Kaleth and the others are finally ready to face Enor and end the war once and for all. But being ready for it and actually managing to do so are two different things. And with Enor having tens of thousands of soldiers following every one of his comm...
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Mel couldn't believe what had just happened. Kaleth had just killed someone without meaning to. He hadn't said anything like that, but Mel could feel how scared he had been. How horrified he still was. He was acting like this was no big deal and that he was angry with Rayni and Edras for forcing him to talk about this, but Mel knew better. No matter how much Kaleth was trying to shield his mind from him, Mel still got enough.
"Ferim was a bastard. Why do you even care that he's dead?"
Whenever Kaleth said something like this, it was like a dagger to Mel's heart. Mel knew Kaleth knew what the problem here was. He was just pretending that what he'd done was nothing. And sure, Ferim clearly hadn't been a nice person, but that didn't make it okay.
Before Rayni yelled at him, and Mel could say she was about to, he quickly spoke. "Could you...leave us alone for a bit?"
Both Rayni and Edras looked like they wanted to argue, but then just gave a nod and left the control room.
Kaleth's neutral mask started to crack as soon as Mel looked him right in the eye. Kaleth did his best to avoid his gaze, so Mel put his hands on Kaleth's cheeks and made him face him. And there was just pain and fear in those eyes now. It hurt so much to see it, but Mel wouldn't look away.
"I'm really worried about you, Kally. Please tell me what's going on."
Kaleth scowled, most likely about to tell him that everything was fine, and that they were all exaggerating. But then his gaze softened again into confusion and fear. "I don't know."
Mel swallowed. At least he didn't try denying it. "But something is going on. Isn't it? That wasn't you back there."
A flash of fear ran over his features, but he hid it almost immediately. But Mel could still feel it through their bond. Kaleth couldn't hide that from him. Or maybe he wasn't trying hard enough, which Mel wanted to believe more.
"I didn't mean to kill him," Kaleth finally said, sighing. "But I don't regret it either. Looking into his head just made me so angry. And when I saw that he wanted to kill you...."
Mel let Kaleth pull his hands away from his face, thinking this over. Kaleth still wasn't admitting that what had happened hadn't scared him. "But you do see why this is really, really worrying, right?"
Kaleth's mouth formed a bitter frown. "I'm fine."
"No, you're not!" Mel blinked in surprise at his own reaction, but he stood by it. If he had to be forceful with Kaleth to get anywhere, he would be. "You're losing control over your powers."
They had all been thinking it, Mel knew that much. Even Kaleth had thought it, judging by how he looked away with a huff. Mel wished he would add something to the conversation, but at least he wasn't arguing back.
"You're scared. I know."
Kaleth's eyes snapped to his as he said it. For a second he looked like he was going to deny it, but then he let his gaze drop again, as his shoulders slumped.
