| "I don't see why you bother to spend so much time with those idiots. It's not as if it's entirely necessary for you to know their battle plans." Kelnai sneered at Seer. There was a palpable animosity between the two; Kelnai detested Seer’s disregard for the lives of the enemies they fought, whether they were human or Beasts from the Rift. "I'm trying to keep them from getting themselves killed," Seer shrugged. "Jenya and Dharin probably would never survive without me." Kelnai already knew this, and it pissed her off beyond words. "In another world, I’m certain that they can manage on their own. But why bother? It's not like they've done anything to deserve such generosity." "I'm not going to have this fight with you again, Kelnai." The two had been obligated to coexist peacefully since long before Kelnai's hair changed. "They aren't bad people, either of them." "They are killers!" Kelnai shouted, not mentioning the fact that she swooned over one of those killers. "And what makes us any different than they are?" The weak woman that was barely able to stand on her own disappeared; Seer became an entirely different person when furious. The tiny opal embedded in the Seer’s palm gleamed as the frailty dissipated. "I've never killed with my hands, Seer. That's what makes me different. It is that simple." The words left her mouth as her mind told her what a fool she was. Life was never simple, and she was a killer either way - a murderer for the Acharya’s cause. "No, it isn't that simple. You are better than they because you're too much of a coward to take a life without magic? You're better because you hide behind the power of a Jihann? That isn't how it works, and you know it. You are just as guilty as I. Your hair proves it." Once blonde, Kelnai's hair now glimmered with all the brilliance of a ruby; proof that Kelnai was capable of drawing enough Cair'leih to level a small town. Only the more competent of the Jihann Magi took on the physical properties of the stones from which they drew power, and for most Magi the transformation required a catalyst – a shock of power from the Acharya. The Acharya had only blessed Kelnai's Jihann less than a year ago. Within a week of the Kevahrin ceremony, Kelnai's hair began to change. The process was not painful, most of the time, and despite a brittle appearance the hair remained soft. "Shut up, Seer. I'm tired of talking, because you're never wrong. You're the best, the strongest, the favoured, and the list goes on... Just shut up and leave me be." Kelnai was right; Seer was the favoured of the Acharya. She was the strongest Jihann Mage the world had seen since the appearance of the Acharya himself. "I'm the best because I've worked for it, Kel. Now, you wanted to talk, so let's." Seer had paid a price - trifling, she considered it - the lives of her family members, and three years of her life in Trinlayra to gain the power she wielded. "Why do you loathe Dharin and Jenya so much?" Suddenly, the point snapped into focus for Seer. She snickered, "You are so pathetic. You still love Dharin?" "No!" Kelnai shrieked, and began to correct Seer but instead snapped her mouth shut. As much as she allowed her emotions to rule her, it was a wonder she'd not killed herself with an uncontrollable influx of Cair’leih. There was a silence. "Yes," she lied softly. "But he never cared for me in return." This was only partial truth; she no longer adored the Moon-Chylde, instead harboring an intense infatuation with Jenya. Her dreams whispered that he would become important - that the names of most of those traveling in this convoy would be remembered well into the next world. Seer laughed again, refusing to be empathetic towards what she saw as a weak wretch in front of her. "I have no idea what to say... There are no words." "Say nothing," Kelnai snapped. "I know you love him too, and I know he at least loves you back, it doesn't take the Acharya to see how Dharin looks at you." Tears came to Kelnai's black eyes. "I hope you're happy, you Shriedhan. You have everything I have ever wanted." Kelnai fell silent again, wondering if she had played her part well enough. "And you expect my apology?" Seer scoffed, amused. "I apologize for nothing. I have worked to be better than you, harder than you could ever comprehend. I have withstood more pain than you could fathom in a hundred lifetimes. I owe you neither apologies nor pity." "I hate you, you feldenaim!" Kelnai wailed. The Feldenaim were ruthless killers, throwbacks from the closing of the Rift usually called into employment by shady assassins. To be called one was a terrible insult, an accusation of spiritual decay. "That may be," Seer laughed, admitting to a conscience in decline. "But I am a 'feldenaim' that holds the power to crush you with half of a thought. Furthermore, I'm your elder," she referred not to actual age, but to the fact that she had been a Mage nine years longer than Kelnai. "And I am your superior. Show some respect, Kelnai. Jihann Magi of your caliber are neither rare nor irreplaceable." Seer's threats never went unheeded; there were several reasons why Seer was so feared. "We are supposed to be friends," Kelnai spoke through clenched teeth, ignoring the soft whispers that remained from her dreams. "Not in this world," Seer smirked. “Now go to sleep.” As the fury faded, so did her strength. The Seer slipped into a sleep troubled by the screams of battles fought long ago, still echoing down the passages of time. |