Immortal

24. Aftermath

Eliam had set off an explosion as a diversion. He had done so intentionally without batting an eye or a simple regard to harming others in Silvas. That fact burned itself in my head. I didn't know the extent of the damage he caused until after I had gone through another agonizing visit in Silvias treatment center. Three dwellings were completely destroyed and least  a minimum of twenty of us had been injured drastically. I didn't know Eliam, I thought I knew him but after this he was a complete stranger.

The explosions and injuries had been my fault. They would not of happened if I wasn't here. If I'd stayed away none of this would have occurred. He would corner me again just like he did before. I didn't know what he would do the next time he stepped foot in Silvas. Would I be a stranger to him? What would be the point of using such extreme measures.
All they did was drive me away. I moved somewhere secluded, as nightfall began to descend. I figured he was probably still nearby. I looked at the sky my eyes could barely make out the outline of something in the sky. It had to be Eliam, I was only half convinced he had left. I didn't believe he would without me.

It didn't take long to feel a small gush of wind and something landing nearby. His wings were fully extended their ashen grey color with black spots exposed fully. The seventeen foot wingspan that was larger than my own. His wings rose above his head and I just stared at him. "What if someone sees you?" I asked having no reason to bullshit him with formalities like before. "Tsk." Was his answer to my question. His wings being exposed where the last worry on his mind was my guess.

I bit into a citron fruit slice I had in in my hand its juices exploding in my mouth. I felt irritation, but I made no moves. "Finn." He said and my expression met his. "She's important right?" The way he said her name made me want to remove his eyes with my own fingers. "No." I denied the truth to him. He didn't get to steal that away from me too. "Hm." He made that sound when he was thinking, of what I wasn't too sure of anymore. "You need to come home." Eliam answered. "You're putting them in danger."

"From what!" I threw the fruit slices at him. He looked at me distastefully. He caught one and ate it, sighing. "I cant tell you everything at some point you have to start thinking for yourself." He looked at me annoyed. "This is me thinking for myself!" I yelled at him, fists clenched. "Then you're an Idiot." He retorted. "Here I thought you'd be brilliant."

"Whats so wrong with Silvas!" I was being too loud but I didn't care. It didn't matter to me anymore if I attracted attention. Here I could do as I pleased. I could chose my own tasks, I had an opinion to go on missions, I didn't have to work for an oppressive system that functioned solely on destroying places like it. I watched him fold his wings along his spine, his expression still calculative. "Im always bailing out your sorry ass." He muttered shaking his head. I couldn't stand his condescending tone any longer and charged at him. He was ready and grabbed me by the arm and flipped me clean over him then slammed me on the ground with a swift movement. I heard something snap, but didn't feel anything broken. A pointed broken brach was inches from my eyesight. Eliam was towering over me, he didn't look like he would flinch at shoving the branch through one of my eyes.

"Grow up." I thought I heard him say coldly. He wasn't the protective older brother anymore. The one who fed me, the one who clothed me, the one who took the beatings, he wasn't the sibling who helped me anymore. This was the first time he wasn't looking at me like child. Instead I found something different in his eyes, resentment.
The branch ignited at the end, I could feel the heat of the flame close to my face, I tried inching away from it. I didn't have much luck, but I kept my eyes locked with his until I watched him avert his gaze. The flame moved away from me, I felt I could breathe again. Only to have the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when he threw the branch with surprising accuracy at something in the distance.

"What the fuck." Alaric's voice came cutting through the silence. He landed a few feet from me his blue wings extended outward. I propped myself up on one arm from the ground. Eliam turned toward Alaric, and glared at him. "You fucking missed by the way." He spat at Eliam.

"It was a warning shot." He answered coldly. "A terrible one." Alaric muttered kicking at the ground. His icy blue eyes looked colder than normal. He was annoyed by something, and something told me not to ask. "Why are you here?" Eliam asked matching the same cold tone.

Alaric stared at him indifferently he didn't make eye contact. "What's it to you, Albino twink." He answered with harsh words. I wasn't prepared for that snide remark to come out of his mouth. Normally I would have laughed at his use of the term Albino. Although now, I could feel tension rising from all of us. Something needed to break it or it would break into an all out brawl. My irritation from before began to forcefully subside. A fight here and now would benefit no one.

Alaric had his hands stuffed into his pockets. I'd always regarded him as a little kid, but he looked much older now. He had found a hoodie in decent shape it was a light blue tone and had some holes in it. It fit him a little large for his short stature but I knew he would grow into it. There was something amiss about his expression, chaotic. I hadn't noted it before, and in the dark it showed more profoundly.

I sat up and looked at him a little weirdly. "So you found Silvas." I stated to Alaric. He threw a map on the ground from his pockets. All three of us where in the unsuspecting district of Silvas. We were one hair away from killing each other and somehow I found it funny. The logic of how the three of us ended up being brothers just didn't make sense anymore. I started laughing at the truths that were bubbling to the surface of my mind. I was the only one who finally caught wind of the joke I'd been oblivious too.

Alaric just stared at me, although I figured him to be harmless, in the dark he looked like an angel of death. "So you're not defenseless." I asked Alaric. He crossed his arms and looked away. "Silvas's entrance is set with traps." I repeated to myself a loud. I felt like the true idiot here. I stood up off the ground and brushed the dirt off my clothes. "I guess everyone has fucking secrets now." I couldn't keep deluding myself into trusting either of them.

Of course Alaric wasn't weak. He survived the farms.
Eliam was probably working for someone. He knew things. My own lesson: Trust no one. It applied even  to family.

"Both of you should be at home." Eliam said smoothly. "You're a mole. Why the hell would do anything you say" Alaric stated coldly. My gut twisted at his words, the accusation he made was a strong one. Eliam's expression twisted.

Fuck.

"You've got to be shitting me." I blurted. I knew that face. He made it when something caught him redhanded. He was trying to reel from it but it was exposed. "I do what I have too." He didn't deny it.
"You're the fucking danger." I stated all emotion draining from my face. "No." He defended. "Not if you do as I say." He was trying to regain the ground he was loosing fast.

"Who do you report too." I asked. I needed to know, but Eliam stepped back. He moved away from both of us.  He didn't look like he was going to let that information slip. He only gave us both a glare and vanished into the shadows.