A Raven's Choice (Book 2)

Chapter 20: Darth's Commitment

Darth's Point Of View:

Dieris left Marik behind with Racon, as we made our way outside of the Clan itself, to a river about five minutes away. Dieris' orange eyes met my gray ones in thought. "Does it surprise you that Zachar and I are both nullifying casters?" I thought about my response carefully, my eyes staying on his. "Yes, but I am more curious as to why it was a secret." Dieris chuckled. "We weren't always connected." He started pacing the river, keeping his eyes on the ground. He paused and looked up at me, with his hands behind his back. "Zachar's nullifying abilities decay anyone he touches. Mine alter one's perspective, so they think they are powerless. Zachar would offer his body as a way for me to hide from the world, and in return, he would use my skills to be able to touch people again." I had no idea Zachar himself offered this exchange. I pondered this for a few moments before responding, "I understand your agreement, however, why do you need to hide from the world?" Dieris paused and looked at me in thought. "To us, we have a constant target on our back. Everyone wants us to help them, all for their own selfish deeds." He paused and closed his eyes. "Luciel and Star were always a pair, Rayenlie was alone, and Zachar and I were left to our own devices. Eventually, Zachar got tired of the constant pestering from the clans, as I have. We came to our agreement, and here we are now." He smiled sadly toward me. "If all five of you are needed for this war, won't you need to separate again?" Dieris' eyes started to blink blue, indicating that Zachar wished to take over. "I will talk to you more later, Darth." His orange eyes changed completely blue, as Zachar took over. "Darth, are you mad at me for my secret?" I scoffed and looked at him eagerly. I wanted my body to move, but I was weakened at the knees. Something was stirring in my heart and it made me restless. "No, but we need to discuss our war plans." Zachar sighed. "And here I thought we could have nice alone time." We chuckled and sat down to start our plan.

Darth's Point Of View:

"Luciel is your leader, correct?" Zachar nodded slowly. "Luciel is the brains of our group. He specializes in forcing the enemy to turn on each other. He also takes their power away permanently." I blinked. "How is that possible?" Zachar sighed and placed his hands together. "He figured it out recently. My guess is that it's an immoral way to doing it." I shook my head. "What about Star and Rayenlie?" He nodded. "Star specializes in seduction, as she temporarily takes their power as her own. Rayenlie has to have eye contact and they have no powers for a few minutes." I nodded. "Luciel can make them turn on each other, Star can distract and steal abilities, Rayenlie can hold eye contact and take their power away, Dieris can create illusions, and you can suck their life away entirely." Zachar smiled. "You got it, Darth." I rubbed my chin in thought. "So, what happens when all of you join powers?" Zachar chuckled. "If we all ever come together to agree on something, that would be a miracle." I slapped Zachar's thigh playfully. "Take this seriously, Zachar. We could all die here." He blinked and placed his hand on his thigh. "What if we do?" I looked at him in worry. If we couldn't get the casters to combine forces, we would be in deep trouble. We would heavily count of them to prevent spells from being used, even for just a few minutes. "Then John will truly have won." Zachar sighed. "How do you plan on preventing this, Darth? We're up against an entire army lead by King Barchur. He alone can scale mountains. Combined with John's animals and the Cursed ones, we would have no hope." I rolled up my robe sleeves and looked at him. "Raven is used to carrying the burdens alone. Now, she has all of the clans backing her. We have the numbers, we have the casters, and we will have the training. Give me time to figure out a plan for you all to agree on something, and we will have a chance."

Darth's Point Of View:

Zachar responded, "It is not your duty to have us get along." He paused and searched my eyes. "I will do what I can on my end. With or without Star and Luciel, I will come up with something. Now, shouldn't we address the real reason on why you brought me here?" I scoffed and put a hand on my hip. "What do you mean, real reason? We are in a war, we needed to plan." Zachar paused. "I don't think planning is all you wanted, Darth. Not with us." His word's weighed heavy on my soul. I started to pace the river myself, the ground feeling heavy on my feet. "Alright, fine. I'm worried we will all die in this war. Even with all of the planning and preparation that each clan will do, we still have a large chance that most of us will die." Zachar gently touched my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. He retracted his hand a few seconds later, as I felt my power being absorbed. "We will do everything in our power to protect you and those you love the most." I saw his eyes blinking orange, indicating that Dieris agreed with his statement. We came a long way from him hating every woman in the world. Now, we were like a family. I nodded. "Thank you two, for everything. I'm not sure if you've seen war before, but I have. Sometimes, it doesn't go as planned. If that's the case, and you die on me, I will take every last one of them down." My voice reeked in rage. Zachar's eyebrow rose. "And in the highly improbably reality that you were to pass?" I didn't hesitate. "Make sure my little brother and cousin make it out alive." Zachar shocked me by leaning down to kiss me. "It's a deal." I was very lightheaded from him draining me that way, but I didn't show it. We separated, as a flush came upon my face. "Don't you dare think about dying on me." Zachar smiled and wiggled his eyebrows at me. "I wouldn't dream of it, my love."