I must have looked terrifying. There wasn’t a square inch of my clothes that was not absolutely drenched in blood. When the enemies had first begun to appear on Rex Aquarum, none of the blood on my body was my own, but now it would’ve been impossible to tell such.

All of my friends and about half a dozen students stood on the deck, and everyone looked at least a little bit roughed up. The darkest thing about the scene, however, was the fact that there were a lot more dead bodies than living.

Everyone stared at me, aghast. I was starting to feel the effects of an adrenaline dump slowly seep in. My surroundings suddenly became a lot clearer and I almost winced as the noise of the wind slammed into my ears.

The reality of the situation also set in very quickly. I realised what had just happened. And I did not like it.

‘Who died?’ I said quietly to the small crowd.

Nobody said a word.

‘Who died?’ I repeated, a little more clearly.

‘Well,’ Ethan began cautiously, ‘besides the countless people you slaughtered, five of the new students were killed. There are two more that are injured. They’ve gone down to the sick bay to rest and receive treatment.’

‘There’s no doctors on board,’ I replied tightly.

‘Charlotte’s trying her best.’

I bit my lip, mostly out of anger, but partly because an immense wave of sadness had washed over me.

Five students had been killed. I’d seen one of the killings with my own eyes, and only the Gods knew what had happened to the other four. They’d only just gotten on the ship to help fight in the war and they hadn’t even gotten through the journey home.

Nausea swept through my stomach. They had been innocent. They were literally children. No blood on their hands. They had not even had a chance to get ready to defend themselves. They had done nothing wrong.

They would never grow up. Any dreams that they had had when they stepped on the ship had been denied before they had even been expressed. That job they really wanted? That other kid they really liked? That family they had to return to?

Five families would soon receive the devastating news that their beloved child had been killed. For a moment, I considered just how many tears would be shed over such a short fight. A fight which I could have ended. I still grieved Grandad, and it had been nearly two years since his death. Tears for those five students could very well be being shed sixty years on.

‘I see,’ I breathed. ‘Does anyone know who they were? Even just their names?’

‘I do,’ Harvey replied quietly, raising his hand slightly. ‘Charlie Ryan. He signed on at the same time as me.’

Only three things could be heard for a moment: the breeze, the steam pouring from my wounds, and my blood hitting the deck.

‘Asbel,’ I said, a little louder.

‘Yeah?’ he replied from a few feet away from me.

‘Resume the flight. And under no circumstance do you stop until we reach RoCity. I understand that you are captain, but I implore that you do as I say.’

‘Understood,’ he said quietly. ‘And I implore that you go and get some rest.’

‘I don’t think I can,’ I murmured, my stomach churning.

I slowly began to walk towards the stairs as numerous pairs of eyes drilled into me.

‘And you lot, go back to what you were doing,’ I grumbled.

The walk to my bedroom didn’t quite feel real. I felt as though I were walking underwater. The stench of my blood stained the entire stairwell and bedroom corridor, as did the sight. It looked like someone had come and splashed crimson paint sporadically around the entire ship. It was not pleasant.

Before I even knew what was happening, I found myself in front of my bathroom mirror, staring apathetically at myself.

‘Do my eyes always look that hollow?’ I murmured to myself, gazing at my own reflection.

How was I supposed to return to RoCity? I had just got five young people killed. I could have easily ended that fight. Everybody that dared to cross my path had ended up dead before I got distracted by Righello, who eventually found himself at the end of my sword, too. I was the most powerful person on the ship. I should have killed them all.

I spat into the sink, watching the blood fly from my mouth and splatter against the inside of the sink with a revolting sound. Righello had got me good. But there would be no mercy the next time I saw him.

Thinking about the situation made a strange mixture of revolt and anger shoot through my veins. They would pay for this with their heads. I was better than Righello. I was better than Quinn. And, most importantly, I was better than Maltor. I would cut the three of them into pieces.

I clutched the sides of the sink, staring at the diluted spot of blood next to the plug. My shoulders fell with each breath that I let out.

‘I’m sick and tired of fighting,’ I said quietly. ‘I can’t take any more war.’

My nails scraped against the sides of the sink. It was only five people. Thousands more lives would be lost throughout this war. This was only the beginning.

Gritting my teeth, I straightened my back. No good would come from staring at my own blood in a sink; I should at least have been getting changed or something.

I flicked the tap on briefly, watching as my blood spiralled down the sink’s plug, never to be seen again. That was absolutely nothing compared to the litres of blood that would be lost as a result of my actions.

All of this, and for what? Because I stabbed him in the stomach? Because he wanted genocide? Because he had been brainwashed? There were so many possible reasons that just thinking about them made my head throb as I slowly trudged to the main room to get changed.

For a brief moment, I gazed out of my window at the dark sky outside. Dozens of stars glided by as we carved through the night. How could something so beautiful house something so dark?

As I took off each piece of clothing, I briefly gazed at the blood stains and the gashes on the fabric before balling them up and throwing them like a basketball into the far corner of the room.

I stood in the centre of my bedroom, completely silent. Why was I so affected by five deaths? I had killed dozens. Nothing gave me the right to get so affected by this.

I scratched the spot on my back between my wings, sending a welcome shiver down my spine. The emotion that filled my body at that moment could not be described by the most profound writer. All I knew was that I hated it all. Everything about this damned world made me want to tear it apart piece by piece.

I hadn’t realised how uncomfortable my bloody clothes were until I put on a fresh outfit. The feeling of the clean fabric against my skin was surprisingly liberating after I’d been covered in that filth for so long.

A knock on my door made my entire body freeze.

‘Who is it?’ I grumbled quietly, not even looking at the door.

‘Me,’ came Cecilia’s muffled voice from the other side. ‘Can I come in?’

‘Yeah. If you want.’

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the door slowly open before I felt Cecilia’s eyes staring at the back of my head. I took a deep breath. Despite the fact that my heartbeat had sped up upon hearing her voice, I didn’t want her to see me in this state. Only good impressions could be made in front of her.

Turning slowly on the spot, it hit me that nothing could have prepared me for such a drastic change in emotion upon seeing her. Yes, the dark feeling still sat in the back corner of my mind, but it was immediately washed away from the forefront of such by the feeling of absolute bliss.

The two of us stared at each other wordlessly for a moment before she slowly shut the door again. Concern coated her green eyes, and part of me felt incredibly bad as I was obviously the one that was causing her to feel that way, but the other part of me was immensely warmed by the fact that she cared that much about me.

‘You okay?’ she said quietly.

‘Why wouldn’t I be?’ I said tightly. I would open up under no circumstances.

‘You seemed more concerned with the dead kids than the fact you kicked ass,’ she explained plainly.

‘Because that’s more important.’

‘Remember when Righello said you aren’t the good guy? That’s exactly why he’s wrong.’

‘Don’t give me that,’ I groaned. ‘He’s right. I might not be as bad as Amy or Maltor, but I’m by no means a good person.’

‘What makes you say that?’ she asked, taking a seat at the end of my bed.

Oh no.

‘Look at what I just did, Cecilia,’ I grumbled. ‘I can’t even count how many people I killed, and I did it in horrific ways, too.’

‘Albert, they want genocide,’ she reasoned, but I couldn’t tell whether she was just saying it to make me feel better.

‘Does that really matter? A life is a life. They’re fighting for what they think is right.’

‘You’re in shock,’ Cecilia replied tightly. ‘Give it a while and you’ll forget this ever happened.’

‘I’ll never forget taking a life.’

She stared at me blankly for a moment, as though she were deciding on what to say. Eventually, she did.

‘Then I don’t think I can help. But it was their lives or yours.’

I sighed. ‘I wanted to end this peacefully, you know? Sorry if you don’t wanna hear it, but I did try to talk things over with Maltor. Kinda.’

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

I was only partially lying. True, there was a time when I had tried to talk things through with Maltor, but that had not been my initial reaction to seeing him after supposedly killing him. Images of our first fight flashed through my mind. He had reappeared and I had gone against what everyone was saying to fight him. That had only been six months ago. It felt like years.

‘See?’ she said comfortingly. ‘Only a good guy would try and do that.’

‘I’ve taken so many lives, Cecilia,’ I retorted, barely louder than a whisper. As I said this, flashes of those moments flew through my mind. It felt as though I saw every single life I ended all in an instant. ‘This fight is nothing compared to the past nor what is to come. It shouldn’t affect me this much.’

‘Righello wouldn’t have regretted it if you had let him kill me,’ Cecilia replied quietly, now looking at the floor. ‘Stop acting like you’re some horrible person.’

I slowly turned my head to stare at her.

‘Focus on the positives. We’ve wiped out an entire squad and you kicked ass and looked good doing it.’

Everything in my body seemed to shut down as she said I looked good.

I walked over and sat next to her on the bed, my heart pounding.

‘I did kick ass, huh? So what if I took their lives? They would’ve taken ours otherwise, right?’

‘Exactly,’ she said, looking up and then staring into my eyes. ‘That’s more like it.’

‘It’s cruel,’ I snarled through gritted teeth. ‘This world is too damn cruel.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘There’s too much fighting. First Amy, now Maltor. Too much death. And it won’t stop until someone sacrifices everything.’

Cecilia scoffed. ‘You’re right. There is too much fighting. Good job you’re good at it.’

‘He almost killed me.’

‘Did he? Cuz to me it looked like you were seconds away from cutting his body into little pieces.’

I smiled at her. ‘Was I really that good?’

She nodded ferociously. ‘Ask anyone on deck. You’re way better than Righello.’

‘Thanks, Cecilia. Genuinely.’

‘Why are you thanking me? You’re the one that beat him.’

‘Thanks for this talk.’

‘Don’t mention it,’ she smiled. ‘We were talking before they showed up, after all.’

‘Huh, we were,’ I replied absently. ‘It feels like hours ago.’

I felt like hugging her. It was quite strange. We had been having a normal conversation, and yet the most irresistible of urges to hug her had surged through my body out of nowhere. I wanted nothing more than for the two of us to leap at one another and embrace tightly.

‘Where were-’ I began, but I was interrupted by yet another knock on my door. ‘Come in.’

It was Asbel.

‘Well, this doesn’t look like you’re getting rest,’ he said mockingly, staring at me and Cecilia. ‘Come on, man, you need to at least try and sleep before you have to fly.’

‘But I want to-’

‘Captain’s orders,’ Asbel interrupted, smirking. ‘You can talk to Cecilia whenever. Koning van de wateren won’t fly itself.’

And, with that, he shut the door.

I glanced awkwardly at Cecilia. Not only did I want to hug her, but I also wanted to talk to her. I knew that the second she left, the dark feeling that had been present before her entrance would return. I didn’t want that.

‘He’s right,’ Cecilia said promptly, standing up. ‘We can talk at the city, right? You need your sleep after that fight.’

‘But I want to-’

‘Don’t make me tuck you in myself.’

I considered this scenario for a moment and realised quickly that it certainly would not be the worst. In fact, I almost felt a smile begin to grow as the image of it grew in my mind.

However, I could not let this feeling out into the world, so I grumbled and rose from the bed.

‘Thanks for the talk, though,’ I said quietly. ‘And we will talk again, yeah?’

‘Why wouldn’t we?’ she replied with a smile that made my heart throb. ‘I like talking to you.’

‘Y-Yeah, I like talking to you, too,’ I mumbled weakly.

She smiled. ‘Now go to sleep.’

I watched her hair flow over her shoulders as she quickly made her way out of the room. Even the way she closed the door made my heart do things that it probably should not have done.

I took a step forward so that I was a few feet away from the wardrobe next to the door.

I swung my fist into it as hard as I could.

‘Shit, shit, shit!’ I spat angrily. ‘Why? Why, you stupid bastard? Why did you have to fall in love with his sister, for Titan’s sake!’

***

Flying Rex Aquarum for the second time was, as one would expect, very similar to flying it for the first. The only major difference was that I was drastically more comfortable and knew my way around the dashboard much better.

I didn’t even have to think about what I was doing; I just did it. My hands and fingers moved of their own accord as the ship glided through the night sky.

Other than my hands working their magic, my body was completely still. My eyes were glued to the scene before me, and it felt as though nothing could get them to move.

Asbel had told me that I only had to fly for about five or six hours, but that was practically the entire way home. He had insisted that I wake him up once I was done, but I thought that it would be best to let him get his rest; I could easily fly all the way home.

Speaking of which, we were due to arrive at RoCity just before seven in the morning. It felt like aeons since I’d last been home, and I was itching to get there sooner, but Rex Aquarum was already flying at top speed, so unless I jumped off and flew myself, I wasn’t getting there any quicker.

There was no way that anyone at RoCity knew about the fight that had taken place mere hours ago. No chance. Nobody would know that I had killed countless people in horrible, gory ways. So why was I so scared that I’d be hated upon my return?

Images of those fighters falling at my feet flashed through my mind. I was a beast. In the moment it felt natural; like second nature. So why the hell did it hurt so much afterwards?

I was a tough kid. Since the ripe old age of one, I had been conditioned to be so. I had spent seven years fighting for my life pretty much every single day. It would be impossible to count how many Erasers I’d fought. How many I’d killed.

But that had been for survival, right? But, at the same time, I’d killed those attackers for one reason: they’d tried to kill me. So, in both situations, I was saving myself. Why did they feel so different?

Perhaps it was the way it had been done. I had split someone’s head open, for Titan’s sake. Never in my entire time at The School had I done that to an Eraser, they had usually been dealt with by blunt hits.

Or, maybe it was that I, in a way, was liberating the Erasers. Existing had been a pain for them. Every single movement they made, every breath they took, every thought they had. It had all been torture for them.

Thinking about the Erasers put a fresh thought in my mind. Whether it was a welcome thought or not was uncertain.

The Erasers had never lived past seven or eight. Humans died of old age in their seventies, eighties, and beyond. Erasers died of old age before even hitting ten. They simply could not live any longer.

Us bird kids were the best experiment to come out of that place. Before us, the stars had been the Erasers. We were superior to them in every aspect.

So, how long would we live?

The short answer? Nobody knew. Unless The School had documented an estimation, there was not a single soul on this planet that could even make a blind guess. We could drop dead tomorrow. Hell, I could’ve dropped dead right then and there. Nobody would be able to see it coming. I would give off barely any signs.

Whenever the Erasers were coming close to their end, there would only be a few telltale signs. Most notably, they would be slightly slower and weaker. These symptoms would only last a few days at most, however, before they dropped dead. You had to notice them fast, and that was difficult due to how insignificant they were.

So, what would happen if Maltor and I died suddenly? If one of us died from old age, the other would follow within a year at most.

Would the war end? Would his forces just give up without a leader? Would the RoCitian government just shove my position on Harvey?

Nobody knew. Nobody knew when this would happen, nor what would happen when it did.

Part of me hoped that the war would die with me and Maltor. If that were the case, then I would accept death with open arms, which was especially strange coming from me.

From a young age, I had established that death was by far my biggest fear. That’s why I was practically unstoppable in situations that could kill me. If someone threatened my life, I became overwhelmed by pure terror and did everything in my power to save myself. I was selfish.

I gritted my teeth. Why couldn’t I just fly the damn ship? I had no reason to dwell so heavily on the past when there were more pressing matters at hand.

Grasping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white, I suddenly found it difficult to hold back tears. I hadn’t even known they were coming.

‘Why?’ I murmured weakly, my head bowed. ‘Why can’t it all just be over?’

‘Flying the ship? You’ve only got like an hour left,’ came Isaac’s voice from behind me.

My head snapped around, my eyes wide.

‘Yeah, flying the ship,’ I scoffed. ‘Is it really already six?’

‘Yeah, about five past,’ he replied, and I realised that he was holding a plate of buttered toast. ‘My alarm woke me up so I got some breakfast and then came up. Want some?’

‘Nah, I’m fine.’

‘And, to answer your question, it can’t all just be over cuz this world is a shithole.’

I smirked. ‘Oh yeah?’

‘Oh yeah,’ he replied, smirking back. ‘The dirtiest shithole you’ll find. Ever.’

The two of us smiled at each other.

‘Do you want me to go get Asbel? He said he’d finish the flight, right?’

‘I mean,’ I began, thinking deeper about the question than he probably intended, ‘I don’t mind finishing the flight, but I presume he wants everyone awake when we land, and I don’t wanna be the guy to wake everyone up over the speakers.’

‘I’ll go get him.’

I thanked him as he left.

I hadn’t realised it until seeing Isaac’s toast, but I was absolutely famished. Due to an organisation that probably doesn’t have to be named, I needed more calories than a full-grown adult, even though I rarely ever ate that much. So, I was starving, to say the least.

As a result of my hunger, it would be an understatement to say that I was thankful for Asbel taking the wheel ten minutes later. The moment he assured me he was okay with flying the remainder of the journey, I bolted down to the eating area and made myself jam on toast.

Stephen was down there, too, and the two of us engaged in joyful banter as we ate.

‘Jam on toast is a bit childish for someone that fights like a God,’ he teased as he took a bite of his own food.

‘Shut up,’ I smirked. ‘It tastes good. And you’re eating it too.’

He scoffed. ‘And you move like an absolute machine when you’re fighting. I swear to Poseidon, I’ve never seen anyone move as fast as you.’

‘I’ll choose to take that as a compliment,’ I replied, still smirking.

‘Good. You should. Righello should be thanking the Gods that he’s still alive.’

‘Do you think that was the right thing to do? Or should I have killed him?’

‘No. You were right to let him live. Maltor’s gonna be absolutely terrified of you now.’

‘Exactly why I did it,’ I replied, grinning menacingly.

The two of us kept up the banter as we finished our breakfasts before he headed to the games room as I went up to the deck. Somewhat surprisingly, I found Harvey up there.

‘Morning,’ he mumbled as I walked over. ‘Sleep well?’

‘I tried,’ I sighed. ‘But it’s difficult nowadays.’

He nodded sympathetically. ‘I can imagine.’

I was waiting for it. I knew it wouldn’t be long before he brought up how good I’d been against Righello. It seemed to be all anyone cared about. Everyone seemed to have already forgotten about the fallen five.

‘Did you know him?’ I murmured.

‘Who?’

‘Charlie Ryan. One of the people that died.’

Harvey stared at the deck silently.

‘I wouldn’t say we were best friends, but we both knew we could rely on each other. He was funny.’

‘I’m sorry. I should have been quicker.’

‘Shut up. You did a great job at avenging him. And he didn’t die in vain. If I ever see Maltor, it’ll be Charlie I think of.’

‘Be careful fighting him,’ I warned. ‘He got me good a few times before I went training.’

‘Training?’

‘Long story. I’ll explain more in due time. To put it simply: he would beat me any day of the week before I went training, but the last time we met I wrecked his shit.’

Harvey grinned. ‘And now we can do it together.’

‘I can’t wait to see his face when I rock up on the battlefield by your side,’ I replied, grinning back. ‘He’s gonna be terrified.’

‘I’d be terrified if Righello came stumbling back to me in that state saying it was you who destroyed him that badly.’

I scoffed. ‘Everyone acts like it was a grand spectacle. I just fought.’

‘Yeah, like a damn machine.’

The two of us smirked at each other. Harvey was really beginning to grow on me. Sure, I’d hoped that the two of us would get along, but I hadn’t really expected for us to hit it off as well as we had.

From there, the two of us kept talking about the fight, and I told Harvey that I could teach him some of the Breathing Techniques if he wanted. I wouldn’t be able to teach him nearly as well as William had done me and Ethan, but I could at least try.

I even joked that he didn’t even have to fight using his magic. Sure, he would have to complete the test if he wanted to step foot on the battlefield, and it was based on magical capabilities, but that didn’t mean he had to use this. He thought that it was kinda stupid that you still had to do the test even if you didn’t wanna fight with magic, but those were the rules.

Then it happened.

It’s hard to describe. Even though I couldn’t see the city in front of us, I knew we were home. The air was different. I cannot describe how, but it was different. Perhaps I could tell because of my bird DNA; nobody else seemed to notice. Or maybe it was just because I had been longing to return for what felt like decades.

Harvey instantly knew something was up. Why? Because I leapt to my feet and began sniffing the air like a dog.

‘What? What is it?’ he shrieked, alarmed. ‘Is someone else coming?’

I eagerly stuck my head out over the side of Rex Aquarum to get a better view of what was in front of the ship. And what met my eyes only made my heart soar.

‘No. The opposite, even,’ I said, beaming. ‘We’re home!’

From where we were, it was difficult to get a full view of even the Valley. But it didn’t matter.

I could see the glistening sea beneath us, and could just about make out the ship hangar on the coast. The golden sand of the beach glistened so brightly up at us that I thought for a moment that I’d be blinded.

The bright grass came closer and closer as we slowly began our descent, and my grin only grew as I watched it zoom by.

From the angle I was at, I could see just over half the Valley. The Tower stood proudly over the entire place, glowing in the cold sunlight. It would now house a few more people, as some of the students had parents that weren’t coming or couldn’t come. So I would have some new neighbours. Cecilia and Harvey would be two of them.

It looked beautiful.

‘Attention, all passengers,’ came Asbel’s voice from over the speakers. ‘We are now making our descent to RoCity. Please begin preparing to disembark the ship. Thank you.’

I turned to Harvey, the fattest of all grins coating my face.

‘We’re here, man! We’re home!’