gone. Now only forest and solid ground remained.
Panake was filled with confusion and longing. And Ellexena seized that opening.
“Whatever trick you’re using, stop pretending to be Ellexena!”
Panake’s voice was no longer rage.
It was almost pleading.
“If I’m not Ellexena, then who am I?”
Her eyes shone brightly.
Just like the young hero who feared nothing—not even death.
Panake’s throat went dry.
Ellexena was dead.
And the dead did not return.
But what if she had?
What if she had come back for him?
Ellexena had once crossed between life and death while alive.
So could the dead cross back into the living world?
A fragile hope began to shake him.
“Back then it was a cliff, right? The highest place of your nest. I stepped on the rocks there and jumped—”
She kicked off a thick tree trunk, grabbing Panake’s neck with one arm and driving the branch toward it with the other.
Crack—!
The branch broke.
“-And I stabbed here, but it didn’t go in. The blade back then was better.”
Wind burst from Panake’s wings, forcing her back.
Ellexena lost her grip and grabbed a branch to steady herself.
“…”
Panake did not attack again.
Instead, he trembled.
“Ellexena is dead!”
He was trying to remind himself.
“But she came back! Using this human body!”
Ellexena shouted back.
“And I came to find my friend—my companion, Panake!”
The red in Panake’s eyes faded.
“Look at me, Panake. Who am I?”
He could not answer.
No—he could not speak at all.
