Feathers Adrift

Chapter 10: Betrayal and Forgiveness

~Lain~

Lain woke up with a pain in his side. He ignored it, however and joined Ethari Runaan and Tiadrin downstairs.

"Lain! You shouldn't be here." Runaan said with a worried expression.

"I'm fine." Lain grumbled.

"Just let him be." Tiadrin replied. Lain still haven't told her.

Ethari gave me a nod. "This has happened before, hasn't it?" he said. "Laveer attempting to kill a fellow assassin."

"I'm afraid, yes. I'm sorry Runaan." Lain said.

"It's alright. But how did it happen the first time?" Runaan asked.

"Do you really want to know?"

"I need to know."

"Alright." Lain replied.

We were on a dangerous mission this time, invading a village that has caused much trouble to the elves. Their village had stretched into Xadian borders and it was not to be tolerated. Myself, Runaan, Savi, Sintor, Vinima and Laveer were on the mission.

We were going to do a sneak attack on the defence towers and we would round up the humans. Laveer, Savi and I were going to stay at the front. It was all a genius plan from Savi. Savi was a new assassin, though he wasn't the most skilled in fighting he came up with amazing strategies and was infact a better leader than Laveer in some cases. Most of the time the assassins would agree with his plans.

We were guarding the entrance to make sure no human escaped, and I was on the other side while Savi and Laveer were on the other. Then, I heard a piercing cry from the bushes on Laveer and Savi's side. I rushed over, only to see Savi, wounded and dead. The blade marks on his body were quite visible and it was clear that it was Laveer's blade. Laveer killed him. I rushed back to my guarding spot as Laveer returned, and I looked slightly over my shoulder. Laveer was sneaking Savi's body. I watched as he dug a hole and put Savi's body in it. He then covered it up. I was going to tell the others, but I knew no one would believe me without proof. So I kept quiet. We were not going to burn down the village, but Laveer claimed that Savi had rushed inside the village and got himself killed, and that we had to avenge him by burning it down. While the rest of the assassins bought his lies, I never fully trusted Laveer again. Burning down the village was Laveer's intention all along, only to be neglected by Savi.

"We must not take more than we can. It is not wise." Savi had said.

Then, as time went on, I soon figured out why Laveer had killed Savi. Savi being the genius and in some cases a great leader, Laveer saw this as a threat of Savi becoming the leader of the assassins instead of him. Without being the leader, Laveer had no honour. While his son might disagree, he thinks Savi was a potential threat.

"So when Laveer attacked me, I knew it wasn't because I was the threat to his leadership. Tiadrin was and I was standing in the way. I was the bait. Which is why I warned her." Lain finished.

"I remember that mission." Runaan said. "It happened a year or two ago."

"Indeed. When I enchanted those flowers and I saw Savi's sink and the rest of them float, it was a bit...strange." Ethari added.

Lain felt nauseous. Talking about Savi made him feel too many emotions. He used to be a good friend of his. They shared many traits together, including both of them being mages. Lain sighed at the thought. That night when the assassins were sent on yet another infiltration mission, Lain caught up with Tiadrin.

"Lain! You're not coming on this mission." Tiadrin said.

"You weren't supposed to too." Lain said back. Tiadrin sighed. "You know it's for the best. Why won't you let me go? Also, why didn't you tell me you had feelings for me?"

Lain's heart skipped a beat. She knew all along?

"Because I love you." he replied.

Tiadrin looked very surprised. Lain didn't blame her.

"I-I...

And then she left. Lain felt sad. He watched her race off into the woods. As it was the full moon, he changed himself into his invisible form. Tiadrin seemed to have noticed. And then, he walked away.

When he was throwing rocks into the pond, he noticed someone there. It was Tiadrin.

"Tiadrin, what are you—

"I came to say I love you too."

Sorry for the trashy chapter. I'm not very good at writing romance XD

Alavidā!

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