We walked down the path and right when I thought he’d somehow miraculously picked the right option, I felt the magic items I was wearing instantly shut down.

“Well it looks like we will have to rest,” Myriam said.

“I guess so,” Kai agreed begrudgingly. “Should we set up here?”

“No, not here,” I said. “This part of the forest is pretty deep in, and it’s possible that whoever is traveling through it might try this path by accident and stumble upon us.”

“Where do you suggest doing it then?” Kai asked.

“We run back to the beginning,” I suggested, “and once we reach the first intersection, we take the correct path to reactivate our magic. Then at the second intersection, we take the wrong path. We’ll make sure to walk a bit so we’re not visible from the point where the split is, but not too far in.”

“So, assuming that whoever is following us has worked out the first part already, they’re not likely to take the path we’ll be camping on… and we’ll still have our mana available,” Myriam continued. “I like this plan. Let’s do it.”

Just as I suggested, we ran forward, took a right at the first split and then the middle path at the three-way junction. Myriam and Kai had taken this path before and remembered approximately where their magic were nullified so we stopped moving just before that place. Myriam unstrapped the big chest she was carrying on her back and set it down on the ground, just behind a series of thick-trunked trees on the left side of the path.

“He’s not coming down into the chest with us,” Kai protested to Myriam. “I won’t allow him to come into our home.”

“Well, we can’t leave him here,” Myriam responded, as I felt anger boiling up in me at Kai’s behavior.

“You won’t allow ME in your home?” I asked furiously. “Where was it you found this chest of yours again?”

“Adel, stop it,” Myriam said, trying to calm me. “There’s no need for this now.”

“Myriam got it when she fled Nara,” Kai retorted, not really expecting my sudden rage.

“This is much more my chest than it will ever be yours,” I said. “And honestly Myriam, how do you handle this much ignorance and lack of appreciation when you threw your life away for him?”

“You leave her alone!” Kai shouted now, as Myriam was trying to untangle her hands from the chest and come between us. “You lackey of the Order. You should be the last to give lectures about appreciation.”

“Me? Lackey of the Order?” I asked, puzzled. “How?”

“The angels killed everyone before we left,” he continued, and it began to dawn on me that perhaps he was truly ignorant, rather than simply acting it. “but you’re standing here alive, so the Order must have brought you back and you’re probably acting on their orders now. And so is every one of your so-called clan. I’ll never trust a fanatic like you.”

“Adel, don’t!” Myriam shouted, but the words rushed out of my mouth as if the dam holding them back had suddenly exploded.

“The angels killed everyone?” I asked him. “Is this what you think happened? You don’t remember killing my mother? You don’t remember killing my father?”

“I…” was all he managed to say in return.

“You decimated the village,” I continued. “What the angels did was nothing compared to the massacre you brought upon us. If it weren’t for my parents raising the protective barrier around us, everyone would have died but you. You slaughtered everyone.”

“Adel, that’s enough!” Myriam’s voice boomed in my head, probably enhanced by a spell but I couldn’t care less.

“Old men and women,” I continued, barely holding myself back from drawing my swords and cutting him down. “Children too young to participate in the liturgy. I found babies cradled in their parents’ arms. Your plague was far worse than any raid the village had ever seen.”

“I didn’t do it,” he said between sobs. “I didn’t kill those people!”

“People and angels alike,” I said, and took a step forward, caring little about his tears. “You kept shooting at them even after they were dead. Their bodies were still shaking with the impacts of your magic arrows long after life had fled their bodies. You’re a monster.”

“Don’t you dare move a step closer, Adel,” said Myriam, who was now standing in front of me, a blue aura enveloping her.

She looked terrifying, her short red hair floating with power as if she was underwater. She was holding a lot of mana and seemed ready to use it if I made another step toward Kai, who was now cowering down on his knees. I realized I was already holding my swords in front of her and tried to calm myself instead. I sheathed both of them and continued talking in a less angry tone.

“You took away my parents,” I said with disgust. “You took away the parents of my friends. You took away our dreams of the future. I won’t kill you. But I will not let you live happily either. You did terrible things and your guilt shall forever drag you down.”

“That’s enough,” Myriam said, in what sounded like a whisper.

“You lied to me,” Kai said to her as he stood up. “I asked you what happened, and you lied to me!”

“You weren’t ready—” She tried to explain herself but Kai didn’t let her.

“I believed you!” he shouted, and pushed her back. “I trusted you. You were all I had and you lied to me.”

“Kai, my love,” she said and moved toward him, but I grabbed her arm, not knowing how Kai might react and if he was going to hurt her.

“Liar! Liar!” he shouted and the air around him started to reflect the purple light the orbs cast on him. “I hate you!”

That was the last thing we heard him say before a giant force wave threw us back. Luckily, I managed to bring Myriam behind me with one hand and one of my swords in front of us with the other. My archangel blade absorbed the brunt of Kai’s attack but obviously not enough for us to continue standing our ground.

***

Myriam was unconscious on the ground next to me but thankfully she was still breathing. I touched the back of my head and found that it was sticky with blood. I must have hit myself pretty hard and I had no idea how long I was out.

I picked myself up and moved over to Myriam. I shook her and produced a flask of water, spraying some of it on my hands and gently applying it to her face made her open her eyes.

“What?” she started talking immediately. “Where are we?”

“You’re okay,” I said, trying to not worry her. “We were out for some time.”

“We were… what? How long?” she started asking questions in rapid succession. “Where’s Kai? He shouldn’t be alone. Not now.”

“Myriam, Kai was the one who knocked us out,” I said, and tried to stop her from making any quick movements.

“He didn’t mean to,” she said, and instead pushed herself up with her hand on my shoulder. “You should’ve never provoked him.”

“I provoked him?” I asked, fury stirring up in me once again. “I simply told him what he did. I told the truth, Myriam!”

“You messed his head is what you did,” she retorted, though the part about me telling the truth seemed to land harder than I expected. “But you’re right. Maybe if I had told him the truth in the first place, it would have been easier now.”

I softened. “This isn’t your fault Myriam,” I said. “If anyone is at blame here, it’s him. He killed everyone in Nara, and he killed everyone on the slaver ship as well.”

Myriam now turned her head and faced me with eyes wide open.

“Yes, I know of it,” I said. “The ship was found, and we pretty much figured out it had to be the work of a spellcaster. But the way the people were killed was awfully familiar…”

“I don’t care what you know,” she said, and picked up their chest as quickly as possible. “The last time Kai was faced with the consequences of the actions of the monster inside of him, he tried to end his life.”

“Where did he get an idea like that?” I said, shocked despite that someone at his age could even consider suicide. “He’s only—”

“Whatever you have to say,” she snapped at me, “say it on the way. You’re helping me find him.”