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"HOW COULD YOU LET HIM GO?"
"I didn't. The boy got away. And if the men who attacked us are who we think they are, then if I would have followed him down there, you would be missing two brothers now, not one."
"You know full well, brother, that if I followed him, he never would have gotten away, so cut the bullshit," Rajas snarled back, voice hushed to prevent the witches who were preparing breakfast a small distance away from overhearing their conversation.
"Then why didn't you?"
Something sharp flared in Rajas's eyes as he gazed into the eyes of his brother. Where energy was concerned, they were the complete opposites of each other. He was full of wild, raw power, untamed to the point of wreckage, to the point of fire burning nations to the ground, while Sattvas was cold intelligence, frost strangling continents in its silent wrath.
All the more so after what happened.
And Tamas... Tamas was their mediator, their middle ground. And without him... things have always succumbed to chaos.
"We both know there is only one way to bring him back now."
"No," hissed Sattvas through teeth gritted so hard they could have shattered.
"You've made this choice before, you've chosen her over us eons ago and look what happened," Rajas sneered, jabbing an iron finger into Sattvas's chest. The vulture didn't even flinch.
"And I would still make this choice a thousand times over."
"How dare you—"
"Rajas," Sattvas stepped forward, bringing up a stiff hand to silence his brother as rivers of rage filled his veins. "We cannot do it. The method you speak of will drain her of everything. And we cannot allow that to happen—"
"Why, because you can't stop yourself from—"
"Would you just listen?!" Sattvas snapped, cold voice lashing out like a whip, muscles tightening to restrain themselves from action. "We cannot allow it to happen because, so far, everything has gone according to plan, except for Tamas. The High Witch is dead, which means that now the Elysian throne will search the land for the strongest witch to rule over Rhene. And while outside the mountains witches will be killing themselves for power, she will be here. Safe. Ready. And if we make her bring Tamas back, then all our plans will go to ruin."
"Then, she will not be High Witch, and we will not have a throne," Rajas muttered before raising his eyes to his brother's. "But we can give her more power, more than she would ever need. She can spend it on bringing him back—"
"No. Can't you understand, brother. More power than what she posses will kill any witch—"
"But she's not just any witch."
"Stop. Cutting. Me. Off," whispered Sattvas as he closed his eyes, breathing a shattering breath into the cool morning air. "She's not just any witch. But she possesses too much power already. It is a miracle she had survived this long with it. I think she is much stronger than she had been then..."
"That's not possible, the natural order would not have allowed it," reasoned Rajas as he rubbed his jaw with one of his broad hands.
"That's what I thought, too, but I am not lying, Rajas. Something is different now. And I feel that giving her more power will destroy much more than just her."
They were both silent for a moment, two black shapes bathed in early morning sunlight. Sattvas ran a hand over the stop on his chest where an arrow had hit him. If he would have been mortal, it would have been a clean kill.
"Then there is only one thing we can do," Rajas whispered after casting his eyes to the skies like he was able to shred them apart with his gaze and see all the way to where Tamas's soul was trapped.
"Rajas—"
"I know you won't do it. But one of us has to. My loyalty has always been for our brotherhood, no one else," Sattvas closed his eyes, feeling the jab somewhere deep within him.
"We can find another way," he muttered.
"There is no other way," Rajas shook his head, dreads rolling off his shoulders like black snakes.
"No, Rajas. This is the wrong thing to do. We can bring Tamas back once we find the boy, but your connection to this land will be much harder to find," Sattvas argued as he followed the other vulture, who had approached a nearby cliff.
"Ah, yes," Rajas smirked, and there was something almost sad about it. "The true essence of brotherhood. It's ironic, really. If we cannot hope to find it within ourselves, then how could you ever hope to find it here, in a mortal land."
Sattvas could not meet eyes.
"Rajas, please—"
"I've heard it all before, brother. You can bring me back once she becomes High Witch. Until then, Tamas will be of more use than me. He can easily find the boy. You will still need him. They have been bonded for a reason, you know," said Rajas and his brother bristled at the mention of Auran.
"I know. But there is something about him that feels wrong," Sattvas muttered, watching as the sun slowly ascended the morning skies.
"Maybe because he is too right for us to understand," Rajas shrugged. "I have a feeling that he has a special kind of power."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... I do not think he has any power that he can use, necessarily. But have you seen their inkings? Her hand is meant to be placed on his chest. It's like a puzzle waiting to come together. He has something she will need."
"And he ran... that fool."
"Don't worry. When Tamas returns, he won't stay gone for much longer," Rajas smirked, but Sattvas knew that it was all pretense. He knew that his brother, deep down where the morning sunlight could not reach... he was scared.
Because the second he will willingly choose to trade himself for Tamas, the second the prison beyond the limitless light will accept the trade...
His body will disappear, breathing life into Tamas instead.
He will go back to that darkness, to that suffocating non-existence in which his energy, all that unfathomable power, will succumb to nothing at all.
"It is a noble thing to do Rajas. I wish I was capable of it," said Sattvas as he watched his brother near the edge of the precipice.
Rajas did not answer. He simply took a step into the abyss.
And was gone.
(sunset) ☾ (sunrise)
a/n: i never write short chapters but u know first time for everything
BASICALLY, if this was unclear to some of you, the essence of the energy of the three vultures is the same, so the prison beyond the limitless doesn't care which one it keeps. thats why rajas was able to willingly trade his soul for tamas's. he didnt actually jump off a cliff and die lol, his body sort of disappeared into the wind, and it would have done that anywhere and anyway (he just stepped off a cliff bc he is a drama boy)
also i just wanted to give you guys a little life update bc why not: i have a wall in my room which is covered in classical paintings in gold vintage frames and my goal forever has been to fill the whole wall and i FINALLY did it so yeah wooh what a day
have a great week guys and whoever has exams coming up stay strong!
