Page 128 of A Simple Truth

“I’ve drained enough people of their blood to recognize the pale shade of gray their skin turns,” she answered. “You are pushing it too far.”

I smacked the little mosquito landing on my shin as the stars twinkled high above us, while the crickets chirped their evening song.

“I’ve passed out enough as a Destroyer, it’s only fair I keep up the tradition as a Creator too. Plus, I have gotten exceptionally good at losing consciousness. After all, it would be a shame to waste such a talent,” I attempted to make a joke, but Zora saw right through me, so I blurted out a bit of truth, “And it’s the only rest I get nowadays, thanks to my needy visions.”

“What are you seeing in them?”

“The better question is, what am I not seeing?” I moved my braid over my shoulder, rubbing my neck. “Ever since Xentar pushed for visions ‘on-demand’ I’d had a vision each night, some nights multiple. And we have yet to figure out how to control or even stop them. A part of me is glad it is only during sleep though; I can’t imagine dealing with it while I am awake.”

“Are you seeing anything of value?”

“Short answer? No. But I have a scribe writing them all down. There is like, a whole book now. She is very scrupulous. Fatima will spare no details, interrogating me sometimes for hours at a time. But so far, no pattern we can figure out. Just glimpses here and there. I have no clue what triggers them either or what any of them mean. It’s like trying to piece together a book, only to realize it’s not in a language you speak, and the pages are all scattered and then, who knows, maybe the pages are not even from the same book.” I ran my hand across my face, rubbing my forehead, as exhaustion reached my bones. “Most of the time, I barely remember to mark the vision to make sure it’s not an actual dream, because I can still have those too, especially since most of my visions happen during sleep.” I let out a large yawn.“I know Fatima and I like to jest about the absurdity of our situation, but truth be told…It’s a fucking mess, Zora. All of it.”

“How do you even know if it's a real vision or a dream?” Zora questioned, killing a mosquito straight in the air before it could land on her.

“Well, regular Seers place an anchor. A link between visions and reality. I have yet to

master that, though I am getting better. But I am a Destroyer, so I hijack that process and pretty much, my solution is placing a burn mark on my hand in my visions if I wake up and my hand is burning, a vision; if not, just a dream.

“You burn yourself each time you have a vision?” Zora’s narrow eyes widened.

“Kind of? It’s a small burn mark but it disappears within the hour after a vision. Which also complicates things. Imagine never being able to sleep in, always waking up and your scribe already there, asking you questions.” I waved in greeting to a couple of passing Creators before adding, “I miss the days when I wasjusta Destroyer.”

“Don’t you worry, that was a shitshow too in the beginning.” Zora jabbed and I rolled my eyes at her smiling. “If you ask me, this whole mage thing is a phase, and as your Commander, I expect you to be in the ranks once we are over this teenage boy drama,” she scoffed.

“I’ll think about it.” I poked Zora with my elbow, my mouth turning up with a grin, “I am quite the celebrity here you know; sparks are very high in demand in this corner of the world.”

“I bet.” Zora clicked her tongue, but I made her smile, and it made me glad. “Have you healed anyone?”

“Nope, can’t heal a thing; not an animal, not a mage, not a human, nothing,” I replied, not hiding the relief in my voice. Relief, because I wasn’t sure I could handle the pressure of healing people, deciding who to save without draining myself oflife first. As it turned out, Healers’ magic was tied directly to their lifespan, and the more they used it, the less they lived.

“Well, let’s hope you figure it out before Insanaria decides to kill us all.”

“Have we figured out what to do about her?” I probed, blatantly aware of the worry laced in Zora’s voice.

“No. Gideon says he is working on it. He can pretend, but that stone was the closest we’d ever gotten to figuring it out and now, we are back at the start.”

“Honestly, dying from a quick magic force explosion doesn’t sound too bad in some ways. One blink and we are all in the Afterlife. It’d be a party.” I winked at her.

“There is the death-loving Finn that I remember. Glad to see you are in good spirits about it.” Zora rolled her eyes, letting out a sigh. “Remind me to not let you near our explosives.”

I made a loud whoosh sound, imitating explosions everywhere.

“Gods, I’ll see you around, Finn.” Zora shook her head, but the corner of her thin lips stretched up.

“Good luck, Commander,” I whispered, watching the tiny, fierce woman disappear into the night.

75

FINNLEAH

The late afternoon breeze rustled the skirts of my flowy dress, as I waltzed down the path covered with rose petals. I should’ve been exhausted, considering I spent last night mostly awake, wrestling with whatever demons decided to haunt my sleep that night, and yet, I wasn’t. Even the sun was celebrating today, lighting up the sky with all colors of orange, azure and mauve, slowly descending past the horizon. Calm ocean waters glimmered in the last glimpse of daylight as if liquid gold, adding final touches to the scenic, small ceremony.

My eyes trailed the Ten ahead; all of them dressed in a way I had never seen before—a sea of long skirts, of soft shades of pinks and purples. All breathtaking as they made their way down the line towards a tall arch that Xentar masterfully decorated with all matter of lively greenery. The regular leathers, armor, and swords were replaced with dresses, make-up, and gorgeously styled hair. Even Zora, who I thought didn’t own a single piece of clothing that wasn’t black, lead us in her beautiful lilac dress with a knee-high slit. Her hair was down, hiding her harsh under-shave, somehow making her look so domesticated and cute that I had to hide my grin each time I peeked at herfrom behind Ashe’s wide shoulders. All of us transformed into femininity, beauty, and grace tonight, and it made my heart squeeze even tighter knowing that each one of us could kill anyone out of line, even in our long skirts and with our dolled-up hair.

But it wasn’t the lovely clothes, nor the music, nor the flowers, not even the beautiful sunset that made my heart stop.

It washim.

---