Kael
We were twenty minutes from the warehouse when I made my first mistake.
My first mistake was opening my mouth.
"You know," I said to Jane, "for an assassin your thread placement has some real room for improvement."
Jane looked at me.
"Rael caught it in under three seconds," I said. "Two months of ki. Which means either the placement was off or Rael is significantly more dangerous than a professional assassin should be comfortable with."
"Both can be true," Jane said.
"Yes but one of them is about you."
Jane looked at me with the specific expression of someone filing something away for later.
…click.
I did not recognize that expression for what it was.
The witness lived in the lower district. An older woman. She had seen something the night her neighbor disappeared — a group moving through the alley behind the buildings. Cloaked. Organized. People who had done this before and expected to keep doing it. She gave us a direction. Kairo asked her four questions in under two minutes and was out the door before I finished writing the address in my journal. He processed information while moving because stopping felt inefficient to him. Confident and direct. Already three steps into the next thing before most people finished the current one.
We followed the direction east. Through the lower market. Past the river access road. Into the older part of the district where the buildings pressed together and the streets narrowed.
We walked for three hours.
I had started writing. Slowly. Carefully. Recording things before I forgot them. Direction. Time. Witness description. Anything that felt like it might matter.
Rael slowed beside me.
Rael
I noticed he was writing before I realized I had slowed down.
The notebook was familiar.
Too familiar.
"You know that's not your journal."
"It is currently in my hand."
"That is Senna's journal."
"Temporary borrowing."
"She will kill you."
"She will be disappointed."
He kept writing slowly. Carefully. Like every word mattered.
"Why are you even writing," I said. "It's not like you can read."
"That is extremely rude."
"It is also true."
"Because I can't do it doesn't mean I can't learn," he said. "I've been very dependent on Senna lately. She reads. She writes. She remembers things. I just… exist. So this is my chance to learn."
"And her journal."
"She will understand."
Too confident.
We walked.
"Hey," I said.
"That is usually how conversations start."
"Remember our last conversation."
"Which one."
"The time I asked if you've ever killed anyone."
"...Yeah."
I swallowed.
"I need an answer."
"I gave you one."
"I need another one. What if there is no option. What if you have to kill someone. What if that person hurt Senna. Or Mira."
He closed the notebook.
"Weather is nice today."
"Do not change the topic."
"Please," I said quietly. "I need answers so I don't have to worry. You live in a world where it is kill or be killed now."
He looked ahead.
"We're not going to kill. We're going to save them. Besides, they'd probably kill us first. They are stronger than we are."
"But you can't die."
"I can."
"You are the immortal swordsman of origin."
"I can die if I want."
I stopped walking.
He slowed.
"I've noticed something," he said. "About Veyra. And… beings like her. From movies. Stories. They tend to never break their promises. Even when they're terrible people."
"You called her—"
"She is a shitty goddess," he said. "But she is still a goddess. You get it."
He continued walking.
"She doesn't know that I know this, but resurrection isn't free. It takes something. Out of me. Every time."
My chest tightened.
"I don't know what yet. Maybe memories. Maybe something else. Maybe my body just hasn't hit the limit. But it's not free."
Silence.
"So yes," he said quietly. "I can die. Just not all at once."
My fingers curled slightly.
"Then answer my question."
"If I have to kill," he said, "my answer is still the same. I don't know."
We walked.
"Back in my world," he continued, "there is this book I used to read. It is called the Good News. It says there are ten rules we should follow throughout our lives. So that after we die we obtain true peace in a kingdom that far surpasses the kingdoms built by men."
His voice stayed calm.
"I was raised to follow those rules. Sometimes I break some of them. Because I am human. But to kill… I never have."
He exhaled slowly.
"And one of those rules is do not kill your fellow man."
A pause.
"If I ever kill someone… I won't be the same Kael you know now."
He closed the journal.
Then he walked faster.
He caught up to Kairo and the others.
He didn't look back.
I slowed.
You say that…
But why are you smiling.
What if the resurrections are taking away your memories.
What if you have to kill someone.
My hand moved to my chest.
It tightened.
Warm.
Unsteady.
What is this I feel.
Tears blurred the road.
I wiped them quickly.
Then followed.
Kael
The trail ended.
Not at a wall. Not at a river. Not at anything that would explain it. The tracks in the muddier streets went up to a specific point and stopped. Clean. Too clean.
Jane extended threads in every direction.
"Nothing," she said.
Kairo crouched. "Treated. Suppression."
I stood there.
Something felt wrong.
Like a smell that didn't belong. Like silence that was too complete. The same wrongness from the warehouse mark.
I didn't say anything.
"Second dead end," Branik said.
"Back," Kairo said.
We turned.
I made my second mistake.
"Jane—"
"No."
"I haven't—"
"You have the voice."
"I have a voice."
"The one before you say something I don't like."
"I was going to say—"
"Did my threads detect it."
"...No."
"Then stop."
"I am simply—"
Threads hit me.
WHIP — SNAP — FWOOSH
Wrapped.
I looked down.
"I look like a decorative roast."
Jane tied me to a tree.
creeeak
Upside down.
"THIS IS AN OVERREACTION."
"You get used to it," Kairo said.
"You could help."
He looked at Jane.
"You really get along well with Kael."
…silence.
Jane turned.
Threads fired.
WHIP — SNAP
Kairo went up beside me.
creaaak
I looked at him.
"You did this to yourself."
"I made an observation."
I twisted toward Rael.
"Rael."
"No."
"I have not asked yet."
"You are about to."
"Please."
"You deserved it."
"That is harsh."
"You insulted Jane."
"I made a constructive—"
"You called her mid."
"I implied mid."
She folded her arms.
I sighed. "Fine. I see how it is. I thought we had trust. But clearly your personality is—"
I stopped.
Too late.
She stepped forward.
"Kael."
"Yes."
"Continue your sentence," she said slowly. "What were you about to say."
"I… I was going to say…"
"You were going to say," she repeated, walking slowly toward me,
"your personality is…"
"IS…"
"G— gentle! Yes! That's the word!" I yelled. "Gentle. Like a princess."
"Dude, she ain't buying it," Kairo said.
"Yeah, I know," I whispered. "How about you help me out."
"KAEEEL," Rael said.
"I'm Kael," I said softly.
"You are still hanging."
"Yes."
She punched me.
"Fist of fire."
THUD
I swung.
"WHY."
"You talked."
"Fist of fire."
THUD
"I AM A VICTIM."
"Fist of fire."
THUD
"I AM ALREADY HANGING."
"Fist of fire."
THUD
Kairo leaned away. "Emotionally I am elsewhere."
Branik snapped his thread.
snap
Kairo dropped.
thump
"You could have done that immediately."
"It was funny."
Rael looked at Jane.
"Put him down."
slice
I dropped.
THUD
We started walking again.
I didn't notice Rael wiping her eyes behind us.
I didn't notice anything.
But something still felt wrong.
And the second dead end did not feel like the end of anything.
It felt like the start of something worse.