There was no denying it. Amneal felt it. It was happening. He was on the train already, but he wasn’t sure if he would make it in time. He could feel the unwavering power coming from the ritual. It wasn’t like any magic he had felt before. He knew what this meant. To him, it was kissing his wife goodbye. Spending what little remained of her lifespan with her. He wasn’t ready for any of this.

  Playing with the ring on his finger, he begins to speak to himself in a low enough tone that only he can hear. He thinks about his wife during this.

  Amneal notes to himself that he knows he promised her that he wouldn’t kill. He promised Niavi that he was a changed man. He knew he lied to her.

  Amneal adds that he will have to kill at least two more times, though he couldn’t tell Niavi this before it happened. But after he finished off his two targets, he tells himself that he will spend the rest of his life making up this lie that he told Niavi. At least she would be alive to scold him.

  Amneal’s mind wonders deeper. It takes him back to another moment in time, when Niavi was healthy. Before she was plagued.

  ***

  She walked me through woods. A forest that was unknown to me. The kicker is by this point, I would have followed her anywhere. It had only been two weeks for us, I mean…since I had known her. But she was teaching me…well…showing me, other methods of finding peace. It was coming to me quickly, but I think it was her…who was actually bringing me peace.

  Her voice was beautiful. By now I had to hear it often when she was in my presence. I was always bad at conversations, so I just said anything.

  I asked her to remind me where she was taking me. She told me that it was some place secret. That she wanted to show me something. On top of that, she reminded me to embrace the walk, as she wants to continue showing me other ways to find ease besides killing. I had been trying to tell her for the entire time I’ve known her that killing was the only ease I had ever found. She wasn’t hearing any of that.

  I asked her what made her think that doing all these things would change me? She had me prepping and making meals, sitting by waterfalls, climbing mountains, all types of things that I had never taken part of before. What made her think that I would so easily change? She treated all of this like it was so simple. Like I hadn’t just been wasting her time. She answered my question.

  Niavi explained to me that she didn’t expect me to change right away. That due to my background of being shown nothing but battle, she wouldn’t expect me to naturally find peace. Therefore, she opted to bring me peace. To see if only then, I would accept it. I asked her what would happen if nothing worked. Would she kill me? She told me she wouldn’t.

  Adding to her answer, she made sure that I knew that she would just leave me be and pray that I wouldn’t find someone more challenging than I was. That I wouldn’t die the same way I had lived. I asked her what would happen if I tried to kill her. How was it that she was able to trust me all this time, especially after witnessing me kill so effortlessly. This answer seemed simple to her, as she came to a stop and turned around to smile at me. This smile didn’t show any of her teeth, like her usual smiles did.

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  She simply told me that she trusted me. That was it. Nothing more, nothing less was said from her.

  She continued on, telling me that we had reached the destination. I followed her past what seemed like the edge of these woods. There it was. A cabin. A one story cabin of course, isolated from society itself. What did this mean to her?

  She stared in amazement. Almost like she was daydreaming. She took the place in, mentally. I hadn’t interrupted this moment. When she finally spoke again, she told me…

  She told me that this place, was her dream home.

  ***

  She got what she wanted. She was in her dream place. I wasn’t about to allow that place to become my nightmare. To become her tomb. I was going to save her, no matter who didn’t approve of it.

  ***

  Amneal reaches the site of the ritual. He approaches with caution. He stops at a mid to long range distance from the actual giant pentagram – the pillars positioned and formed around it.

  The lights of flowing mana streams along the ground to the pillars of the ritual site, showcasing to Amneal that the ritual truly had been started. Unsure as to how much time he had left before the ritual was complete, he summoned his great-bow and took aim. Red lightning begins to crackle and form before him, as he builds upon a charged shot to the take the young woman out. Amneal doesn’t want to hold back at all.

  He mummers to himself that he only needs one shot, and that like he wanted before, her death would be quick and as painless as possible. A direct impact should do the…

  Amneal gets startled.

  Feeling a surge of energy as something draws in close at an intense speed, Amneal flings attention to his right. Quickly releasing his semi charged attack, a spear of lightning passes Brandon’s shoulder just as he ducks, countering with an upward swipe from a dual set pair of swords. One wide sword and one short. Amneal takes a step back in the nick of time, avoiding the upward slash as he is nearly caught off guard.

  An immense amount of pressure and visible yellow mana, radiates around Brandon. The mana disperses as Brandon stands back tall, as Amneal places distance between the two with a supernatural leap. Amneal instantly notices the change amongst Brandon.

  He first points out his blades, reminding him that he was just wielding archery magic. Amneal questions as to how he was able to trade in his magic role in the matter of only three days, as well as completely change his degree of mana. Brandon doesn’t hesitate to answer.

  Brandon informs him that archery magic was not his main source of magic. That he had only recently obtained archery magic. Amneal doesn’t want to believe him, though the results in front of him show otherwise. The confident look in his opponent’s face doesn’t help, as he begins to psyche himself out even more.

  Amneal thinks about how much more dense Brandon’s mana feels. How much more aggressive his mana seems to be. Almost carrying an intoxicating nature, as Brandon’s mana was nearly attacking Amneal, without very much effort. Amneal starts to feel a light tremble in his hands.

  Ignoring whatever fear that wanted to erupt, Amneal smirks as he manages to ask Brandon what his magic was now. Brandon doesn’t answer with words.

  Aggressively using his mana as a flowing stream around his own body, Brandon torpedoes through the distance between the two, making it to Amneal in no time as his mana disperses once again, shortly after. Brandon swings his great sword, unleashing an explosion, followed by a cloud of smoke.