The battle is won, but the war is far from over. With his new powers on the loose, Oliver must find balance between good and evil - before the world dies.
*****
"The old world walks the earth once again."
Something big is comi...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
-Oliver-
I felt sorry for Arch. I could feel how eager he was to talk to Jack. I wished there was a way for me to convince Jack that he had nothing to fear. Arch wouldn't hurt him on purpose, he was too sweet to do so. But... Jack wasn't in the right state of mind, and the infestation was making things worse.
"I know you want to talk to him, but I have a theory," I told Arch as we were walking towards the Hall. "That infestation in him... I believe the shadows are able to manipulate him to a certain degree. He nearly refused my treatment just now, and I know he wants them gone, so why would he not want me to get rid of them?"
Arch stopped and let out a worried whine and then turned into a human.
"They can manipulate him?" he repeated, looking back.
"As long as I can keep their numbers down, he should be fine. And like I said, your arrival did good."
He turned his attention to me. "He should be fine?"
"He was doing better already. He tried to come to see you in the Hall, but–"
"Yeah, I know, my parents told him to leave," he grunted angrily. "I can't believe they did that..."
"Everyone is scared right now," I told him quietly. "I believe that's what our enemy wants. The shadows feed on negative emotions, and what could be a better way to win a war than to make your enemy turn against each other?"
He glanced at me, and after a moment, his anger started fading. I smiled at him.
"We need to understand your parents. They want what is best for you."
"They believe Black Thorns might betray us. That they're here to attack us from within," he spoke quietly. "They don't trust Jack."
"Fear," I said sternly. "We should not give in to it. And I think you should tell them that. Jack was ready to give his life for you, and they know it, but I think you should remind them."
He nodded slowly.
"Come. Let's go find the others," I said, taking a step toward the town, waiting for him to follow me.
He did, but not right away.
I could feel Jaden somewhere close to the Hall when we started walking. After we reached the main street, I spotted him in the middle of the street leading up to the Hall with Tilly and Natalie. His back was turned on me, but I still could see him suddenly smelling the air, trying to catch the scent – whatever it was. He turned around, still sniffing around until he spotted me.
When I realized it was my scent he'd searched for, I smiled. And I was impressed since we were quite far away from him. He took a few steps toward me and smiled as well. Just seeing me made him happy... I really wished we could be just normal teenagers doing normal teenager stuff. I wanted to give him my full attention. I wanted to spend time with him...
