Chapter 17

He is nothing like us!

There it was again. The same dream.

Among the special few that he’d had several times before.

Darkness, and the calm void.

And housed within it… the flickering flame.

When will it grow brighter?

Will it ever conquer the darkness around it?

Or fade into nothingness? Like it never even existed in the first place.

There were voices in the distance now, circling the flame. Strange voices.

Whispers in the void.

Humans.

Humans, but with a slight accent that he just couldn’t place.

“I aged waiting for you to take the shot!” said a slightly familiar voice, agitated. “A second too late and he would’ve crushed our bones to dust.”

“That is not on me,” said a voice he only faintly recognized. A slightly younger voice. “It will take as long as it takes. You rushed in like a complete rookie.”

“The demon wasn’t going to wait around for you to search your damn feelings!”

“You insult me one more time and you will feel nothing for the rest of your life, I assure you.”

The first voice mockingly laughed. “So you now admit dabbling in forbidden magic? What happens when Master Korne finds out?”

“I don’t care,” said the other voice coldly.

A door swung open. And a faint light hit Alex’s face.

A familiar light.

He was awake. Lying on something soft.

Resting.

Should he risk opening his eyes?

That depends. Was he among friends?

By the shadows dancing upon his shut eyelids, and the angles from which the voices came at him, Alex could tell that the two young men must be staring each other down, interrupted now, by a tall, commanding presence.

“What’s going on here?” said the more mature voice. “Are you two at it again?”

The bickering men remained silent.

“Malti?” boomed the commanding voice.

Someone closer to Alex spoke timidly. “They’re at it again.”

“And here I thought some real battle experience would turn you boys into knights,” said the mature voice scornfully. “Clearly, I misjudged.”

“You said this would be a tame planet,” said the first voice in an accusatory tone. “It wasn’t even on the archives for Thoros’s sake! But here we are, risking our lives against D-rank demons acting like C-rank monsters!”

“The tide of war is always unpredictable,” said the wise old voice simply. “Only a fool is caught unprepared.”

“He was too slow!” He pointed at the man he was arguing with earlier. “And I didn’t even have my bracers, father!”

“As I said, unprepared. So that is on you, young knight.” He said the last part with special emphasis, making it clear that they weren’t father and son when on the mission, or on the battlefield.

The young knight spat distastefully and fell silent.

“As for you, Jovar,” said the older man. “You are taking too long to attain equilibrium.”

“I was distracted,” responded Jovar. “By a D-rank demon ape.”

“And thus, you must train. You understand?”

“I train enough!”

“Not your skills,” said the old man. “But your heart.”

Jovar grunted.

A scuffling sound came from somewhere farther to his right.

Alex opened his eyes by mere millimeters. A figure emerged from his bedroom.

A slender, female figure.

Wait, his bedroom?

And the soft surface that he was resting upon was actually…

His couch?

There were in his apartment!

Someone even went through the trouble of putting a dry t-shirt over him. His t-shirt. Surely taken from his closet.

Whoever these guys were, they at least cared about his modesty. That should be a good sign, right?

The woman stopped walking once she was barely out of his bedroom and postured herself carefully. She seemed uncomfortable, and slightly taken aback.

Her long, platinum white hair was messy, and her bright blue eyes looked tired. But she still radiated a powerful, regal aura.

Kairin.

Everyone else in the room bowed to her respectfully. Jovar did so with visible discomfort.

“Did you rest well, princess?” asked the bald, tattooed man kindly.

“I did,” said Kairin. “Until the Council of Loudmouths over here decided to get into a glorious battle of words over who screwed up the most. I think they both lost.”

The older man eyed the two young knights disdainfully. “Apologize to the princess for your shameful conduct.”

“Relax, Master Korne,” said Kairin. “We are far away from home. And they are my friends. I think we can do away with decorum, at least while we’re here.”

“How are you feeling now, Kairin?” asked the medic knight, Malti.

“Like my head would’ve exploded,” said Kairin. “If not for you.”

Malti shifted uncomfortably, clearly not used to public praise.

“I don’t remember falling asleep, though,” said Kairin.

A brief and uncomfortable silence crept out of nowhere. Kairin’s gaze shifted from Malti, to the two young knights, and finally, to her master. Her cheery smile gradually fading into a serious expression.

“So,” she said. “I see you three guarding the door. Am I a prisoner here?”

“No,” said Master Korne. “I can never presume to do anything so vile as take you prisoner.”

“So I can leave, then? If I wanted to?”

“Also no,” said Master Korne. “It is for your own safety.”

Kairin scoffed. “You sound just like Father.”

“He has good reasons,” Jovar jumped to the master’s defense. “We don’t know the situation out here. We know next to nothing about this planet. Or the kinds of abominations it houses.”

The archer’s eyes shot at Alex when he said that. Alex quickly shut his eyes, only to open them again, ever so slightly, once the conversation resumed.

“Jovar, you be careful!” Kairin warned him.

“I thought I could freely speak my mind now,” said Jovar. “Or was dropping decorum just a load of—”

“Silence, Jovar,” Master Korne commanded him; his tone calm, yet overbearing.

Jovar looked away with his arms folded.

“Kormac,” began Kairin with a measured tone. “How are you feeling?”

“Unfazed,” Kormac responded, trying to sound stoic. “As I always am.”

Wasn’t he just crying about not having his bracers?

“And your injuries?” asked Kairin.

“Gone,” said Kormac confidently. “I am back to full strength.”

“He’ll spend a month in the infirmary if he takes one more punch to the gut,” said Malti. “By a common three-feet frost monkey.”

“You dare mock me, Malti?” said an enraged Kormac.

“I am just telling you the facts! Why won’t you let me heal you?”

“This again.” Master Korne touched his forehead with his palm. “Kormac, let Malti heal you. That’s an order.”

“But—”

“An order!”

Kormac yielded.

Kairin turned to Malti. “And what about him?” she asked.

Alex could feel all their gazes rest upon him. But he didn’t dare open his eyes.

“He’s had it the worst,” said Malti. “I don’t know how long it’ll take for his body to heal, or his bones to rebuild, if ever.”

Kairin paused. It felt like it was difficult for her to get the next words out. “And uhm…” She loudly cleared her throat. “If he is treated… by the best medics of Cahrim… what then?”

“Then,” said Malti. “Then there is a chance. But it all depends on whether his body is even capable of healing through that.”

“We don’t know what he’s capable of,” said Kormac. “Or how much.”

“At least we know what he is,” muttered Jovar, which attracted an angry gaze from Kairin.

“What?” he protested. “We’re all thinking it. Kormac even said we might have to restrain him, suppress his magic.”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” said Malti. “Going by his rate of recovery, I don’t think he should be gaining consciousness for at least a week now.”

“When was the last time you checked on him?” asked Master Korne.

“It’s been a few hours… about when we brought him in here.” Malti looked uncomfortable. “I’ve been busy with the others since.”

“Check again,” Master Korne told him. “And give me an estimate. Meanwhile, I’m heading out to commune with the council regarding our next steps, and preparing transport for our… guest here.”

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Guest, huh?

“Don’t you mean prisoner?” Kairin snapped at him, echoing Alex’s thoughts. “You’re making a grave mistake, Master.” She tried not to give away the desperation in her voice.

Master Korne gave her a small smile and turned back to Malti, completely ignoring everything she said. “I’ll be gone a while, since I’m not using the galactic channels. So keep an eye out for each other. And wake me only if the danger’s big enough.”

“Understood,” said Malti.

Master Korne turned to leave, but then suddenly halted and turned around to face Kairin. “Oh, and…” He gently stroked the air with his fingers and said, “Forgive me, princess.”

A pair of black bands with glowing, runic lights scattered along their outer circumference rose in the air from atop a cabinet where Alex’s action figures once resided. The bands split in halves mid-air, and the four resulting semi-circular arcs shot at each of Kairin’s wrists in pairs of two halves like bullets, reattaching themselves into full circles once they covered her wrists.

Like some futuristic, magic-infused hand cuffs.

“Really, now?” Kairin raised an eyebrow at Master Korne.

Master Korne looked at her with a blank expression, but his eyes gave away his pain as he said, “Your father’s orders.”

So they were prisoners here, after all. Both of them.

Master Korne turned around and exited the apartment, shutting the door behind him.

“Where are the twins?” Kairin asked Malti.

“They’ve gone scouting,” Malti replied.

“Scouting?” Kairin looked confused. “Gigantic demon apes are not exactly inconspicuous. We’ll see them coming from a mile.”

Malti seemed uncomfortable responding now.

“Well?” Kairin probed him.

He continued, unsure of whether he should. “He thinks that… if the news of you being here was leaked… somehow… then Cahrim’s enemies may take advantage of that… somehow.”

“You mean send assassins after me?”

“I guess,” Malti shrugged and threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know. I don’t understand these things, Kairin!”

Kairin groaned.

She stared blankly in space for a while, lost in thought. The ice archer, Jovar, lent back against the wall where Alex’s big screen TV used to be; one of his knees bent with his foot touching the wall, his arms folded, and his eyes closed. Kormac sat on a stool also with his arms folded and his eyes closed; his legs were spread wide and his feet tapped the floor impatiently, repeatedly.

The awkward, uncomfortable silence from before crept right back.

Alex took the opportunity to stealthily look around without moving his head. He wasn’t sure whether he’d be able to move it at all, even if he tried.

The couch was closer to his window, and farthest away from the front door. His place was not that huge so he had a pretty good view from this of the whole apartment from this angle.

And it was… surprisingly neat; the opposite of what it was like when he was last here with Kairin.

The shattered glass and china on the floor were cleared. Open cabinet doors were firmly shut. Even his blanket was neatly folded.

However, nothing was in its proper place.

Upon a closer look, Alex noticed that his neatly folded blanket hung in the kitchen, and the kitchen mat was upon his dining table. His sound bar was shoved into a cabinet like a rolled piece of cardboard, with more than half of it poking out. The expensive wine glass set that his mother insisted he keep in the kitchen—since she actually expected him to have female company over—miraculously survived and was neatly laid out on his computer table.

And his action figures adorned the kitchen cabinets and the sink, right next to the soap bottles.

Well, whoever had cleaned had good intentions, at least.

Kormac began tapping his foot on the floor faster. His eyes still shut tight, and his muscular forearms tensing.

Jovar looked calm, but Alex could tell that he was clearly bothered by the incessant tapping, given away by his twitching eyebrows.

Kairin was still lost in thought, hopefully thinking about how to escape from here.

And Master Korne was still gone.

Malti eyes hopped from one knight to the other nervously, unsure of what to do next. He was probably mere seconds away from remembering that this is when he should be checking up on Alex.

Shit.

Alex never learned to fake being unconscious. His pounding heart would instantly give him away.

The foot tapping grew louder.

Jovar opened his eyes, annoyed. And, at the same time, so did Kormac. Their eyes met, deadlocked in an intense staring contest.

Kormac began tapping louder. His whole body was now shaking.

Jovar’s face looked like it would pop a blood vessel.

Then, suddenly, Kormac sprang to his feet. Jovar instantly put his foot back down and straightened up.

The two knights menacingly stared each other down, as though they were going to break into a duel any second.

Please, thought Alex. Not inside the apartment!

Kormac exhaled a puff of icy mist and turned to the door. Tilting his head back to Kairin and Malti, he said, “I’m going to train. Don’t worry, I won’t be far.”

With that, he too exited the apartment.

Five long seconds later, Jovar walked toward the door too.

“And where do you think you’re going, Jovar?” Malti asked in a quivering voice.

“To make sure the doofus doesn’t get himself killed,” said Jovar. “And to train.”

“But… but then… What am I supposed to do here alone?”

“Wait for Master Korne to emerge from his meditation,” Jovar said simply.

Malti looked like he was sweating profusely; his body shaking with unease.

“Oh come on, Malti!” Jovar was irritated. “The imposter is dead unconscious, and didn’t you say that he’ll remain so for weeks? Kairin’s restrained with anti-magic cuffs, so she’s practically useless. I’m sure Master Korne programmed it to turn heavier than a frost giant’s foot if she tries to exit through the door. No offense, princess, but you’re nowhere near strong enough to power through that.”

Kairin scoffed.

“He is probably on the roof,” said Jovar as he exited through the door. “So now you know where to find him; you know, if the cold cuts the roof.”

If the cold cuts the roof? Was it their way of saying if shit hits the fan?

These wizards may beat us in ice sorcery, but their idioms don’t even come close.

Malti collapsed on a chair and let out a long sigh. The fact that he was supposed to check on Alex had slipped his mind, for now.

Alex felt his consciousness slipping. His thoughts turned heavier and heavier to hold in focus.

A second later, he was passed out.

Alex had no idea how much time had passed when he next felt his thoughts return. In his mind, it was barely seconds ago that he last slipped out of consciousness.

But outside, the sky had turned much darker.

His living room had never been more crowded, and yet it now felt empty, somehow. Master Korne and the other knights had not returned. Even the medic knight, Malti, was now missing.

Alex tried to raise his head to look at Kairin, who was just a few degrees out of his field of vision. He was surprised to find out that he could actually move his head now, if only by a few inches.

The moment he saw Kairin though, Alex was instantly taken aback.

She was glaring at him, intensely. As if she knew he was going to come to right at this second. She was kneeling in a corner with her wrists glued to the floor, while frowning at him, as though trying extremely hard to send him telepathic messages.

Wait, could she actually do that?

Who knew?

Did she wake him using some weird psychic energy?

Alex noticed her lips move slowly, and carefully, in a pattern.

She was trying to tell him something. And she didn’t want to make a sound.

Okay, so no telepathy, I guess.

Alex tried to focus on her lips.

“Can. You. Move?” Kairin mouthed each word slowly and carefully.

Good question, Kairin. I have no idea!

He could move his head, but only by a little. And maybe that was it.

He tried to move his hands, but his body gave no response. It felt like all his nerves had been severed.

Maybe because they actually were.

She was glued to the floor with her hands behind her back now. Apparently, the protocol to make the bands heavier than a… a what now? A frost troll’s foot? Yeah… something like that. That had been activated.

“I. Can’t. Move!” she mouthed to him.

Yes, Kairin. I figured as much.

What did she have in mind, though? For the grand escape?

Did she want Alex to break her magic-restricting cuffs, and then she carries him out of here?

Ambitious. But possible.

Alex pursed his lips. She looked tense.

If she was so desperate to escape from here, which is absolutely what it looked like, then maybe they were in some kind of real danger. Or they will be, if they remain here.

Or at least he will be, since, well, she’s their princess and all.

Yeah… that sounds about right. It wasn’t her who’d be in any danger here.

It was him.

He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. He must move!

It was all about… remembering.

Remembering what it felt like… to move his hand.

There!

A twitch.

Accompanied by a generous puff of translucent steam through the pores on his skin; the heat from it burned the fabric of his couch.

Just a little more…

Kairin struggled toward him as well, dragging her hands across the floor with as much strength as she could muster, if only by a few inches. But the cuffs clung to the wooden floor like magnets to iron.

He could extend his arm toward her now. But she was far out of reach.

“You have to move!” she mouthed. “This. Is. Heavy!” She pointed to her cuffs.

Again, kinda figured that out, Kairin!

Alex wondered how much time they had before the medic knight returns.

He didn’t seem like a bad dude at all. His peers were a little stuck up, but none of them seemed like bad people; and they were a far cry from being villainous criminals, surely!

Because, and most importantly, they were Kairin’s friends. Her royal guard! So to speak.

Why then? Why would they want to hurt him?

Was Kairin simply being paranoid?

Nah… she did not seem like the type.

She wouldn’t want to run away from her friends so desperately, if she didn’t deem it important enough to do so.

Alex must move more than just his arm.

And soon!

Argh, it was no use! No matter how hard he tried, the only thing he could do right now was crane his neck a few inches and extend his steaming right arm a little farther off the couch.

That’s it. Even if he got to Kairin, it was doubtful that he could do whatever she wanted him to do with the magic cuffs.

It was no use.

And then, as though further adding insult to his injuries and helplessness, the door swung open.

The medic knight, Malti, had returned.

“Hey, Kairin!” he greeted her awkwardly. “I can’t seem to find either of them. Do you think Master Korne will be gone long now?”

“It takes a while,” Kairin explained, “to communicate across great distances like this. Plus I think the council would have a lot to say about the situation here—useless old fools the lot of them. So yeah, I think it’ll still be a while.”

“Okay,” said Malti. “Guess it’s just us for a while then, huh?”

“Malti,” said Kairin in a more serious tone. “I need to go relieve myself.”

Alex could see Malti’s cheeks redden with embarrassment. It was like some invisible force had suddenly pushed him off balance. “I… uhh… of course! I mean. Sure, please. Go ahead.”

“Malti!” said Kairin. “I can’t. The cuffs were activated.”

“Did you try to leave through the door?” Malti asked her nervously.

“Of course not,” said Kairin. Alex had a feeling that she was lying, judging by her tone and delivery. “It must be some error.”

“Okay, well…” Malti seemed unsure of himself, but he rushed to Kairin’s side and reached for the cuffs.

Was he really that naïve?

Malti suddenly stopped and pulled his hands away before they touched the cuffs. He nervously took a few steps away from Kairin.

“You promise not to do anything funny, right?” Malti asked her nervously.

“Malti, we’ve been friends since we were kids. Ever since Master Willem got you to us. I’ve been right by you through Winter School and helped train you for your Grade 1 certification. I can never even think about hurting you.

“I just need to go relieve myself. And it’s urgent.”

“Okay, okay!” said Malti. “I’m sorry, Kairin. It’s just that… they left you both to me and I don’t want to screw this up.”

“The imposter—as Jovar called him—is unconscious. And you yourself said he wouldn’t be coming to for weeks.”

“His body is… not healing very quick, yeah.”

“So relax,” said Kairin. “I promise I won’t try to run. And you don’t even have to remove the cuffs off me, just disable the weighted trap.”

“Right, right.”

“I won’t be able to use any magic,” Kairin assured him.

“Right, of course.”

“So, come on! Unless you want to witness me embarrass myself right here, right now!”

“Oh no,” said Malti. “Of course not!”

Malti finally caved and reached out for the cuffs.

The moment his fingers were close to what looked like a small, red button, Kairin spun in place and brushed the cuffs on Malti’s extended fingers in a pattern.

The cuffs broke back into semi-circles and fell off her wrists.

“No…” said Malti in shock. He couldn’t believe any of this.

“I’m sorry, Malti!” said Kairin, back on her feet, free.

Malti backed away from her. “You tricked me!”

“I’m sorry, Malti!” Kairin repeated herself, begging him. “I promise you I meant you no harm.”

“Right,” said Malti, unconvinced. “Of course I believe you!”

“Malti,” she said, genuinely guilty for what she’d done. “I’m sorry. If only you knew the full stor—”

But Malti was too much in shock to hear a single word. “You were my friend, and you tricked me for some stranger. A stranger who’s nothing but a—”

“Don’t say it, Malti,” Kairin interrupted him. “He’s nothing like that. Look at this place. This is where he lives. I got you all here to show you that he is not a monster. He’s just some Earthling, a normal kid, like us.”

“He is nothing like us!” Malti was revolted. He weakly raised his fists in a fighting stance. “I’m sorry, Kairin, but they entrusted me with you two. Master Korne… he finally believed in me… finally!

“Which is why I cannot let you leave!”

Malti toughened his meekly stance. But Kairin remained unfazed.

“I know, Malti,” she said to him kindly. “You are too kind, and way too loyal, even to those who look down upon you and don’t see you as their equal. I respect so much about you, my dear friend. And that is what I am—your closest friend, always and forever. And this is why... I hope you’ll forgive me for this.”

Malti’s expression changed from nervous determination to pure shock on having been caught off guard.

The mists had escaped Kairin’s fingers a full ten seconds ago.

Now they surrounded Malti’s face and head, gleaming and glittering in the faint moonlight. In a snap, they shot straight through his nostrils and his ears and into his body.

The white part of Malti’s eyes, which were now wide open in shock, turned icy blue. He dropped on his back on to a bed of soft, fluffy snow, unconscious.

Kairin rushed to Alex’s side, panting, and… tearing up?

“Come on!” she said, sniffling. “We don’t have much time.”