“You’re picking your fingers,” Minari said.
Elliot’s hands froze. He looked down. The skin around his nails was raw and pulled back, allowing blood to ooze from the open wounds.
“Worried?” Hiro asked. He handed Elliot a handkerchief.
Elliot took it. “Thank you,” he mumbled. He dabbed the soft cloth over his wounds.
“I believe we do not have anything to worry about,” Luka said. “The strings of fate that attach you and Mimi are strong. He will not abandon you.”
Elliot clutched his chest. He felt like there was so much he didn’t know about the prophecy and how it could cause a ripple effect with others. There had to be a reason Nero and the others knew of it. But how? There weren’t many who knew of the prophecy. The only ones Elliot knew of who knew were Ragnar and the council.
Elliot’s eyes widened.
Necromancers.
They knew of the prophecy. It was possible a Necromancer had told them about the prophecy and destroyed the tribe. But they’d said the attacker had looked like Elliot and Minari. That would mean a Necromancer was an . . . elf? No. No. No. That couldn’t be it. That couldn’t be true. There was no way an elf could be a Necromancer. They were all human, surely. Based on Vylantra’s tale, it wouldn’t have made sense otherwise.
“Ow!” A sharp poke brought Elliot out of his thoughts. He rubbed the middle of his forehead.
“Stop worrying,” Hiro said, his hand in front of Elliot’s face, “or I’ll flick the thoughts out of your head again.” He smiled. “Believe in them. They’ll come around.”
“Y-yeah . . .”
“Hmm? What was that?” Hiro moved his hand closer, ready to send another flick against Elliot’s forehead.
Elliot backed away, swatting Hiro’s hand. “Fine! I’ll stop worrying.”
Hiro grinned. “That’s more like it.”
“I’m assuming the plan now is to wait,” Minari said.
“Right. We can’t leave Mimi and Sage.”
“But we don’t know how long we’ll be waiting for,” Minari said.
Elliot placed a hand on his chest. He could still feel Mimi’s connection with him. He wasn’t far, and he could feel a sense of distress coming from the chimera. But it wasn’t a feeling of danger. There were hard decisions he had to make, and he needed to make them on his own. As much as it worried Elliot, he knew it wasn’t his place to interfere.
“Do you feel him too?” Luka asked, his voice soft.
“I do. He isn’t far from here.”
“But you will leave him alone.”
Elliot nodded. “When the time is right, he’ll be ready.”
“You think he will choose his role as a warrior over his role as the son of the leader of the chimeras?” Minari asked.
“I don’t think,” Elliot said. “I know he will.”
“Wait! Mimi!”
A voice broke off into the distance. It was early morning. The sun had barely risen. There was fresh dew on the blades of grass, dampening Elliot’s shoulder and side. He pushed himself up. Minari was already on his feet. Hiro’s eyes snapped open. He sprang up into a sitting position.
“Something’s not right,” Minari said.
Luka and Owen roused from their sleep, but it did not take long for them to be on full alert.
Rushed footsteps grew closer and louder.
Minari’s body suddenly shifted. He pulled out two of his daggers in time to block Mimi’s incoming attack. He had his rapiers drawn, blades being deflected by Minari’s defense. Mimi’s skin and body were covered in blood, and a deep scowl was etched into his features. His eyes were full of fire.
“Why? Why did you do it?” Mimi seethed.
“What are you talking about?” Minari asked.
“Don’t play dumb with me!” Mimi pushed forward. “Why did you kill them?”
“What?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know!” Mimi gave Minari another shove, pushing himself back. He pointed his blade at Minari. “Why did you kill them? They did nothing to you. Or are you actually with the elf who killed my entire tribe?”
What was Mimi talking about? Minari had been with Elliot and the others the entire evening.
“Mimi, wait. I think you have it all wrong,” Elliot said.
Mimi turned to Elliot. His lips were trembling, and his yellow eyes were glassy and swollen with red. “I know what I saw, Elliot. There were . . . There were stab wounds and clean gashes across their necks. I tried—” Mimi’s voice cracked. “I tried to save them, but it was too late.”
Sage appeared through the dense trees. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. “Mimi, wait.” His clothes were also soaked in blood, but there didn’t seem to be any wounds on him.
“I will avenge them, Sage. You can punch him after I cut his head off his neck.”
“Mimi! Wait. Please.” Elliot stepped forward. “Could you tell us what happened?”
“Why don’t you ask him that?”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Minari said. “I was here the whole time.”
“You’re lying!”
“What reason do I have to kill Amelia and her family?” Minari asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. What reason did you have to distrust me or Sage?” Mimi asked. “You’ve been distrusting of us ever since we left Valquent. I don’t know what we did, but it gave you no right to murder my family and tribe!”
Minari’s mouth opened and closed, but only spurts of noise left his lips.
“Don’t have an answer? Well, it doesn’t matter to me. Either way, I will avenge them.”
“Wait,” Elliot said. He looked over at Minari. “Minari, throw out your daggers.”
Minari looked at Elliot like he had just suggested something bizarre. “Why?”
“To prove you didn’t do it.”
“But—”
“Please,” Elliot said. He knew forcing Minari to disarm himself made the older elf feel vulnerable. Elliot wasn’t even sure if Minari knew how to fight properly without them. “If there isn’t any blood on them, then it proves you didn’t do anything.
Mimi lowered his rapier. “I’ll accept he’s innocent if we find his blades clean.”
Elliot nodded at Minari, urging him to throw out his daggers.
Minari didn’t move at first, but he eventually threw the two weapons he had in his hands on the ground. He slowly drew each of his daggers from his waist. One by one, he tossed them in front of him. Each of them was clean. With four of them on the grass, he pulled out the last two that were attached to his thighs.
Minari threw them onto the grass.
But they weren’t clean like the others.