Incident 27 by Scott Kinkade Page B

disappointed. “Are ye sure? We’d love to show you our gratitude.
Wouldn’t we, dear?”
     
    “Yes,
of course,” Michael said with a bit less enthusiasm.
     
    But
Daryn was adamant. “No, no; we have important business to attend to. Namely,
making sure everyone else in the village is safe.”
     
    * * *
     
    The
O’Hares helped them search every house in Blasdow. Once that was done, they
thankfully confirmed there were no casualties. The people were eternally
grateful to their mysterious rescuers and promised they would always be welcome
in the tiny hamlet.
     
    The
team regrouped in the center of Blasdow. “It’s strange,” Daryn said.
     
    CiCi
eyed him curiously. “What is?”
     
    He
explained, “The refghasts are highly evolved killing machines. They should have
made short work of everyone in this village. I know they could have gotten past
the shoddy barricades the people here set up. So why didn’t they?”
     
    They
considered this for a moment. “That’s a good question,” Jaysin said.
     
    “It’s
almost as if someone wanted to get our attention,” Daryn said.
     
    Jaysin’s
eyes widened slightly. “You don’t think someone wanted to get us away from the
Academy, do you?”
     
    “For
what?” CiCi asked. “To attack us? Or to attack the Academy?”
     
    Daryn
suddenly decided, “We’d better get back there ASAP.”
     
    They
quickly left the Tru Republic. No one mentioned Ev and Maya being
uncharacteristically quiet.

Chapter
V
     
     
     
     
    Freya
met them as they entered the hangar. “How’d it go?”
     
    “Fine,”
Daryn said. “We eradicated the refghasts. There were a lot of them, but of course
they were no match for us. No casualties to report.”
     
    Freya
furrowed her brow at the news. “That’s unusual. Thankful, but unusual
nonetheless. Ev, you’re looking a bit pale. Are you all right?”
     
    Ev
went passed her without saying a word and proceeded into the Academy.
     
    “I…uh…don’t
think he’s feeling well,” Maya said.
     
    Suddenly
Daryn declared, “Professor Freya, I suspect Maya and Ev are hiding something.
They got separated from us during the mission and have been acting strange ever
since then.”
     
    “Maya,
is that true?”
     
    “I…”
She looked away. “No.”
     
    Freya
pursed her lips. “Perhaps you’d be more comfortable talking to me in my
office.”
     
    “T-There’s
nothing to talk about.”
     
    “The
look on your face tells me otherwise. Please come with me, Maya.” Her tone left
no room for argument.
     
    After
they left, it was just Jaysin, Daryn and CiCi. “What d’you think’s going on?”
Jaysin said.
     
    Daryn
did not mince words. “I think Maya may have betrayed us again. Worse, I think Ev’s
covering for her. Or maybe he’s in on it.”
     
    “No,”
CiCi said. “She wouldn’t do that.”
     
    “Open
your eyes! She’s already done it once.”
     
    Jaysin
argued, “She learned her lesson. She’s not the same person she was before. Ev
made sure of that.”
     
    There
was silence for a moment. Finally Daryn said, “I’m not so sure about that.”
     
    * * *
     
    Ev
sat on the couch in his dorm room contemplating what Arcturus Reich had said.
It was night now, which meant no one could see the torment his face undoubtedly
showed.
     
    Arcturus
had told the truth. He knew far too many details about that horrible night to
have been lying. He had turned Ev into a killer, yet was he to blame? Wasn’t it
ultimately Ev’s decision to kill his father? This was his first time being on
the other end of the Prayer Chamber, so he didn’t know how much influence the
person inside had on him. He did know one thing for sure: without Arcturus’
intervention, he never would have picked up that knife, and his life would have
been radically different.
     
    So
the real question now was whether Arcturus was a demon or a saint. He had
admitted to killing Heimdall, but he said the other god had attacked him. He
couldn’t be