Chapter 76 - Peaceful

The journey towards the village was awkward. All three of them were at a loss of what to say to each other. Ander tried very hard to remember one of the things he was told happens last night but he couldn't recall a single thing. He found it odd since he has a photographic memory that he didn't remember anything from the time he hugged Avan.

"We need to go over this," Ella said pulling her horse to a stop.

"What is there to discuss, the plan is ready," Avan told to her.

"We have a plan but we have yet to decide who will use dark Melchior's powers. We have the orb so one of us has to take in his powers," she explained to them.

"Ander can take them. He is strong and very good with spells, he would be able to handle it."

"No way," Ella refuted. "I am not trusting him with so much power after last night. My life is not safe as it is with the powers he already has, let's not make him more dangerous," she added.

"I am not that dangerous," Ander said in his defense. "You don't think I am dangerous, right?" he asked Avan.

The male thought it best not to reply to him. He neither agreed with him nor disagreed as Ella had a point, Ander had caused such a mess that he too was a little scared of the man.

"I am educated in powerful spells that's all and I would never hurt anything that doesn't hurt me," he said seeing that they weren't believing him.

Ella and Avan gazed at each other and shook their heads in disbelief. After what they had seen yesterday they didn't dare believe him. He had destroyed the forest they had arrived in and goodness knows how many animals he slaughtered with his spells.

"You can the power," Avan suggested but Ella shook her head in refusal.

"It's my family that is held captive, I might lose control and hurt people if I become emotional. The best option for the powers are you," she told to him.

She took the orb with dark Melchior's powers and handed it over to him. Avan opened that orb, the powers flowed right out of the orb and into him. The horses they were on felt the presence of the dark energy and started reacting aggressively. They threw the three of them off their back and ran away in the opposite direction.

"Now what do we do?" Ander asked the thought of walking the rest of the way annoying him. If only it wasn't his idea to come here then he would have a reason and a person to blame for everything that was happening. But since he couldn't even trust himself he decided to stay calm least he does something regrettable again.

"We can always create a portal to the village," Ella suggested." And by we I mean you, I have mastered space magic yet," she added.

"No, I don't think I should do any magic right now," Ander said sternly.

"Then we walk," Avan said.

They trailed down the road still far away from the village in silence. The sun was in the middle of the sky by now, with the horses having left with their bags. They found that all their supplies were gone. No food, no water, and no spare clothes to change to.

"We should find food before we starve," Ander said. "I suggest we go hunting," he added.

"What do you suggest we hunt. The animals that were in this forest either died last night or ran away for their dear lives," Ella commented still unable to get the incident from the previous night out of her head.

"Did you kill all the animals?"

"No, but someone I know did. You see when he was having a moment yesterday, he just happened to be casting random spells that did," she replied to him.

"Can we stop talking about what happened? I am not interested in what happens one bit. It was a mistake that shouldn't have happened," he said getting irritated of every topic ending up in yesterday's incident.

"What about we gather fruits. Let's split up, it would be faster," Avan suggested and walked off.

"I'll go with you," Ella said to Ander. She noticed the pained expression on Avan's face when Ander spoke. She thought it best for him to give him some space to think and at least get his emotions in order. She felt bad for the two boys she was traveling with.

Both had sad destinies as far as she could tell and she could see how difficult everything was for them. One was in love with a ghost while his soul that over the years has gained a subconscious of its own was interested in Avan. While Avan liked Ander unknown to him that he was born to kill the male he was developing feelings for.

She sighed and followed behind Ander silently. She had been meaning to talk to him about last night. She wanted to talk about his soul and how dangerously powerful it was growing, he needed to merge with it if he didn't want for it to take over him one day.

With it having its subconscious, it was like one body having two hosts which were dangerous as it may come a time when one has to get rid of the other to be the only host of the body.

"About last night what of it do you remember?" she inquired of him.

"Didn't I say that I don't want to talk about yesterday? If you don't want me to get angry at you stop mentioning it," he replied.

"How did you kill Francis?" she asked changing the subject.

Ander froze in his steps on hearing Francis's name. He hadn't thought about the ghost since the bridge which was weird since they were linked. He couldn't feel his presence and he too wasn't around.

"I do..don't know?" he replied in a shaky voice.

"You were just a baby and you were able to kill someone so powerful. Surely you must have some memory of it?" she asked him.

"I don't."

"Just like you have no memory of what happens yesterday. It's as though it wasn't even you doing those things," she said.

"Can we just find some fruits, I don't wish to talk to you or anyone at the moment," he said.

He silently walked, his eyes stared in the distance thinking of what Ella had just said.

He had to admit that it was possible that she could be right. Many times in the past he would find himself in places with rare spell books and artifacts that he didn't remember going to. He had always thought that it was Francis who took him to such places bug the ghost always denied it.

He ruled out the possibility of a ghost possessing him as they had tried that with Francis and it never worked. His body's defensive system is so strong that it can fight off any spirit or ghost if they tried to attack him.

"What about these?" he heard her ask and got out of his thoughts. He could always figure it out later, he pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and ran over to the tree that she was pointing to.

"Are they safe?" he asked her. She shrugged her shoulders and plucked one of the red fruit and gave it to him.

"You try first," he said being cautious. It was as his life as a prince that he should be careful of everything that he ate. He normally had servants taste his food before he placed it in his mouth.

"Okay."

Ella took a large bite of the fruit and chewed it slowly, Ander watched her carefully to check whether she was reacting to it in any way that would suggest that it was poison.

"It's good," she said and handed him one of the fruits. He happily ate it as he was sure that it wasn't poisonous. They packed some of the fruits for their trip and some to take for Avan.

"How much longer to your village?" he asked her. They were seated under the tree enjoying the tasty fruits.

"It's just beyond that hill," she said pointing at a hill in the distance.

"Do we have a plan of how to fight this enemy of yours?" he asked curiously.

"I don't have one but with the three of us side by side surely we will be able to save them all," she said confidently.

The two of them ate and chatted with each other for a while. They completely forgot about getting back on track or finding Avan. For the first time since the emotional rollercoaster, he felt peaceful.

Avan went east in the direction of the river, he needed to drink water to quench his thirst. He ran into a tree full of ripe mangoes on the way and ate to his full. He took the time to clear his mind of the thoughts that troubled him. He couldn't help but feel sad about Ander's words but after eating he pushed his worries to the back of his head and soaked himself in the water by the river.