“Claiomh!” Orphen ran up to her. He grabbed her shoulder and shook it, and she looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears.
“I was glad it wasn’t you here, Orphen,” she whispered, her teeth clattering together. “I didn’t want you to kill me. But, but...”
“What are you talking about?”
She slowly removed his hand from her, but she didn’t pull away. If anything, she got closer, close enough to wrap her arms around him, and said, “But...I hate the idea of killing you more.”
“Huh?!” Orphen leaped back the moment he sensed bloodlust from Claiomh.
The small knife in Claiomh’s hand flashed—Orphen had no idea where she’d been hiding it. She must have gotten it from one of the sorcerers on her way here. The blade grazed Orphen’s stomach, but his combat gear deflected it.
Claiomh shouted, in tears, “So...don’t get in my way!”
“If you’re worried about Leki, I don’t intend to just let him sacrifice himself either. I owe that big beast too, so...”
“What are you gonna do? Are you gonna kill the goddess, Orphen?” Claiomh tossed the knife to the floor—it was useless now that Orphen had seen it—and shouted, “You can’t, can you?! So many sorcerers died on our way here... Even if you won, the people who died would stay dead. Even if he can beat the goddess, Leki will die, won’t he?!”
“So you—” Orphen jumped forward to try to grab her, but even in her state of confusion, she was quick to see him coming and dodge his grasp. She turned around and headed straight for Colgon, who still held his blade in his hand.
Of course, Orphen was a lot more athletic than Claiomh, but the pain of his wounds and his frayed concentration were slowing him down. His hand caught nothing but air, Claiomh’s blonde hair slipping through his grip.
Claiomh jumped toward Colgon’s blade...
But when she went past the lord, Almagest shoved her to the ground. It looked like a simple shove, but Claiomh flew to the other side of the room and hit the ground rolling. The movement was so violent, it looked like she could have seriously hurt herself, but she still had no visible wounds. She got right back up with only a look of shock on her face.
All of a sudden, Orphen ran out of patience. “Claiomh!” he screamed, enraged. He raised his fists and ran.
It was simple to bring his fists down on her. Claiomh didn’t move, just turning pale as she looked up at him and closing her eyes...
His fists grazed her cheeks and smashed into the wall behind her.
He didn’t hold back. It hurt more than he expected to strike the hard wall. Claiomh opened her eyes when the fists didn’t strike her. It wasn’t relief or anger in her eyes. It wasn’t resignation either. It wasn’t even confusion. There was a light of determination in her eyes.
His fists still pressed against the wall, Orphen slowly said, “You’re lying.”
“Orphen, I...”
“Tell me. Why hold back at this point? If you tell me, I’ll handle it somehow. I’ll kill the goddess if I have to. If I absolutely need to, I’ll figure out a way.” Orphen pulled his numbed hands from the wall and wrapped his arms around Claiomh’s head. He feebly pulled the sobbing Claiomh to him.
He listened as she quietly said, “In Urbanrama...when Leki switched places with me...I said it would be easy to switch back, right?”
“Huh? Yeah...”
“That was a lie. The truth is that we mixed completely and couldn’t change back on our own. That Damian guy warned us about that.”
Orphen didn’t answer. Not because he didn’t understand, but because he sensed that it wasn’t time for him to speak.
Crying quietly, she went on, “That’s what Leki did this time. He made the two of us the exact same. Why do you think he did that? It was the sanctuary, right? The people here saw through the lord’s plan and were trying to get the Deep Dragons to kill us and the lord.”
“...Yeah.”
“Leki thought that if he separated himself from his pack and connected with me, he could stop it. He did it because he had no other way of stopping his pack.”
“An individual Deep Dragon doesn’t have the sense of self to—” Orphen tried to deny the possibility, but he felt Claiomh shaking her head in his arms.
She sniffled and punched him lightly in the stomach. “It looks like Leki is thinking and acting for himself, but he’s just doing what I want him to do. That’s why Leki didn’t head straight for the sanctuary. Because I didn’t want him to go! Since Leki and I share a mind now, Leki’s not Leki anymore and I’m not me. Leki and I are both dead... We just sacrificed Leki. Isn’t that right? There’s no way such a convenient miracle could have happened!”
“There’s no way to go back?” Orphen asked her.
“No, there is!” Claiomh screamed in a fit of anger. “There’s one option and it’s the worst one! If either Leki or I die, then the other one will go back to normal.” Claiomh said all that in one breath and then slumped like she’d run out of strength.
Hanging her head, she muttered, “The goddess has nothing to do with it. Whether we win or lose, Leki plans on dying. Because that’s the only way he can set me free.”
No.
Orphen felt a shock run through him. Claiomh hadn’t slumped down or hung her head because she had worn herself out crying.
He heard a tiny metal click. Claiomh had no intention of hiding it. It was a warning. Then...if he didn’t move, she’d shoot.
He slowly pulled his arms back and stepped away. Two steps. When he backed up, he could see what she had in her small hands. She had cocked the hammer with both thumbs. That was the sound he’d heard.
It was the Hailstorm. He could almost read the inscription on the weapon.
Pushing the barrel out from her, Claiomh said, “But if I die first...Leki will at least fight without trying to die, right?”