Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 6-3

It had been over an hour since we'd met, with the exception of Faïz, in the conference room. William and the others were talking via videoconference on large screens with the senior leaders of the two nations, who were concerned by the situation, as well as with David, Julio, and Kayla.

"There is no information in our files about this Brotherhood," a man on the other side of the screen said. His hair almost completely covered his eyes.

Meanwhile, I found it hard to focus on the interrogation of Dewei, who was sitting across from me. Kushisake's face in this desert kept coming back to me. The hubbub around me didn't help. Everyone was talking to each other, looking for clues to put together the pieces of the puzzle, to analyze every detail that had escaped us. Watching all these people in turmoil, I realized that no one was in control.

"...which makes two."

My attention returned to the Prime Minister when he said these last words.

"I... Please excuse me, my mind is elsewhere, I won't be of much use to you this morning, I think."

I got up from my chair. Dewei didn't try to hold me back. Then I scanned the room for Lexy and Asarys. I saw Ray standing there, his face in his hands. He talked with Julio and William, who carefully collected his testimony, taking care to note the details of his story. Finally, my eyes found the girls, a little further away in an adjoining room, sheltered from all this mess.

Lexy gave me a small smile, happy to find me, while Asarys, leaning against the wall and staring into space, still seemed shocked by what she had experienced a few hours before. This little room, quieter and more subdued, gave the mind some rest. I immediately took Asarys in my arms, hoping that my gesture comforted her a little.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her, moving away from her.

She shook her head vigorously, as if to chase from her mind images that were too unbearable for her.

"A nightmare, Zoe. I saw death. I mean, I REALLY saw death," she said, her voice trembling.

"Kushisake?"

Asarys nodded before resuming.

"Not only... Everything is blurred. The attack came when we were on the big mountain. Two men threw themselves on Ray while our guide held me back. They...they went after him over and over again. I can still hear the sounds of the rain beating on his body. Suddenly, blue and gray light spread all around us, an indescribable glare because of its intensity. It was then that I passed out. I don't remember what happened next. I woke up in the car taking us back to the inn. Ray had alerted me with my satellite phone."

I turned my gaze to him, still in discussion with William in the distance. A strange feeling took hold of me.

"What did he tell you when you woke up?" I asked Asarys, continuing to stare, puzzled, at the young man.

"Nothing! Exactly. It's like, all of a sudden, he's changed. He became distant and avoids the subject."

"It's because of the shock," Lexy reassured her. "Give him some time. In addition to you, he thought he was also losing Faïz."

I turned to Lexy.

"And you too, Zoe," she added, shrugging her shoulders and looking sorry.

"Why us?" asked Asarys. "Faïz and you? Ray and me?"

"Don't get it twisted," said Lexy. "Our guide almost got replaced, too. Anyway, that's what she told us when we were in the huge birdhouse. She refused to leave her job and turned down a superb job opportunity in the field she had applied for a few weeks earlier. It was important for her to complete this mission with us. Her decision saved us, Barthey, William, and me. It was not seeing you come back for dinner that we realized that something serious had happened. It was the longest hours of my life."

I went to open my mouth when suddenly a voice behind me called out to me.

"Zoe, can I see you for a few moments?"

Absorbed in the confidences of my friend, I hadn't heard William approach us. The girls nodded to encourage me to speak to him and hurried out of the room to give us a little more privacy. William stared at me, looking tortured, noticing all the wounds on my body, then looked away to see the agitation in the distance. He then cleared his throat, as if it were burning, before adding,

"I'm sorry for everything. I was in charge of recruiting your guides and I wasn't able to do my duty properly."

He then looked up at me, his eyes full of all the anguish and fear he had felt for the past few hours. My heart, at that moment, broke.

"Will, you had nothing to do with it, anyone would have—"

"No! Faïz was right. I would have reacted the same, or even worse, if I had been in his place."

His flow accelerated under emotion. An immense pain could be read behind his blue eyes, which consumed me slowly.

"I couldn't protect you."

My desire to stay away from him flew away in front of his great despair. I took him in my arms to comfort him. Immediately, his heart raced.

"You can't imagine the darkness I was in," he whispered, running his hands through my hair.

"The eyes get used to everything, even the deepest cloud."

"Zoe?" Lexy called out from the other room. "David has something new!"

William released me from his grip and walked past me to join the others, who had already gathered in front of the screen to listen to the precious information that my friend was to give us.

"Okay...and Faïz?" asked David, who was looking for him.

"He's with the doctors to get healed," Barthey said.

"Is it bad?"

"He's going to make it. We are listening to you."

David nervously shook his head and looked at his notes. Everyone in front of him, watching him silently, seemed to intimidate him.

"Yes... Uh... All right. In the part that I managed to translate, the Callis refers to the law of laws. That is to say, that of the universe."

"What is that again? For God's sake!" whispered Barthey, fists clenched.

Each of us held our breath. The anxiety of knowing what followed was confused with the desire to know what it was. I could feel the beating of my heart ringing in my temples.

"Since the dawn of time," continued David, "the law of the universe has been known and taught by all people here on Earth. It is universal, above everything, even the Callis itself. It is a precise, perfect law, which you will have to follow from now on if..."

David's words were hanging in the air, but we already knew the end of his sentence.

"...if you want a chance to save this world."