Chapter Seventy

Nesta holds a defensive line against Bellius's warriors pouring through a bottleneck, fighting with calm determination to protect her friends behind her. She engages multiple attackers simultaneously and dispatches them one by one, revealing she has named her magical sword Ataraxia—meaning Inner Peace in the Old Language.

Bellius strategically sends his warriors through a bottleneck to wear down Nesta's defenses. Nesta takes her stance, drawing a line in the earth that she refuses to cede, knowing her friends depend on her holding the position. Free from internal doubt and filled instead with calm, determination, and love, she engages the attacking warriors with precise, flowing movements—meeting each blow with shield work and counterattacks. She fights four, then five, then six warriors at once, systematically dispatching them. In a moment of reflection mid-battle, she considers what she might accomplish with the magical sword she now wields, wondering if she has finally become worthy of it. The sword bears the name Ataraxia, chosen from the Old Language—a tongue unspoken for fifteen thousand years—meaning Inner Peace, a choice that had amused the warrior Lanthys.