Chapter 25

While everyone was chatting, they were all having fun despite Luke not being awake and Iya being away. "She tried killing me once she woke up, but left to be alone for a while," Myrin said to Tim when he asked about her.

Zoey still said nothing and Tim was confused by why she was here with them.

So he went to talk to her. He sat down and there was a sword to his throat almost immediately. "Hello," he said raising his hand in surrender.

"I apologize for that," she replies quietly and her sword disappears.

"Why are you here?" Tim asked in confusion. "Aren't you a soldier of the law or something?"

Zoey seemed down. "The elf oracle advised me not to return to report to the capital because the exact same thing I was trying to do to the Angel of Darkness would be done to me before I get executed," she replies sadly.

"Oh," Tim replies feeling bad for her.

"I am thoroughly connected to his mind, I know what he's dreaming of. He's evil so--"

"No, no," Tim said. "You don't know him so why would you call him evil?" he asked.

Zoey was in disbelief. "But he was tried to kill His Majesty," she said desperately.

"And your king announced his execution during their reunion," Tim said calmly. "I'm sure any other person would have broken down first then killed him and would make sure he started he stayed dead," he said.

"Are you saying because that is what you would do if you were in shoes?"

Tim shrugged. "I don't know," he replies calmly. "I don't know what he's thinking," he said, he then observed Zoey. "You are desperately trying to make Luke seem like the bad guy, not just to me but to yourself," he said seriously. "You saw something in Luke's memories that is making you question your king?"

Zoey was about to respond but he stopped her. "Don't answer that, I don't think Luke would enjoy me invading his privacy by getting information with someone who shares his mind," he said.

"Luke is awake!" River shouted. Tim got up immediately and walked to the place where Luke was sleeping.

"Are you okay?" Tim asked. Luke blinks slowly like he hasn't comprehended the fact that he's awake. Tim snaps his finger in front of him.

"Stop doing that, I am awake," Luke said in annoyance. He knows of Zoey's conversation with Tim, they share a mind after all. He looks at River and the others. He notices Myrin and said, "Creepy old man?"

"I'm not old!" Myrin replies in annoyance. "I am merely eight hundred years old," he said with a bit of pride.

Luke looks at him blankly. 'That's way too long,' he thought. "Anyway, why did you put that spell on me anyway?" he asked.

"I wanted to test you," Myrin replies casually.

"Oh okay," Luke replies. He doesn't know what he is being tested for, but it doesn't matter to him as long as he doesn't just black out randomly whenever he feels pain in his mind. "So did I pass the test?" he asked eagerly.

"The test nearly made you destroy a town, and you are concerned if you passed the 'test'?" Quincy said in disbelief.

Luke shrugs. "Is the town destroyed though?" he asked.

"Almost," River said in a serious tone.

"Really?" he asked in amazement. "How many people died?" he asked.

"Twenty people," Zoey said in a cold tone.

"Oh," Luke replies in a monotone voice. His heart became cold and the light in his eyes slowly disappeared.

Myrin observes his reaction closely. 'That isn't a look of sympathy,' he thought. His aura became a dark grey. 'He's simply detached.'

Luke stood up and began to leave. "I need some time alone please," he said seriously.

None of them went after him. "His aura is a darker shade of grey," River said.

"I'll try to talk to him later," Tim said scratching the back of his head.

Zoey watched Luke with squinted eyes. There was no form of sympathy in his heart, no joy or sadness either. 'He's a monster in disguise of a human,' she thought uncaring of if Luke could hear her thoughts.

After two hours, dinner was done, and everyone had finished eating Luke hadn't returned, but Iya did.

"I am going to find Luke," Tim said when he became impatient.

"He said to leave him alone," Riser said.

"What if he's being eaten alive by some weird creature?" Tim said in worry.

Everyone looked at him blankly. "Luke isn't hopeless unlike you," Quincy said and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Ouch," Tim said sarcastically. "I'm going to find him anyway," he said getting up to leave.

Nobody stopped him. River wanted to, but she was held back. "It isn't our place to stop him now," Pat said. "Besides it might turn out to help the both of them."

Tim looked for Luke for a long while until he found him sitting at the edge of a cliff surrounded by silver butterflies. 'A picture of this would blow up on the internet,' he thought.

"I said no one should follow me," Luke said.

"You said follow not look for me after two hours of being missing," Tim said. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

Luke said nothing for a while before saying. "Sure why not, it might not be bad to talk about the things on my mind right now," he replies which surprised Tim a bit. To be honest he was a stubborn refusal and an argument.

'I did not think this far,' Tim thought as he awkwardly walked to Luke. "We both can't sit there," he said.

"Okay," Luke replied obediently and stood up carefully. "We can sit here," he said and sat down. They were barely three feet away from the edge of the cliff.

Tim sat down and waited for Luke to speak. "You know I don't feel bad for killing all those people," he started.