| Dharin lay on his back, on top of his blankets. He stared at the matte-red ceiling, thinking furiously. He heard Jenya step inside and sit on the floor next to him. "I couldn't tell you sooner," Jenya whispered in apology. His amber eyes glittered despite the complete darkness. "I know," Dharin sighed. "It wasn't your secret to tell, and it isn't your fault. It isn't her fault either. Blast it all." "What do you think you will do?" "Talk to her, eventually. Beyond that," Dharin shrugged helplessly. "There is no way to win in this world." He fell silent, remembering the dreams that had hinted the very same. "You could ask the Acharya for guidance." Jenya was doing his best to help. He despised seeing pain on his friend's face. "Yes, that could work," the Tracker laughed sarcastically. "I could just walk up to the most powerful being this world has ever known and ask his advice on how best I can take his favourite pupil away from him." "I'm sorry, I just-" "I know that you are trying to help. I am sorry Jenya; I know I'm being rude. Thank you. This is just-" "Too much," Jenya finished. "You don't deserve this," he sighed. "Neither does she. Few people deserve this world." Jenya had to laugh. "Is it really that bad, Dharin?" He wasn't used to being the optimist, or even the realist of the group. Too much was changing, and for once, the chaos made this Sun-Chylde uncomfortable. "Is life really so horrible that death might be better?" Dharin turned onto his side to look into Jenya's eyes as he spoke. "I've asked myself that a lot. There is war, death, and pain, and there has been since this world was born in the flames of the last. People forget about the Rift, or deny its existence. People hate the Magi, and try to kill the new recruits before Acharya can find them. Some people don't care either way, and some even support us. It's pretty evenly split, and which side a person picks depends only on how they see the world. Neither side can satisfactorily explain their purpose to the other, and nothing in this world makes sense anymore," he breathed. His eyes focused somewhere far off. "I almost see why they fight us," Dharin admitted, allowing himself a small laugh at the surprise in Jenya's eyes. "Acharya has a small army of supreme beings - killers - when he closed the Rift by himself fifteen hundred years ago. For what purpose does he really need us?" Confusion covered Jenya's face. "The Rift will open again, that's what Seer told us." He didn’t mention the fact that he didn’t believe that. "It was part of what she saw in Trinlayra; Dharin, you know this. The evil behind those barriers is getting stronger, and while Acharya's gotten stronger since then, he still does not have the strength to face it alone again. There are only three hundred Cleansers in the world, seventy Magi and two-hundred thirty Trackers; we're not an army, Dharin." Jenya spoke quickly, proving that he had listened well every night that Seer had spoken to them around the coran'hai. "We find Magi, we protect them until they can protect themselves and begin training. It is as simple as that." "It is not simple, Jenya. We kill. It cannot be simple when we take lives." "Only when we are forced to, and that is not often. It is our job. We quell resistances, we slay the throwbacks from the Rift, which makes me wonder: what death is there that Seer is so tired of?" "She has to see a different world than we do, so many different worlds. That's why we've always called her the Seer." Her real name was Mal'kenar, a name she had only told Jenya and Dharin because of the ache attached to it. "Perhaps," Jenya shrugged. "We really don't know what she sees when the visions take her. Other than something sorrowful," Jenya admitted, wincing. "I thought you didn't care about her visions," Dharin laughed. It was an odd sound in this world. "I do care that they hurt her," Jenya countered. "She is my friend." He watched Dharin, noting the grave look on the Then’kael’s face. "I wonder if they could ever stop." Dharin's eyes glittered with ideas. "If she left the Magi, perhaps she could be normal again," Dharin mused hopefully. "If I could…" "I know that you would take them away if you could. But you can't. So what will you do instead? Let her go?" Dharin sat up. Shaking his head. "You know I can't, Jenya. I can't let her go, even if it means the death of me." He stood slowly and shuffled his indecisive feet outside to fight the stars. |