The next morning, they stood together for the third time in as many days, awaiting the execution. Solera ground his teeth as he looked at the cave’s exit. In front of them was rain so thick it was impossible to see farther than ten meters.

He had to end this. No matter how much he hated the whore, he knew she was right. They really were going to murder everyone. And only he could stop it.

True, there were people whom he would not die for. Many of them. But there were also people like Lem and the bald man. People who didn’t deserve getting raped or burnt to death.

His eyes landed on the prisoners who had been taken away last night. They had returned in the morning, their clothing ravaged and their eyes hollow. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened.

The dilemma was that Solera could not forget one possibility: that if Rasmurnov did not believe his confession, he would not be able to do anything but die a pointless death.

Solera knew that it was useless to agonize over the possibility. He knew he was using it as a way to cover his ears and absolve himself of responsibility. The truth was, Solera only seriously considered the idea that Rasmurnov would not believe him because that was what his heart wanted him to believe.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Even knowing all this, he somehow could not bring himself to confess. Every morning for the last three mornings, he had this argument with himself. It was time to bring it to an end.

“This inundation means there will be no journeying today.” Rasmurnov’s flat voice rang out. Solera opened his eyes again. “But there will still be an execution.”

The man had his back turned to them to watch the torrential downpour of rain outside, but at this point he slowly turned around. “Would anyone like to confess?”

Solera stared at Rasmurnov’s eyes. Those black eyes… he hated them so much. He hated this man so much. But he had to confess. He had exhausted himself in his run from death. It was time.

“I’m sorry, everyone.” A loud squeak from the other side caused Solera’s eyes to widen. He turned to look at Lem, who had pushed his way out of the crowd of prisoners.

“I’d like…” Lem took a deep breath. “I’d like to not confess! I am not the killer!”

Solera stared at Lem, his mind frantically trying to figure out what Lem was thinking. Could it be...

“But I still want to confess!” Lem shouted, his tremulous voice becoming hard with emotion. “My name is Lem, short for Lemmuelen, and I wish I was the one who had killed those two the other day! I wish I was a hero like that person was! Commander, that is what I wish. Are you going to kill me or not?”

“STOP!” Solera frantically began pushing the other prisoners out of the way. “LEM, STOP!”

“Tell me if you’re going to kill me!” Lem screamed. “Kill me right now!”

Rasmurnov’s eyes looked at Lem. His expression did not change at all.

“STOP!” Solera screamed, pushing the other prisoners out of the way. “LEM, STOP!”

Lem, this fucking idiot! Now, whether or not he confessed, Lem would still be executed!

The teenaged boy, only a few years older than Solera, turned to look at him.

“I’m sorry.” Lem cracked a smile at him before turning back to Rasmurnov.

“LEM! LEM!” Solera shouted again as he made his way out of the crowd. It wasn’t too late to stop him from killing himself! If he dragged Lem back into the crowd, maybe-

“Sometimes, death is better than life!”

Solera stopped right in his tracks.

“I would rather die here than continuing to live like a cockroach, waiting to be crushed!” Tears were pouring down Lem’s cheeks now. “I’m sure it’s the same for many of you! If there’s anyone else who will die with me, come forward! Let’s show them that death won’t break our resolve!”

Solera was rooted to the spot, his mind completely blanked out. Lem was a completely powerless child, even more so than himself. Yet he had the courage that Solera did not. The courage to die!

A gauntlet studded with metal smashed into the back of Lem’s head, sending him toppling to the ground. The specialized channeler, an orange-haired man with a dark look on his face, hoisted Lem’s body up and carried him to a small, flat rock.

“STOP!” Solera charged towards the specialized, his eyes red. If Lem was willing to die, then so was he! He would die in Lem’s place! “DON’T KILL HIM! I’M-”

A crackling dart pierced into his skin, sending him to the ground. Solera’s feet involuntarily locked together, and his shouts became incoherent gibberish.

Rasmurnov took an axe from another channeler standing by. “Looks like you’ll be dying alone, boy. Any last words?”

Power blasted through Solera’s channels, regaining him control over his throat. “I’M THE ONE! KILL ME INSTEAD!”

The axe came down. Rasmurnov held up Lem’s severed head, before dropping it to the ground. With his dirty gray boots, he stomped down on the head, as if he was cracking a nut. Solera howled, dragging himself forward with a single hand.

Rasmurnov, this aberrant monster! He was going to kill him! He was going to tear this man to pieces!

Rasmurnov lifted his foot up again. Right as he did, a channeler’s boot smashed down on Solera’s head, wedging it into the mud.

A crunching sound rang out.

“Tough guy.” Rasmurnov’s voice. Something bumped against Solera’s head. “You. You’re the troublemaker from before.”

The foot lifted up off of Solera’s head, allowing him to get a good look at Lem’s caved in skull. His eyes lifted further upwards to meet Rasmurnov’s empty, dead eyes. Those cold, remorseless eyes. He would gouge them out and crush them and burn them and scatter the ashes across the continent! He would slay this man, if that was the last thing he did!

“Enjoy your last day. You’ll be following your friend tomorrow.” Rasmurnov nodded to the troops, then turned and mumbled something to a subordinate, who led him into a side tunnel.

Solera and the other prisoners were forced back into the cave. He left Lem’s head at the execution site, his heart full of anger and bitterness.

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He wished this inundation hadn’t happened. If they were out walking again, he could kill several guards before being put down. But here, in this damp cave with water trickling down from the bottom of the chargelights, there was nothing he could do. He could only wait for his death.

He had said he was the killer. There was no doubt that Rasmurnov had heard him. Yet he had not reacted at all. As Solera had feared, Rasmurnov did not believe his confession. Even if he had died earlier, instead of Lem, it would have been in vain. It seemed the moment he had killed Jumpy, he had sealed the fates of himself and everyone around him.

“Look at that poor child.” The whore growled. “His friend died for his hero, one of you, and we’re still paying for it. If you’re the bastard who did this, you should turn yourself in and save us all. Isn’t that what loyalty means? Not letting people who respect you comrades die like flies because of your actions?”

Solera’s features twisted as the boiling rage and guilt sank away. It was still there, but muted. As if replaced by… something. A strange calm. He took a deep breath, looked up and locked eyes with the woman.

“The commander says I will die tomorrow.” Solera said slowly. He rose to his feet and began walking forward.

The woman sighed in disgust. “Yes, and you’re a good boy too. You and Bailey were the only ones among this lot who had any balls. If a certain person hadn’t thought it was a great, great idea to-”

“What’s your name?” Solera asked. He was right in front of the woman now.

“Uh… Glenda?” The woman said, a bit taken aback.

Solera’s hands snapped her neck. Glenda’s limp body fell to the ground at Solera’s feet. He looked down at her lifeless body, then back up at the faces of all the shocked prisoners around him. He took another deep breath.

“My name is Solera.” His eyes swept the room. There were so many people here. Nearly a hundred.

“I am the one who killed those two guards. Yes, I am the killer. Lem, those two men, they were all executed by Rasmurnov! But I am not ashamed of it! Because while they died because of my actions, they did not die because of me!”

The words naturally flowed out of Solera’s mouth with a force he never knew he had. “Rasmurnov killed them! Jumpy killed them! The only person who dies because of me is Glenda! I killed her, not Jumpy, not Rasmurnov!”

Solera’s eyes bored into the bald man, who was looking at him with a tiny smile on his face. “Because she wasn’t a true soldier of Eden! Because a true soldier of Eden does not bend down when sick fucks like Rasmurnov and Jumpy violate the rules of war and execute us as they please! When we surrendered to them, we didn’t expect our captors to turn around and kill us at will, but they did just that! People like them deserve to die, every single one. That’s why I killed Jumpy!”

His mind, his channels could feel the crystal firmly lodged in his back. It gave him power. It gave him the power to kill once more. It gave him the power to get revenge.

“I told Rasmurnov I was the killer, but he didn’t believe me. He says I will die tomorrow! Well, I do not believe him, either!” Solera looked at Letva, the girl he had saved from Jakovich so many days ago. He saw, among the prisoners, many different stares. Reproachful, respectful, disbelief…

“I won’t die tomorrow! I will die today, killing as many of these Tornado channelers as I can! If there’s anyone who will come die with me, then follow me!”

Solera turned around and walked towards the tunnel. He didn’t expect anything from them. They were unwilling to die with Lem. Why would they die with him?

“Heh… HA HA HA!” The bald man’s raucous laugh caused Solera to stop and turn around.

“Ha ha ha…” The bald man shook his head as he stood up. “If infants are willing to die and I’m not, then what will I say to my parents when I go to Sky?”

Camela, one of Lem’s friends, stood up, her lip trembling. Solera looked at her expectantly. After a moment, she shook her head and sat back down.

“I’ll go.” The girl who had tried to stop the argument the other day stood up as well. “I’m done here.”

Two young men stood up, followed by Letva. Solera glanced at the tunnel again. The guards were over a hundred meters away, but they could easily have heard his shouting.

It didn’t matter, though. No matter what they did, he was no longer going to run from death. He was going to die a death that nobody could say was pathetic. That was the decision he had made, and he would stand by it.

In all, eight other prisoners stood up. Solera looked at each of them, carving their faces into his memory. “Before we go, I want to know each of your names.”

Of course he had to remember their names. They were the people he had been willing to die for. Ironically, they were now the same people he would die with.

“Alerion.” An older man with only one eye.

“Brook.” One of the young men.

“Kingsley.” The other young man.

“Yarrow.” A middle-aged man.

“Letva.” She cracked a pained smile at him.

“Tamarind.” The girl from earlier.

“Kunal.” The bald man smirked again.

“Jemima.” A woman Solera estimated to be in her thirties.

After the last introduction, Solera closed his eyes. He visualized the faces of all the people he had known. Vinoh, Chianti, Guinness, the Grove Tender, Macaw, Verreaux, Chip, Lem… these were the people he would never see again. Alerion, Brook, Kingsley, Yarrow, Letva, Tamarind, Kunal and Jemima. These were the people he would die seeing.

Life dictated that he would die here. And he was fine with it. For the first time in a long time, he had found peace in himself.

Solera opened his eyes. In them were the fires of determination.

“All right.” Solera walked into the tunnel. “Let’s kill them all.”