The Dreaming Land

Chapter 26: Farewell, and a Vow

Imara held Orius arm in place, dagger still in hand. He knew why, he'd heard Ryoku call her his sister during the battle. Family was the one thing Imara cared most about, she wouldn't let him kill her family, no matter what the situation. Underneath him, Ryoku struggled to get free, but Orius shifted his weight to better keep pinned down.

"Imara," Orius said, "you must let me kill him."

"No I don't." She said.

"He must die." Orius explained, "He's after the shard, and he intends to kill us. He intends to kill you."

"Let him kill me, dear sister," Ryoku hissed, "he has bested me. If he lets me go, I wont hesitate to kill you all, should I get the chance."

"I know, Ryo..." She sighed, "But I just can't let him kill you."

"Why?" Orius asked, his arm still held by her.

"Because he's my family." Imara said, "You know that, Ori."

Looking down at the ninja, Orius knew what Imara would think if he just killed him anyways. He needed to die, she must have understood that, but still she protected him. Despite all this, Orius knew it wasn't his call to make. This was her brother, here to complete the mission she'd chosen to abandon.

"He needs to die, Imara, I'm sorry." Orius sighed, "I don't want to betray you and kill your own brother against your will, but you must understand that he needs to be stopped."

"I do, trust me Orius, I do." She said, "Does that mean we have to kill him, though?"

"You want me to just let him go?" He asked.

"Why not?" She asked, "Tie him up and put a knife across the room, it will buy us some time."

"Buying time isn't enough." He said, "What if we get delayed again, and he catches up. Do you expect us to always be watching the shadows for him, waiting for him to strike? Then what, we tie him up again?"

"We could deliver him to the authorities and have him sent back to Haysia." She said.

"Why would they take him?" Orius asked, "He's done nothing against the law to merit deportation."

"Well we could-" Imara started.

"No." He said sternly.

Her grip on his arm tightened slightly, just for a moment. Her facial expression hadn't changed though. There was a dynamic at play here that Orius didn't understand. The way she looked at Ryoku gave some clue to him, but not the full picture. It was a strange mixture of pain, and love. It was contempt, hatred, sadness, and disappointment. It was confusion, and understanding.

Ryoku looked up at her with a different look in his eyes. Her brother seemed to be despise her. Inside of him burned a fire fuelled by that very hatred, and though Orius did not know what had initially sparked it, he knew that the fire had nearly consumed him. There was no love, no compassion for his sister left inside of this shell of a man. It made Orius a little bit depressed looking into the man's eyes.

Whatever he had done to hurt Imara was enough to make her question the very morals she stood upon. Even worse, this man was so far gone, consumed by his own anger, that he couldn't see the damage he'd done. What little love Imara held for this man had dwindled here, and now she was battling with the decision to let him live, or let him die.

"Ryoku," She sighed, "why do you need to do this? What do you gain out of helping the emperor?"

"What do you gain, dear sister?" He scoffed.