Daniel palms the blade away from his sternum without flinching, throwing out his hands to knock me off balance and sending me skidding backward. His eyes glitter and flash a searing blue.

"What in God's name do you think you're doing?" He chokes out, panting ever so slightly.

The surprise and betrayal in that glare stings.

Instead of answering, I whirl to the side and attempt to slam the butt end of my hilt straight into his temple. Daniel ducks and aims to smack the grip from my hand. Clever, a decision based on fighting experience.

I'm smarter though, slashing my hand to the side and trying to strike down his chest.

"Iridian," he hisses, arching his back and holding his hands out in surrender. "What on earth are you doing?"

I withdraw slightly, standing up straight and twirling the blade effortlessly. The metal sings in the light with the buzz of my mana radiating off the tip. Each sigil glows a faint, rich color of its own.

Daniel catches his breath, eyeing me with such confusion I almost laugh. "You're not trying to kill me, Ira. You would've by now."

My eyes roll. "Of course I'm not going to kill you, Moron. Though, I am awfully surprised you're good enough to disarm me for so long without revealing anything to me."

His eyes narrow and something low and dark rumbles in his throat. "That's what this about? Really?"

"Yes."

"Why couldn't you just-"

"Ask? I tried that. Drop it? I was going to. But don't you think I deserve to know who and what you are after the mess we've been dragged into, Daniel? I'm not going to tell them. I'm not going to ruin this team or family you've built, whatever you want to call it. But I need to know what's on my side if I am going to come up with game plans and strategies and to be perfectly honest, I don't care for this selfish behavior."

Daniel stares at me, then looks at the ground. His face is growing red and exhausted, but the boy relents and allows a long sigh.

The electric glow shines out from his eyes again, a strong dagger lengthening in his palm. His eyes focus in on my throat, a short dash closing the distance between us.

I parry the blow, elbowing his sternum and kicking his feet out from under him.

I start chuckling, tossing the blade into the air and watching it vanish with a sheer ring. Stepping forward, I reach out and offer my hand to the heaving boy. "A Demi-god then, yes? One who's clearly never fought seriously at that."

"I've fought seriously," he chokes again, spitting on the ground and taking my hand in his. "But not against an ancient, jaded Goddess who doesn't know how to pull her punches."

This really makes me laugh, a hand clapping him on the back. "Daniel, if I didn't know how to pull my punches, you would've imploded with the force of pressure my elbow would have sent throughout every cell in your body."

A small smile pulls at his lips but he doesn't say much else, still gathering his composure.

We start walking back after a few minutes, silence consuming our tongues while I consider the gravity of our force. While likely on par with Meika in power, his inexperience takes away from any strength he might have.

Theron is far too weak for anything and with his worsening condition. Every minute we've been gone I've worried about what we'll find when Daniel and I return. If something were to go severely wrong in just a few hours, I couldn't forgive myself for not trying harder when we were last together.

My heart starts to feel crushing pressure.

Young Remi could be killed in a heartbeat should a single step of this plan go wrong. She's been a captive before, but with little to no training and someone willing to protect her every step of the way.

The likelihood of everyone making it out alive is slim and petrifying.

Daniel sees it on my face too. His slight smile falls away into a heartbreaking frown. "What's wrong?"

"Don't worry about it," I reply, shrugging it off and continuing forward. "Just Immortal problems."

He tries to smile again but it doesn't reach his eyes.

In the distance, I can see the fire flickering to life against the horizon. There are several hills between us and them, but in a deserted part of India, as we are, Most of the towns were buried and destroyed. Anything we'd seen up into this point, whether it be large fallen over buildings, shrapnel, and glass or just underground cities.

I don't hear much going on, I think Meika being the only person left awake.

My legs start to get weak beneath me with exhausted depression.

"Come on, we're almost there," Dan says in quiet reassurance. "Though I think it best not to wake them."

I nod, agreeing.

Lindon would know what to do with them. He would be able to tell me this was all just a dream or if we needed to get them away from here. Granted, I don't think Lin would care much for anyone's well being after all of this.

I close my eyes and almost fall over.

"Looks like you're going to sleep well enough tonight," Daniel tries again, mustering all he can to cheer me up.

A small smile is stolen from my lips. Not particularly at what he's saying, but all of the effort going into making me feel better. He might not be human, but some of their good attributes were wearing off on him.

When we make it to camp, the humans are asleep and Meika barely acknowledges us. I don't get to pull out my mat, feeling dizzy and falling to the ground on all fours. Whatever comes over me is rushing in waves, painful and consuming.

Daniel and Meika look at me this time, but I give a faint wave of confidence before collapsing on top of my pack. 

Everything begins to spin.

"Ira?" A faint voice asks.

But I'm already tumbling through the strange lights of unconsciousness in my brain. Pain sears my skull until everything goes black.

It's dark, a pressure surrounding me in some sensation I do not recognize.

Someone hurdles me into the barrier meant to keep Lindon confined, my limp frame bursts through the seal. The boy swims away.

Laughter echoes off the walls and I try to pry my eyes open, just for a moment. A glimpse, all I need is a tiny surge. Lin is wicked at this point, choking on the dust of his own unused voice. Lashing against his chains, I hear the worst possible words.

"So this is to be my torture for the day," he snarls, leaning back in his chains. I hear them strain against their locks in the wall, wrinkling and tugging in chimes.

Weak tears line my eyelashes, one or two pooling between cheek and nose. I cannot move, cannot breathe, shallow pants escaping me. The most disheartening realization coming when I use all my strength to move a finger. A flame sparks, tiny and fragile.

"Lin..." I whisper.

The words he whispers next are assaulting. Just like muffled water, I cannot hear them and even then they sting with the pounding burn of several suns.

A muffled scream escapes me and I feel every muscle inside me contract tight, forcing me to writhe on the floor. Bawling like a small infant. Pain consumes from the mention and the gentle mania subsides in him slightly. "I could never, I couldn't... I... I can't...Lindon..."

A different sort of tension fills the room, a confusing torrent of guilt and grief. He says nothing more, but the chains rattles and I hear his weight shift to the opposite side. A lengthy breath, some cautious murmurs.

"Ira...?"

Sheer cold wakes me up, Meika pouring frozen liquid down my head and chest. I start spitting out and jump off the ground. "W-what the he-"

"Dreams?" Is the only thing the Witch says, Theron and Remi peeking up at me in frustrated confusion. I stammer in response. "You were screaming."

I must've gone into a night terror of sorts.

Daniel throws me a worried look but I pull into myself, wrapping my arms around soaking knees and sighing into my legs. "I'm sorry."

"Are you okay?" Remi whispers over to me.

No.

"I think so," I smile a little bit, trying to reassure her.

Her head plunks down back on her pillow after that, everyone else finding it suitable to sleep. I lean into my knees more and close my eyes.

A better answer would've been; I hope. 

I know I scared you with that last chapter, don't kill me lol.

I don't plan on killing Daniel any time soon. Or do I? I don't know, I'm not mean enough to think about those things... Or am I? Okay, I'll stop. Thank you all for reading. 

As such, I have a question. 

Who is your favorite character and why?

Leave a comment below and don't forget to vote if you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a magical day.