Two-Thirds Blue

Chapter Fifteen: Restless Souls

Dusk left the town first thing in the morning. Onyx had still been asleep on the ground when he'd woken up, but he decided not to disturb her. The fire was still struggling to stay lit, just a few scattered flames in a mountain of charred debris, so he added some extra firewood before leaving. It was the last of Eclipse. Onyx should be there for the final moments.

He found his way through the forest more easily in the daylight. It gave him time to think about everything Onyx had said. It made sense. It must have been Delrox's powers that did this to him. It wouldn't completely wash the blood off his hands, but it would give him something to hate other than himself.

The prospect of seeing Rade and Syk again still worried him. He didn't have anywhere else to go, but they'd seen him using those powers, and they'd seen him kill Eclipse. They might not want to have him back. They might be scared of him. They should be. Dusk had no way of knowing whether it would happen again. He realized it didn't matter whether her death was his fault– it only mattered that he had something in him that forced him to kill. He was dangerous, whether he meant to be or not.

In an instant, he'd made his decision. He would explain the situation to them– the fight with Delrox, everything Onyx had figured out– and he'd leave. To where, he had no idea, but as long as he was far away from the people he loved, they'd be safe.

He arrived at the ruins some time later and saw smoke drifting from the top of the hill. Rade emerged from the trees, carrying a bucket of water toward the entrance. He stopped in his tracks and turned, nearly dropping the bucket. "Dusk!"

"Hey."

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I went to see Onyx."

"Hey, Syk!" Rade called over his shoulder. "Dusk's back, he's okay!" He turned back to Dusk. "He's inside, making breakfast. Gozack and I set up some snares yesterday and we caught a couple of rabbits."

Syk emerged from inside the temple and hopped down to the ground. "Oh, thank goodness. I thought Onyx was going to kill you."

Dusk shook his head. "No, we just talked."

"What about?" Syk asked. "Or would you rather not say?"

"Well, that's what I wanted to tell you about," Dusk said. "Back when the Resistance fell, after we got separated, Onyx found me and we escaped together. But then, well– I know it sounds ridiculous, but Delrox came to us."

"Delrox?" Rade let out a bark of laughter. "I suppose you fought him off?"

Dusk nodded. "Yeah. We did."

"You–" Rade paused. "You're not joking?"

"No. The Berserkers were with him and everything. He wasn't quite right, though. The stories aren't all true. He just looked... normal. But he attacked us, and we fought back."

Syk held up a hand. "Look Dusk– you know I trust you, but I'm having a hard time believing this one."

"It's true. Onyx was there too. But it wasn't a sword fight or anything. It was like..." he trailed off, searching for the words. "Delrox grabbed me. Blasted me with his powers. And I think it changed something. Because after that, every time I touched him, it would set off some kind of explosion and it would throw him back. So I went and grabbed him, and it hurt, but I didn't let go until I knew it was hurting him too."

Rade and Syk just stared at him now, incredulous.

"Then when I went to see Onyx, she told me she'd been thinking about what happened when I– when I attacked Eclipse. She said it looked just like when I fought Delrox." He took a deep breath. "She doesn't think I was in control when I did it. I think Delrox forced his powers onto me. And I think they took over me and I lost my mind."