Reborn: High Strung | ONC2024

Chapter 13

Jekuthiel stood over Gavriel's corpse, Ziva at his side gripping her twinblade, enraged. Ziva glares at the man next to Gavriel's body with blood on his hands. Simon stared at them with pale fear; he already knew he couldn't run; both were at least infernos, and he was pretty sure the man with the flaming wings was beyond what he could imagine. Ziva takes a step forward, raising her weapon with a growl of emotional pain. Jekuthiel throws his hand in front of her chest without breaking eye contact with the shaken man. "We don't need to fight; we need the reborn. Come to our camp. My healer will attend to your wounds."

Ziva felt like she might scream but contained herself in a harsh tone. "Chief, he killed Gavriel."

"Indeed, he did. He's stronger than Gavriel was; isn't that what you two were always going on about? The strong live on."

Ziva looked at the red sand at her feet; the color mixed with the crimson leaking from her old friend. Simon slowly stood up, weighing his options, and slowly stepped forward to meet Jekuthiel. "I'm sorry, I lost control; I didn't mean to do this."

The flaming wings of the red-eyed man flapped once, exuding pressure on both of the kindlers. "Gavriel was an idiot; he would have killed you before we got the chance to meet. Come."

Soon enough, Simon was resting in a small tent at the makeshift Roc tribe camp, and Natan was at his side, repairing his arm and tending to his minor wounds with glowing stitchings of green life sethra. Natan's calm voice was shockingly soothing, even in this situation. He stood up as he spoke. "Okay, rest for a while and don't move around too much, alright? I'll check on you in a few hours."

"Right, thank you, Natan. I didn't expect such a nice welcome after what happened."

"Well, it's only right. I help you." His tone shifted to one of guilt, and his eyes averted from Simon's confused gaze.

Before Simon had a chance to ask about what that meant, Natan had already rushed from the tent, leaving him to ponder. Simon laid back and thought about how fast this had all felt. One moment he had been fighting to save Zev's life, and the next he was in Romtara fighting for his own. The confused terror on Zev's face was haunting him; as soon as he was able to, he needed to traverse up to layer three.

After a full day of rest and visits from Natan, Simon finally emerged from the tent feeling in good health. Jekuthiel was on top of a red sandy hill with a large table covered in papers. He looked down across the camp and locked eyes with Simon. The chief lifted a hand and motioned for Simon to join him. After a moment of hesitation, Simon made his way up the hill and stood next to Jekuthiel. His eyes hovered over the drawings and notes scattered on the table; they looked like things depicting soul links and a few things that were unrecognizable to him. "These are my studies; I'm sorry if my lesser shocked you. The truth of the matter is that I need a reborn to further my research. I would like to change our worlds for the better, Simon."

Simon examined a drawing of a kindler holding a soul link. "You must be brilliant; no one understands the true nature of soul links. To even try seems like a great feat."

"I've been doing experiments with Natan for years now. We understand much more than anyone in the layers above—that is, except maybe the Novas. They seem to love hiding large truths."

Simon looks across to Jekuthiel with cautious confusion. "If they are hiding such things, is it possible it's for a reason? To keep people safe, perhaps?"

"King Erez keeps no one but himself safe, and I highly doubt the other novas care about anything below them." Jekuthiel's voice had quickly dropped into a cold tone.

Simon nods and listens, feeling nerves clenching in his stomach as his eyes wander around the camp. Natan was helping people with random tasks. Ziva was stood by a scale reaver, training it like a normal dog, giving it hunks of meat as treats. Simon felt a chill roll through him. Why were they training that beast? The same beast that had invaded Sanctum. Jekuthiel notices his gaze and shaken expression. "Aw, yes. I do apologize for my barbaric methods. I assume it was my dormant ability that killed you. Don't worry, Simon. I will more than make up for it."