49 Naiveté

I woke up to the sound of flowing water and birds chirping. And the low crackling of a small fire was clearly audible too. I opened my eyes and lifted my head. Asher was sitting by a small fire, poking it with a stick. His long hair was dripping wet.

He noticed me as I slowly pushed myself up. "You're awake!" He shouted.

I flinched, my back hurt like hell, as well as my right wing.

I nodded. "What happened?" Why hadn't he escaped? He had the perfect chance since I was unconscious.

"After we fell into the river, you fell unconscious. I had to carry you out of there." He glanced at my wings. "Those things are heavy. I almost gave up a few times." He sighed. "Anyways, I carried you out and decided to wait for you to wake up."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why would you do that?"

"Well," He tilted his head to the left. "Look there,"

I looked to see a massive structure just standing out here, right by the river. It was clearly made with the same aesthetic as the demonic ruins I'd seen before. It was much larger than any of them though. It looked like a large medieval fort, though most of its outer wall had crumbled with time.

The walls were cracked, and plants were slowly taking over the structure, but all things considered, it was in fairly good shape.

"Demonic ruins?" I asked hesitantly. Sure, it was really interesting, but it still didn't explain why he didn't run away from me.

"I think so." He said with a defeated tone. "Look, I'd love to just walk away and leave you here," I flinched, that was more honest than I thought he'd be. "But as soon as we approached the damn thing, all my spells stopped working. I'm a sorcerer. I can not survive without my spells." He looked me straight in the eye. "And I didn't want to cause another human to die."

A smile flashed across my face. "How about we get away from here, then? You wouldn't mind coming back to camp, would you?"

He sighed. "Look, I'll tell you who hired us. But honestly, I don't think it's such a big deal. They were just curious about the group who took down two bosses. So, can we skip the whole sword at my throat thing and act like civilised humans?"

I chuckled. "Sure, let's do that. How about we focus on getting back first, and then we can talk?"

He nodded. "Can't you fly us back?" He said as he glanced at my wings.

"Even under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be able to carry you for long enough. And," I said as I tried to stretch my wings. My left wing stretched nicely but my right wing refused to move properly. "I think it's broken."

He flinched. "In that case, we need to get you back to the camp so your priest can heal you."

"Let's get out of the no magic area first." I stood up and hid my wings. Asher stated at me in disbelief as they disappeared in a black-ember mist. "Come on," I said as I summoned my scythe. I looked at the river, we'd probably reach camp if we followed the river. "Let's go."

We walked in silence for a short while, though it was clear there were things Asher wanted to say or ask. A while past as the sun slowly climbed the sky.

"Oh, would you look at that? My magic is back." He calmly said as I climbed over a fallen tree. I immediately froze in place. Something about his calm voice made me feel in danger. He was stronger than me, he'd proven it with that spell earlier. I did not want to have to fight him again. Was he going to honour our previous conversation?

For a short while, we stared at each other. "What now?" I asked.

He hesitated. "Well," magic gathered in his palm. "How about we make a deal?"

I glanced at his palm, then at my scythe. I would never reach him in time. "What kind of a deal?"

"I'll heal your wound. And I'll tell you who hired us." The wind whirled around us. "In return, you tell me how you killed that phoenix and help me out with something." His eyes let out a jade shine. His long hair blowed in the wind.

I slowly stepped down from the fallen tree. I couldn't take any chances with him. He was strong, perhaps even stronger than Rina. "Who are you?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes.

"Someone who is trying to get out of this damned game." He grinned, then his expression darkened. He raised his arm. I felt the magic around us shift and threw myself on the ground. My heart raced as a flash of light illuminated our surroundings. Several muffled thuds sounded. "And I do not appreciate those who are trying to stop me." His cold voice sent a chill down my spine.

I glanced around to see the corpses of nearly a dozen creatures. He'd killed all of them with a single spell and he didn't have to chant like Rina did before casting it either. I motioned to get up, but a sword seemingly made from pure light touched my throat. "I don't think I'd be very smart to let you get up, since you're a little bit too fast for me."

"Who the hell are you?" I asked as I tightened my grip around the shaft of my scythe. I felt the blade of light pierce my skin. As a single drop of blood ran down my neck, Asher narrowed his eyes. "Put the scythe down, Kai."

After a moment's hesitation, I slowly placed the scythe on the moss-covered ground, then raised my hands to indicate I wasn't a threat to him anymore. "Everything you said earlier was a lie, then?" I asked. There was a lump in my throat. "Fearing for your life was an act?" He had tricked me, completely. I hadn't even considered the possibility of him downplaying his own power.

"No, not entirely." He said as his lips formed a bitter smile. His magic enveloped my scythe and lifted it off the ground. "I did fear for my life, you did catch me off guard." He grinned. "But you're so naïve. So, trusting. You didn't even consider me a threat." I gulped as his magical winds whirled around us.

"What do you want from me?" I hissed through my clenched teeth. I couldn't believe I had fallen for such a simple trick. I was an idiot.

He grinned. "Many things," He said as he gestured me to stand up. I did as he asked as I didn't really have much of a choice. "But first," He continued with his words. "We'll have to make sure your allies don't come after us."

I flinched. "What do you mean?" As soon as the words left my mouth, I heard a distant voice, calling my name. It was Alex's voice; she was searching for me.

"Let me make something very clear." Asher stepped closer as he whispered. "I will get out of here. And I will save as many people as I can. But I have no sympathy for the son of the man who trapped us here."

I flinched. He knew who Erik was?

"I will never blame the child for his father's sins." He added as the winds of magic around us quickened. "I will never hunt him for something as empty as revenge as many others surely will. But I will use whatever I find to get out of here." His cold, harsh tone sent shivers down my spine.

"And I couldn't have asked for a better tool than the Keeper of Souls, who just so happens to be at my mercy."