The Art of Forgiveness

A Cry for Help (Past 11)

Go home, Merlon. I need to take him to a healer.

Kylian stared at the ceiling, those words echoing in his mind over and over again. Go home, Merlon. 

Merlon.

He couldn't believe it. He was still having a hard time actually grasping what he saw. He always knew that Marc was a little weird, but he could have NEVER foreseen something like this. 

This was suddenly much bigger than a simple rivalry. This was much bigger than a duel. It was much bigger than a simple rule being broken! There was a war going on out there.

The healers ran their final checkups on him before finally allowing him to be released. He, clearly upset from how long he had to stay immobile, was nothing short of ticked off. He didn't tell anyone what he had seen on the night of the duel, only because it was against the rules to share information like that with the public before consulting the rest of the tribe officials. The tribe often liked to do their best to deal with situations like this one as quietly as possible.

So, he kept the information he knew buried in the back of his mind. His rage bubbled over the months he spent sick. Marc's shot wasn't fatal by any means, but it had some very strange effects that the healers weren't sure how to handle. It was almost like his magic had triggered a strange allergic reaction. Healers researched and researched through their books and scrolls on different categories of dark magic, but couldn't figure out why Kylian's body had reacted so strangely. After many tests, it was determined that there was nothing wrong with Kylian and his overall health, so the strange reaction must have been due to Marc's magic. Still, it wasn't apparent why. He was born of dark magic, just like everyone else in the tribe, so there should have been no reason for his powers to have left such a long-lasting effect. 

Not that Kylian really cared. If anything, he was only further infuriated with the fact that Marc's stupid, weak, weird magic had kept him in bed for so many months. He knew that Danielle had to be close to her due date, and he for one wasn't planning on missing that day. He knew that the baby could very well be his.

The healers didn't share any information about the incident with the public because they were simply not allowed to. It was against the rules for them to share anything related to their patients and such, so they didn't speak of the duel or the fact that Marc won. The only reason they knew was because they needed Kylian to tell them how exactly he got hurt in order for them to properly heal them, and even then, he kept out as much information as possible, neglecting to tell them about Merlon. 

Whenever Marc visited and talked to them to make sure everything was alright, he would be very vague when it came to answering questions as well. 

So, Kylian spent months, waiting and planning on how he was going to handle this situation he had been faced with. After all, as a leader of the tribe, it was his duty to report and deal with any rulebreakers in order to maintain structure and balance. 

Once he was finally released, he immediately called a meeting with his fellow tribe leaders. A group of about twelve people, who would meet in the temple where the Dark Prognosticus was kept. None went near it or even looked at it, as all clearly well aware of the danger the book held. In order to become one of the tribe leaders, people would have to be chosen by previous tribe leaders. Then, they would all have to go through extensive training and testing, that way they would know how to handle being in the presence of the Dark Prognosticus. Kylian was the second youngest, yet still one of the most vocal members of the team of leadership. There was a mix of men and women from the tribe, all wearing matching red cloaks to symbolize their higher positions of power. 

"Kylian," one of the women chimed once everyone had gathered together. She wore a bright smile upon seeing him up and about again. "I am so glad that you have made a smooth recovery! We missed you dearly!"