Voices joined will never tire

Nothing more dangerous than a short rain right before dawn happened during the rest of that night. The sun that greeted us afterwards was hazy, the chill of the morning discreetly sneaking into the mansion through ajar windows.

I was sitting at the table in the upstairs room, discussing what happened a few hours ago with Yasenka. Siaril didn't join us. He didn't even leave his room for breakfast. I was terrified that the appearance of Sitriel's murderer would toss my friend right back into the half-dead state that we just managed to pull him out of. To my relief though, when I brought the food to his room, he just seemed a bit down and a little tense. He gave me a little smile, said he would like to think about some things alone and that me and Yasenka shouldn't worry.

And so we sat there, just the two of us, worrying.

"I really don't know what to make of this..." Yasenka sighed, propping her cheek on her hand. "How did he even manage to sneak in here?"

"Well... he used some magic. He looked and sounded like Siaril so flawlessly that even I got fooled." The sheer thought of it caused another chill to run down my spine.

"Unbelievable..." Yasenka stabbed the slice of apple tart in front of her with a small fork, lost in thought. The subtle scent of rum which the fruits were soaking in before landing in the dough reached me with the tiny breeze that came in from the balcony door. "What's even more curious, Siaril's sirath didn't warn him at all. He said he rushed upstairs only because the noise woke him up."

"The guy did say he was hired to help us, not to hurt us..."

The illathan looked me in the eyes, tilting her head slightly. I noticed that she had that adorable habit when she was thinking about something intensively. "Did he mention by whom and why?"

"We didn't get to that... I got too tempted to burn that smirk off his face..."

"Speaking of which, is that how you managed to summon a flame so strong that it was enough to drive away someone powerful enough to shapeshift, and burn some furniture atop of that? You tried it only once in your life before that, as far as I'm aware."

"What do you mean 'is that how'?"

"I mean through anger."

"I was just furious is all..." I muttered negligently and downed the rest of my nectar. It was wonderfully refreshing, but unfortunately didn't brighten my thoughts.

"Anger isn't a good way, Sigrian," Yasenka got very grave all of a sudden. "As a last resort, it can be used as a source for the fire, but you shouldn't do that. Just keep to what I told you earlier."

"Why? Does it make any difference?"

"It does. Hate isn't able to drive hate away, it can only make it grow more. And that's the best scenario. It's the same as with darkness not being able to drive away darkness. Only light can do that. So please don't do it again, alright? It will be better for you, trust me."

"Fine... Anyway... do you think the guy will come back?"

"I have no clue. The intensity with which he'll try to 'help' us will probably depend on how much he gets paid..."

"Do you think that story with being paid for helping is true? To me, it smells of a trap like a meadow smells of hay."

"Why don't you tell me? You're the one carrying a lie detecting crystal."

"I actually wasn't when he appeared... I always take it off for the night, it's a little uncomfortable. I'll never do it again, even if it should poke a hole between my ribs..."

"I see... No matter what the truth is though, I'm not entirely sure what's worse anyway: him helping us or him practicing his merry business on his own... Among people like him, you never know who's in cahoots with whom, and who he's betraying... and it means trouble for us either way."

We fell silent for a moment. I pensively traced the stem of my goblet with the tip of my finger and then started to swirl it delicately, observing the remaining juice rotate along the crystal walls. "Don't you think this is all pretty stupid?" I asked suddenly.

Yasenka watched me for a few moments, trying to grasp the context of my words. "What do you mean?"

"This whole conflict... all this plotting and all the people involved, the ones we know and don't know... is all of that really necessary? There has to be some other path, not like this one, where it feels like it makes no sense..."

"Yeah, it really doesn't."

Upon hearing such a quick and unhesitating answer, I lifted my eyes from the goblet.

"You're right to think it's stupid," Yasenka smiled softly at my surprised expression. "I don't see how it makes sense either... but do we have any other choice? I don't think you want to die without resisting? We could try talking, but will that work when decades of hatred cover any other emotion? Personally, I won't let them have their way... it might be true that it's sometimes more interesting to just let destiny carry you and see what it has prepared at the end, but... I don't want to regret anything. I like you... no, I love you both like my brothers. So if I am destined to fight or maybe even die, then I don't want it to be pointless. I want to fight for what's important to me and protect something that is worth any sacrifice. For the ones who make the remnants of hope shine in this world. For all the wonderful times and memories we shared, so that we can have even more in the future. I think that's the secret of being happy: to find even the smallest things that warm your heart and make sure you have them with you on every step of you journey. Take these tarts that Light makes for example," she finished in a lighter tone and impaled the last bit of apple with her fork. "You can immediately feel that he knows what's important in life."

"Yeah right... even with the choice of his ladylove he had amazing intuition," I joked. "A wise man indeed..."

There was a mix of amusement, embarrassment and the desire to scold me sparkling in her eyes when she looked at me again. "There's nothing between us..."

"... yet," I finished for her. She just rolled her eyes. She knew I was aware of how they looked at each other, how quickly they were growing closer. If it was still shortly after we met, I might have been quite jealous. Yasenka was a girl perfectly composed from beauty, intelligence, warmth, resourcefulness, zest for life and many other things... It did start with a small crush, but the time we spent together made me realize that I felt the same way she did - we were like siblings. And I was happy for my older sister.

I sighed, smiling a little and returning to the actual topic to not torment her. "I'm sorry, I know I talk stupid sometimes... I just can't help but have these strange thoughts every now and then..."

"What thoughts?"

"That the fight with Sharish is pointless for example. Even if we do get rid of him, there'll always be someone else who'll try to harm others in one way or another. Sometimes I even wonder if we could just take all our loved ones and flee somewhere where we wouldn't have to worry about any of that... I know it's selfish but I just can't entirely drive these thoughts away..."

"It's not really that strange." Yasenka seemed to think about something for a moment before she spoke again: "Let me share a tale with you, one that goes around my folk. A long time ago, where Laixya lies now, there was the sea. After many years of ruling over the region, it started to go back bit by bit, giving the space up to the land and leaving the swamps behind. No one really knows why that happened, but the sea, furious at this state of things, started to lash out at the shores with its waves, making countless sea creatures stay in the mud, helpless. A young boy, an illathan from one of our distant tribes living in the land of humans, walked along the shore every day, picking up every living thing he found and throwing them back into the water. One of the humans noticed it one day, watched the boy for some time and eventually walked up to him to ask why he's doing it. According to the human, the boy's efforts were completely pointless, the sea would just keep washing the creatures upon the shore all the same, so what he's doing didn't have any meaning. The boy looked him in the eyes in silence for a moment, then bent over to pick up a fish lying in the dirt between them. He tossed it into the water, looked at the man again and said: 'To her, it meant the world...'"

For a long while, I wasn't able to turn my gaze away from those wise eyes.

"I bet there are countless people in Earlindon who go through a similar pain as Siaril..." she continued almost inaudibly, making me focus all my senses on her next words. "If, a few days ago, I would have told you that what you're doing is pointless, that it doesn't have any meaning, because there will always be someone in this world who will be unhappy just like him... would you have given up?"

I closed my eyes, exhaling shortly. A small smile found its way to my lips. "No way I would have... I'm sorry... and thanks for the reprimand."

Yasenka giggled quietly. "Everyone needs one every now and then, even me. But since we're talking about Siaril... you should go to him. And once you're there, don't let him shoo you away and try to convey that message. Locking himself up in his room won't change anything."

"Gladly," I stood up, shoving the goblet away a little. I looked her in the eyes once more and bowed my head in gratitude before heading down.

Once in front of Siaril's door, I gave it a soft knock. When no answer came, I did it again, determined to follow Yasenka's advice. But when even the third knock was left unanswered, I warned that I'm coming in and slowly opened the door. I raised my eyebrows. The room was empty. "Siaril...?"

Upon looking around, my gaze fell on the mirror that was situated just opposite the door in his bedroom. One little detail caught my attention... I approached it and took a closer look at my face.

Even in daylight, my eyes weren't the dark, chestnut-brown anymore. They were a dark, storm-cloud grey, like fresh ink dissolved in water... They looked exactly as they did last night, right before...

I suddenly felt a freezing chill surround my heart. I ran back up to the library as fast as I could.