The Shadow Of Magic(first draft)

Chapter 6

For the next few hours no one saw Annalise at all, even Felix or his dad. Eiran wasn't quite sure if Felix's dad just thought like Felix did or if he honestly had no idea what happened. Either way, he was glad to still see him.

"She hates me doesn't she?" Eiran asked as Lola walked out of Annalise's room. She just shrugged and said, "She didn't talk much. She seems really upset though. Did something happen to her that made her so sensitive to the topic?" Lola asked Felix.

He looked up at her and stayed silent for a minute then spoke. "Our mom was captured by some guards of the president that had the beliefs of the last Shadow. She was beaten to death by them." He stated looking to the ground.

"Why was that not stopped? Why did nobody say anything!? When was this!?" Lola shouted, looking completely guilty. It wasn't her fault but Eiran was guessing she thought if they were guards for her family, then it was in some way her fault.

"It was about 11 months ago. We are technically still in grieving and we would usually get some kind of compensation right now but we are nomadges. We get no such treatment. Anna was the one it affected the most. Looking at the two you would've thought they were sisters with how close they were." Felix said,smiling at the last part.

Lola had one hand over mouth, wide-eyed. "11 months!? Why did no one do anything? Why were those guards not fired or punished?" She questioned. "Because she was a nomadge. People don't treat them with respect." Eiran answered for Felix this time.

She looked as if that hadn't even crossed her mind, which it honestly, probably didn't. "Why does it matter? No one can use their powers anyways. Anti-nomadge laws were banned when powers were."She puzzled, giving them a confused look.

"No. They are still very much intact and many people have them. Why do you think Felix and his family were out here?"Eiran remarked.

"I don't know. Some people may still criticize them but anti-nomadge laws? I never thought..."She whispered. Felix walked up to her and set his hand on her shoulder with a reassuring smile. Eiran was very glad for that because he had no idea how to really comfort someone.

Now that he thought about it, Felix was like an expert at comforting people, almost like he had been doing it his whole life. Then it crossed Eiran's mind. He probably had been doing it his whole life.

"Give her time. She'll steam off eventually, I promise, okay?"He advised calmly. She nodded her head and her eyes fell to the ground. "Why don't you go rest up in the living room for now?"He added swiftly, pulling her away.

He came back to the kitchen and sat in a chair beside Eiran , clearly exhausted. "You okay?"Eiran asked cautiously. "Ya just....I don't know. Anna is my little sister and it's my job to protect her. I let mom go out that day. I was supposed to go out to town to get some herbs she was having trouble growing but she insisted that she should go. If I hadn't let her go out that day...If I had been the one to never come back Anna would still have both her parents."He teared up, not daring to look at Eiran.

"You're right. She would have both parents. She wouldn't be grieving her mother right now. But she also wouldn't have her brother. She wouldn't have someone to be right next to her when your parents grow old and their time comes to leave the Earth. She wouldn't have fertile soil either because only you were stupid enough to go out looking for an unknown solution to your problems in the woods."Eiran smiled toward him. Even if he couldn't see it, it felt right.

"I know I haven't known you long but can I tell you something?"Felix asked, looking back at Eiran for the first time. "Go ahead. I'm all ears."He answered, still smiling. "I didn't just go into the woods to find a solution to the soil problem. I went into those woods looking to get lost. I thought that if I just didn't come back, maybe no one else would have to die because of me."Eiran didn't see the look on his face but he heard his voice crack and he saw him start to shake. Felix wasn't just carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders right now but he was grieving and he thought it was his own fault.

Eiran got to see the side of Felix that he never showed anyone. He showed him how broken he was. Not just broken, but also the glue holding everyone in his life together. He thought it was his responsibility to take care of everyone in his life. To him, every little crack and chip was his own fault and he could never fix that. 

"I only decided to come out of those woods after hearing everything you and Lola were planning. I thought maybe. If you would let me. I could come with you and leave all the bad stuff here for a little bit. I just don't want to cause anyone anymore pain."Felix sniffed. "You're welcome to come with us but I need you to understand something. You will be missed beyond compare when you leave. I don't know what you were planning to do in those woods, but I do know that it would've just made Anna's pain that much more unbearable. Do you understand? You are loved here. Okay?"Eiran promised.

Felix didn't say anything but he started crying. Not just crying he was bawling his eyes out. Eiran pulled up a chair next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't say anything, but he kept his hand there. He didn't know when, but at some point, Felix took it and held it like it would disappear if he didn't. Eiran didn't pull away and he did let Felix grip his hand until he nearly couldn't feel it because Eiran had a feeling that was a sort of life force for him and if he let go, he might be lost forever.