Eli jumped back. “How do you know my name?”

“I’ll tell you everything when we have time. Right now, we need to make sure everyone here gets out before Zuriel returns. Follow me.” The redhaired man said, standing up quickly.

“Zuriel, as in King of the Wind?”

“Is that what they call him in these outer villages? And yes, Zuriel, the king of Althesia.”

Eli’s eyes were getting wider and wider with every word. Then he looked over and saw Casiel. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no! He broke out at a full sprint, momentarily forgetting the man behind him. Casiel was holding her father’s sword to her own throat. Just before he yelled out to her, the black-robed new comer appeared in front of him and covered his mouth, pulling him quickly behind a tree.

“Not yet,” he said. “She has to deal with this on her own for now.” All Eli could do was shake his head. Even with the weird adrenaline like power racing through his veins, the man was far too strong.

“I’m going to take my hand away from your mouth, but if you yell anything out I’ll cast a spell to shut you up, okay?” He said, staring directly into Eli’s worried eyes. He slowly moved his hand away.

“Who are you?” Eli instantly said, in as quiet a whisper as he could manage in the situation.

“Shh. Do you always talk this loudly? And as for who I am, I know you were eavesdropping, what did the King call me?” Was this strange man testing Eli? He played the conversation back in his head, purposefully not recalling the way it ended. The tall man said something. He told him not to die. His name is End! Eli’s memory felt really clear at the moment, more than normal. He decided to deal with that later and right now to figure out what was going on.

“I know your name is End. You appear to work for the king. But why are you here, in this small town. And who are you, really? Names aren’t everything?”

“You get right to the point. Good, that’s useful. Now, I’m here to save your sorry self. But I’ll explain that all later, we really need to evacuate the people of this town. And as to your final comment, names are far more important than you realize.”

“I’m not going anywhere until I help Cass. How could you just watch and do nothing as her parents died.” After saying this he noticed the mischievous half-smile that End had worn up until that point faded.

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“I’m sorry that had to happen. And I’m sorry for what will happen soon as well. I wish there was anything I could do, but if I had tried, the entire village and everyone in it would have been destroyed without question. I am a strong warlock, but it seems like Zuriel has just been expanding his power exponentially after taking power.” He looked down before continuing. “I have done many terrible things for that man. I want to make amends, but that will take time.” Finally, he looked back up, smirk back on his face. “I see you finally got your arcane power. When did that happen? It explains the king’s increased interest, but last I checked I still couldn’t sense it.”

Arcane power? Was that what was happening? No way. “Do you mean magic? No, I never got it. I turned sixteen ten days ago and they tested me again, not finding anything.”

“Magic. Haven’t heard it called that in years. I recommend you call it arcanery or if you find yourself in an academic setting, thaumatology. But there’s no reason to hide it from me, I can see the fire and even a tiny bit of electricity flowing through your veins. To be at this level you’ve probably been practicing for a few months.”

“I’m not hiding anything! Practicing what? What are you talking about” The arcanist was really pushing this. How could he not know if he had magic for over a year? “I’ve been made fun of all my life for not having magic. Ask Cas- Oh my god Cass. I need to make sure she’s okay.” He looked around the tree. She was putting the sword down, bending over and sobbing. No way is this guy gonna stop me this time.

He ran out from behind the tree and ran straight to the girl. Right before he reached her she looked up and saw him. She could only say “Eli” when he tackled her in a bear hug.

“I’m so sorry. I should have done something, anything. I’m sorry.” He said as she cried into his shoulder.

“What could you have done?” She said with a crying laugh. “My parents were both powerful warlocks. That horrible man didn’t even give them a chance.” She said before stopping, unable to continue.

“Shh. It’s okay. Listen, we need to go before the men come back. Do you think you can do that?” She just nodded in response.

End chose this moment to come out from behind the tree. “We need to get out of here. Will you let me teleport your parents to a safe location, so we can give them a proper burial once this is all over?”

“You! You were one of them!” She ran up and started beating on his chest seeming to entirely forget that she could use magic. “Who are you? Wh-Why did you kill my parents?”

“I cannot express how sorry I am. I can explain why I did what I did later. However, no excuses on my part will bring them back. Please let me make some sort of amends by helping to give them the peace they deserve.”

Casiel looked to Eli who nodded solemnly, his eyes looking far too old for his years, and said “Let him do this. We can talk after.” She looked back and nodded to End, tears still welling in her eyes.

Wow, that was faster forgiveness than expected. End walked over to the bloodied couple. He bent down to his knee and closed their eyes. He mouthed a silent prayer and felt tears welling up in his own eyes. It’s time for this terror to end. I’m sorry that I couldn’t save you. Then he was gone, as were the bodies.