Lament (The Mageseeker)

Oneshot

Sylas couldn't sleep.

He looked for a comfortable position, turned a dozen times on the bed, but he couldn't rest. He knew why, it was the guilt, the guilt of having caused the death of their leader, the one who commanded the entire rebellion, the one who kept his head in place and prevented him from making hasty and, most of the time, stupid decisions.

If he hadn't been blinded by hate, by revenge, for Hesbeth forcing him to kill Killan, none of this would have happened. If only he had managed to have a little more strength to stop her from using that spell, but he hadn't, and now, his comrades no longer believed that they could continue the revolution. Without a leader, who would lead the rebellion?

What would he do without Leilani?

Sylas then remembered the night before Killan's death, before everything had gone wrong.

(...)

"Can't sleep?"

The spellcrafter asked, Sylas sitting down next to her.

"No." He replied dryly, just directing his gaze to the bonfire in front of the two.

They were silent for a moment, until Leilani speak again.

"Are you hungry? There's still some carrot stew I made earlier today, I'm sure you'll like it."

"No, I'm not hungry, I ate earlier, and yes, your stew is good, although I've had better."

"You really are a buzzkill." Sylas chuckled lightly, Leilani feeling more at ease that way, but when he turned his worried gaze back to the bonfire, she couldn't help but feel impotent. "If you want, we also have milk, it can help you sleep."

"No thanks, I really don't feel like drinking anything."

With no ideas on what to say and realizing that she could be being inconvenient, the leader decided to be quiet and let Sylas with his thoughts, what she least wanted was to disturb her friends, so she would give them the space that was necessary until they felt comfortable to talk.

The two were silent, just watching and listening to the crackling of the fire. At night, the hideout really could be beautiful and with the arrival of new mages, it was more cheerful and bustling than ever, Leilani could say that she was very satisfied with it and eternally grateful to the fugitive, as she herself was not sure if she could rescue and recruit so many people in such short time.

She smiled to herself until she saw Sylas open and close his mouth, as if his head just couldn't form the words he wanted to say. She decided to keep quiet and wait until he was able to build up his thought.

"Do…" Sylas began. "Do you think we can kill Eldred?"

Leilani had to admit that she expected something else, but she decided to contain her disappointment and inquired calmly.

"Why do you ask?"

"I... Argh, I don't know. As much as we're doing well so far, we've managed to rescue Kara, recruit new mages and even a mageseeker for our revolution, but when I think about the moment I'll have to face Eldred, I don't know, I feel uncertain."

"Do you feel insecure?"

"No!" The fugitive shook his head in exasperation, surprising Leilani, who chuckled internally. "I... I'm just afraid I won't be able to, I'm afraid I'll end up dying before or something happens and he'll escape me."

They both didn't say anything for a moment, the spellcrafter thinking of what she could say to ease Sylas' mind, her having an idea midway through. The leader approached the man and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, not only me but several other mages you rescued are willing to help you in your goal." She tried to reassure him. "Even if Eldred doesn't die, the rebellion is only growing, he's going to have to give in to the pressure at some point."

"But-"

Before Sylas continued, Leilani interrupted him with a light kiss, she was quick, even wanting to take longer, because she thought it might not be reciprocated and the leader wouldn't force anything the fugitive didn't want.

"If you don't catch Eldred, I'll capture him myself so you can kill him." Leilani said ending the conversation, she got up and headed to her hut to take her well deserved rest.

Sylas was no longer a nervous teenager, but he couldn't help but be surprised by what his leader had done. He stayed a little longer in front of the bonfire, still worried about what he would do, until he decided to go to sleep.

(...)

"Shit."

It wasn't just admiration he felt before for Leilani being the leader of the rebellion, nor just sympathy for her being her teammate, no, he liked her beyond that, but now...

It was too late.

(...)

"Sylas?"

"..."

"You haven't said a word since we left the capital."

"We have to kill Eldred. Now."

"We will when we're ready. We can't rush these things." Leilani tried to be as gentle as possible, but she realized that Sylas was no longer himself when he smashed everything on top of the hideout's central table.

"No. It cannot wait. We have to act!" He screamed. "Hesbeth... turned Killan into one of his monsters to fight me."

"I had to kill Killan. He was mindless, like a wild beast." The leader could feel the tone of sadness in his voice, even though there was so much hate in his words.

"I'm so sorry. I know he was like a father to you-" As she said that, she saw Sylas shrink closer to the table, she decided to approach, putting a hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him, but he was completely desolate.

Suddenly, Sylas stood up and firmly looked at Leilani, if there were tears in his eyes, the spellcrafter failed to notice, as the only thing she saw was a raw and visceral desire for revenge and carnage.

"I'd kill Hesbeth right now, but he's in hiding. Eldred, though... we know where he is."

"Without Eldred, it all falls apart. He controls the mageseekers, the experiments... everything."

"We're ready to strike. Now is the time."

The leader knew she couldn't convince Sylas otherwise, so she sadly resigned, giving her last conclusion.

"I understand, but... let's sleep on it. We can see what the others say tomorrow."

(...)

Sylas cursed for waking up the next day.

At that moment, for the first time since he got out of prison, he didn't know what to do. He didn't even have the courage to stand up and look at his other teammates, if he didn't even have the will, Sylas thought about how he would motivate them to follow that revolution, which at that moment, seemed lost.

But he needed to try.

He couldn't give up, not after so many losses, they couldn't be in vain. Killan, Leilani, they couldn't just be victims of the destruction he started. Sylas needed to get up and move on, he needed to make it worth everything that was gone but that would not be forgotten. At least it wouldn't be forgotten by him.

Then Sylas got up with a deep sigh and left the carefully decorated hut. He was sure it had been Leilani who had chosen the decorations for the shelters in the hideout, only she would have such care and good taste.

Leilani...

If only he could talk to her one last time.

Until...

A purple glow flickered beside him, he knew whose it was, but even so, he pretended to be a sign of the old leader of the rebellion.