Page 21 of Ever Dark Academy, Vol. 7

“Time? I don’t understand,” Balthazar confessed.

“Time that I told you that everything is going to be all right,” Elgar explained quietly. “That I chose this. That it was my choice. Not yours. Because I knew where it would lead. I knew what the future would be, too.”

“You knew… Elgar, what…” Balthazar was evidently speechless.

It was Caemorn who said, “Grayson, Ryder, Charlie and Fiona came to Destiny, didn’t they?”

“Yes.” Elgar nodded. “Grayson had just been turned. Fiona’s powers were affected by one of the structures so they could not teleport. Master, you let them into Destiny. To save them. But that was not their end destination.”

“It’s Solace, isn’t it? They need to go to Solace?” Balthazar sighed. “Of course, I won’t help them with that! No, I want to stay hiding in Destiny as if that’s a solution!”

But Elgar was shaking his head. “No, Master. Well, yes, at first. You were afraid of death. You do not know it like you do now with your Kaly gift and Caemorn at your side that it is not even an end let alone the end. That is what Charlie said to me. He is right. But you realized that if you died then I would go into the earth with you and many other Eyros Vampires would suffer.”

“Yes,” Balthazar whispered. “Gods, yes. And it’s all my fault.”

“There are many at fault and none. In the end, there was only one path before you that would lead here and I wanted to walk that path,” Elgar said, his voice becoming stronger and more like Elgar’s own with every word. He even stood up straighter, no longer hunched over. His expression was like clear water: nothing to hide. He was smiling. “I chose this life. I chose this path. I do not regret any of it.”

“But you were suffering for so long! I don’t even know how you hid this from me!” Balthazar cried.

“Master is very cognizant of privacy since turning Christian,” Elgar remarked with a quirked smile. “More so than he used to be. But you did not know, because I did not know. My mind…” Here Elgar struggled to find the right words, “I thought my hopes of waking up to a world where you were alive again were just dreams. Over the millennia, I came to believe that the future was not real, but just a wisp. A figment of my imagination. But then… then you came to Solace and I heard you. I rose up, but I was just wisps myself.”

“Oh, Elgar.” Balthazar pulled his future self into his arms. “Oh, gods, my Elgar! You’re not wisps now! You aren’t! I won’t let you just be wisps!”

“I am not, Master,” Elgar said, the smile evident in his voice. “I am becoming me once more. But even if I would stay wisps, a shadow of myself, I would still choose this path. For on this path, you are happy, Master. You are happy.”

The world swirled and Elgar was back on top of the cliff in Destiny. Eyros was holding onto him. He had collapsed on the ground. The storm was lashing them. Rain pelted his head and lightning tore apart the sky. Eyros was gripping him as if he was afraid that Elgar would disappear from his arms.

“Elgar, what happened?” Eyros gasped. “I couldn’t reach your mind! I–”

“I reached yours.” Elgar put a hand against Eryos’ left cheek. “Master, there is only one path forward.”

“What? No, Elgar, I will find a way to make that future not happen! I will make it–”

“No, Master. It is the right path,” Elgar interrupted him firmly. “It is the path we will walk together.”

Change Made Permanent

The next night…

“Let me get this straight. You want to sneak into Solace to get to Seeyr in the Spire, which is probably the most Kaly-filled and secure area in order for Seeyr to reveal to you how your power works, Fiona? Is that about right?” Grayson lifted an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Fiona said simply.

Grayson pinched the top of his nose. He saw Ryder grinning out of the corner of his eye. He lifted an eyebrow at the Weryn Vampire.

“What? This sounds like fun or suicide. I’m not quite sure which,” Ryder chuckled. “Good thing you have Kaly powers now to save us from ourselves.”

“Ah, not enough to bring you all back from the dead, I don’t. But maybe at some point I might. Got to talk to Caemorn about that,” Grayson muttered.

Charlie grinned at him. “It’s so nice to see you embracing your new powers, Grayson!”

“Yes, everyone used to think that the Kaly gift was more a curse,” Eyros muttered.

He had been standing slightly apart from them. They were all clustered by the gate to Solace, including Elgar. But while Eyros looked either resigned or miserable–Grayson couldn’t say which–Elgar looked completely at peace even though he knew what was going to happen to him. It might not be today or tomorrow, but eventually he’d be in the dirt in Solace with Eyros’ head as his only company. But somehow Elgar had gotten into Balthazar’s head in the future and saw himself and Caemorn.

“I believe that Balthazar’s connection to your minds is still there,” Elgar had explained, “even though you are unable to reach him and he is unable to reach you. Or rather, he has not figured it out yet. I believe that I reached through my Master to all of you and then through all of you to Balthazar. This also seems related to Seeyr’s power in my estimation. I wonder once more if our powers are truly that separate after all. Maybe they stem from one source, but we are more skilled in one area versus another.”

“It would explain why Daemon could have them all. Because he can use that entire single source,” Grayson had nodded.