A hypocrite

The pair of demon dogs increased the distance between themselves and Zemin to twenty meters. Each of them felt like a tense compromise that didn't make anyone happy, but they still had to deal with it.

"Jagger speaking. Esquire, what are you talking about?! Report the situation properly, hell take you!.. Over."

Zemin bit his cheek and stayed silent. What could he say that won't result in more grief?

'I failed already, anyway. This is blatant insubordination, at the very least. And I am letting a powerful demon escape, although all Esquires and Exemplars should be ready to sacrifice their lives to stop them.'

Despite this, Zemin's chest wasn't weighed down by regret. He was saving two souls today—Adia's and Jagger's.

Ten meters of walking later, Jagger spoke again.

"Jagger speaking. The hand fell off, and all traces of Angor Psi-energy disappeared. Is that what you wanted to hear? What have you done, boy? Over."

Zemin let out a relieved sigh. "Zemin speaking. Thank you. I will be back in a minute."

He turned toward Angor's dogs, thinking to at least shoot one while he could, but the demon already got another five meters away.

"Here's my cue, pup. Live and suffer the consequences of your own decisions!"

Then the dogs laughed mockingly and ran off, quickly disappearing in the shrubbery. Their auras vanished even sooner—Angor was good at hiding his presence.

Zemin turned around and ran back to the other Psionics.

***

When he returned, he saw Narcisa sitting next to Adia's partner, using Psionics to heal his bleeding stomach. Adia was lying down near three other people from her team—ones that Angor hooked on trees. All of them were unconscious, and Adia had an ugly purple bruise on her pale neck. But their auras were there—they were alive, and Jagger was there, bandaging their wounds.

When Zemin stepped out from behind the trees, Jagger's full attention went towards him. He stood up to his full incredible height and pointed at the Void Portal that gaped ten steps away.

"Esquire! Explain what IS this! And what about the rest of the dog demons? Did you kill them all?"

Zemin stood to attention and took a deep breath.

"Sergeant, the dog demons were a part of Angor and held his consciousness. I killed all but two. Then the demon took Adia hostage and promised to kill her unless I let Angor go. He wanted you to make the final decision, but I refused, and chose to let him go. So it's only my fault that the demon got away. Sir."

Jagger stared at Zemin, speechless. Even Narcisa lifted her head from the wounded to give Zemin a shocked look.

The silence stretched for a moment.

"Also, please, don't touch the Void Portal. This is a special ability that I have, and it destroys anything it touches." Zemin pointed at the Void Portal. "We need to isolate it by a wall before we leave this place—I can take care of that myself. Sir."

Jagger let out a shuddering sigh. But the moment of weakness was only that—a moment. The man folded his hands over his chest and regained a calm expression.

"This… Void Portal. You can't destroy it?"

"No, sir. No one can."

Jagger nodded and glanced at Adia, before looking back at Zemin.

"As for your decision toward Angor, Zemin… It was your decision, and the Exemplar Commander will be your judge—but! You disobeyed a direct order, you understand? When I ask a direct question, you must answer—is that clear, Esquire? You don't have the privilege to judge who should know what—and if you keep up like that, you will never have it!"

Zemin withstood the lecture without blinking an eye. It was actually a better reaction than he expected.

"I understand, sir."

Jagger huffed. "Yeah, I know how you 'understand'. I was that person once… Come here, help me with bandaging these poor guys before Narcisa can get to them."

Zemin hurried toward the task that, for once, was simple and clear-cut. But near the wounded, he stopped. A pair of faces was vaguely familiar—something he didn't pay attention to before.

Adia's partner and one of the other wounded—Zemin couldn't recall their names, but now he was sure that they were the people who tried to rob Zemin earlier together with Gane.

He didn't know they were in Adia's team.

'It doesn't matter, I suppose,' Zemin thought, unwrapping a roll of bandages. 'Assholes or not, they are also Esquires.'

Zemin was glad that they were alive, even if the wounds left by demons were grievous. He put as much care with first aid as he'd do for anyone else.

Adia still didn't wake up, but her sleep was caused more by exhaustion and shock than by wounds. Zemin kept stealing glances at her, and it didn't go unnoticed.

"Your sweetheart, or something?" Narcisa asked. She had finished with her previous patient and now sat on the ground next to the one Zemin was bandaging. Without waiting for Zemin's reply, she waved her hand. "Move aside, I will take care of this one. At least I will make him look presentable for a funeral."

Zemin scooted back and forced himself to look Narcisa in the eyes.

"A funeral? He's still alive!"

"I already saw what Angor did with the one we found first. The demon didn't leave them alive so they could return and take revenge later—he turned their spines into a jigsaw puzzle. Sending them straight to Heaven will be easier than finding a healer who can fix the damage. But maybe they will live enough to put a good word about you to the 4th Exemplar Commander. Not that he would listen. Danis was right—we shouldn't have gotten attached."

"I'm still here, Narcisa. I'm alive, and Sergeant Jagger is alive, and you are alive. We could have been not! Although, you weren't exactly there—"

"I was close enough to see what's going on and stay back. And don't misunderstand—I am grateful, I am! But you are just delaying the inevitable." Narcisa dropped her hands to the sides and let out a hollow chuckled. "But so do I. I'm such a hypocrite."