Villain's Last Chance
Chapter 47: The Thirst

Chapter 47: The Thirst

The silence between us stretched, thick as the shadows we left behind.

I could still feel it—the power—lingering in my veins, not fading the way it should. My hands twitched at my sides, the phantom sensation of the darkness curling around my wrists refusing to leave.

Cairon had been quiet since we left the chamber. Too quiet. But his silence wasn’t the heavy, brooding kind I had grown used to. It was watchful. Calculating.

He was waiting.

For what, I wasn’t sure.

For me to break? To snap? To admit what we both already knew?

That whatever had just happened back there...

I hadn’t wanted it to stop.

I forced my attention back to our surroundings. The path ahead of us sloped downward, winding through jagged rock formations. The night had deepened, the air growing colder with every step. But it wasn’t just the temperature that sent a chill through me.

Something wasn’t right.

The trees beyond the rocky path stood unnaturally still. The wind had died completely. Even the usual sounds of nocturnal creatures had vanished.

A warning.

I stopped walking. "We’re being followed."

Cairon didn’t even hesitate. "I know."

I whipped my head toward him. "Since when?"

His gaze remained forward. "Since we left the chamber."

A sharp, frustrated breath escaped me. "And you didn’t think to mention it?"

"You already knew."

The simple response made something hot flare in my chest, but I shoved it down. Now wasn’t the time to argue.

Instead, I focused.

I let the silence settle, let my senses stretch beyond the normal reach of my perception.

And then—

A flicker.

A shift in the darkness just beyond the rock formations.

There was more than one.

Five... no, six.

They weren’t moving yet. Just watching. Waiting.

The same way Cairon had been watching me.

I gritted my teeth. "I can take them."

Cairon’s head snapped toward me. "No."

I turned fully. "You don’t even know what they are."

"I don’t need to," he said, voice cold. "Your magic is too unstable."

I bristled. "It’s not—"

His eyes darkened. "You’re shaking."

I looked down at my hands before I could stop myself.

Damn him.

I was shaking.

Not from fear. Not even from exhaustion.

From the power still surging inside me, begging for release.

Cairon stepped closer, lowering his voice. "You think you can control it now, but that’s exactly how it starts."

I didn’t need to ask what it was.

He wasn’t just talking about my magic.

He was talking about him. The villain he had killed. The man whose soul now lived inside my skin.

The accusation should have angered me. Instead, it sent a sharp, unwelcome ache through my chest.

Because deep down...

I wasn’t sure he was wrong.

A sudden shift in the air snapped my attention back to the threat before us.

Too late.

The moment I felt the attack, it was already in motion.

A blur of black shot toward me, silent as death. I barely had time to react before something slammed into my side, sending me sprawling.

I hit the ground hard, breath knocking from my lungs.

A weight pressed down on me.

Cold steel pressed against my throat.

I went still.

A hooded figure loomed over me, their grip tight, their blade pressing just enough to draw blood.

The others had already descended on Cairon. He fought with brutal efficiency, cutting through them with practiced ease, but he was outnumbered. Outmatched.

I forced myself to focus.

I could feel the power thrumming beneath my skin, begging to be used.

But Cairon’s words still echoed in my mind.

You think you can control it now, but that’s exactly how it starts.

I clenched my teeth.

Then I made a choice.

I moved.

Fast.

Before my attacker could react, I slammed my knee into their ribs, twisting out from beneath them. The blade nicked my skin as I rolled, but I ignored the sting.

By the time they lunged again, I was already on my feet.

I didn’t use magic.

I didn’t need to.

The moment they were close enough, I grabbed their wrist, twisting sharply. Their own blade slipped from their fingers. In the same motion, I caught it—

And drove it straight into their gut.

A choked gasp escaped them.

I pulled the blade free, letting them crumple.

Cairon had just finished off the last of his attackers when I turned back to him.

His eyes flickered to the body at my feet. Then to me.

To the blood on my hands.

I waited for him to say something.

To warn me. To reprimand me. To remind me that this was exactly the path I shouldn’t take.

But he didn’t.

He just nodded once.

Then he turned away.

And for some reason...

That was worse.

_____

The wind had returned.

It howled through the mountains, carrying the scent of blood and steel. The bodies of our attackers lay motionless, already forgotten by the night.

Cairon stood over them, his sword still dripping, but his expression was unreadable.

I waited for him to speak.

To tell me that I had done something wrong.

That I had let my instincts guide me too much, that I had been reckless.

But he didn’t.

He just wiped his blade clean and started walking.

I watched him for a moment, my chest tightening.

Then I followed.

We didn’t speak for a long time.

The path ahead of us wound downward, leading into a valley that stretched like a scar between the mountains. It was quiet here. Too quiet. No birds. No wind. Only the crunch of our boots against the dirt.

The further we walked, the heavier the air became.

Something was waiting ahead.

And we both knew it.

Cairon finally broke the silence. "We’re close."

"To what?" My voice came out lower than I expected.

He didn’t answer immediately. Then—

"The next seal."

A sharp chill shot through me.

The Codex.

The reason we had come here in the first place.

I tightened my grip on my satchel, feeling its weight shift against my hip. The Codex had been silent since the battle, but I could feel it now.

Awake.

Waiting.

I swallowed hard. "What do you mean ’next seal’? I thought—"

"There are five." Cairon’s voice was quiet, but there was something grim beneath it. "One for each of the Forbidden Gates."

I stopped walking.

"You didn’t mention that before."

"You didn’t ask."

Anger flared in my chest. "That’s not an excuse."

Cairon exhaled slowly and turned to face me. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes—those cold, piercing eyes—held something deeper.

Something almost... resigned.

"I wasn’t going to bring you here."

The words hit harder than I expected.

I stared at him, my fingers tightening around the strap of my bag. "Then why did you?"

Cairon’s jaw clenched. For the first time, he looked away. "Because I didn’t have a choice."

A bitter laugh slipped out before I could stop it. "Right. Of course. Because I’m the villain."

His eyes snapped back to me.

Something dark flickered there.

Something dangerous.

"No." His voice was sharp, cutting through the air like a blade. "Because the Codex chose you."

The air between us crackled with something unspoken.

Something neither of us wanted to acknowledge.

The truth.

That no matter how much Cairon distrusted me—no matter how much he might have hated the person I used to be—he needed me.

Because the Codex had bound itself to me.

And that meant I was the only one who could break the seals.

I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat and started walking again.

Cairon fell into step beside me, but the silence between us had changed.

It wasn’t empty anymore.

It was charged.

Tense.

Waiting to snap.

We reached the valley’s edge just as the last traces of moonlight vanished behind thick clouds. The ground beneath us sloped downward, revealing a vast expanse of stone ruins.

My stomach twisted.

This place felt wrong.

The air was thick with something ancient, something powerful. Magic clung to the stones like a forgotten whisper, echoing from the past.

Cairon slowed his steps. His fingers hovered near his sword.

"They knew we’d come here," he muttered.

I forced myself to keep moving. "How do you know?"

"Because no one guards an empty ruin."

I didn’t argue.

Because he was right.

The deeper we walked into the ruins, the stronger the feeling became. The Codex in my bag pulsed once, a slow and deliberate heartbeat.

I touched the strap instinctively.

Something was calling to it.

Something old.

Cairon suddenly reached for my arm.

I barely had time to react before he pulled me behind a crumbling stone pillar.

My heart pounded against my ribs. "What—"

He pressed a finger to his lips.

Then he pointed.

I turned my head—

And my blood ran cold.

Figures moved through the ruins, their robes dark and flowing like shadows. Their faces were hidden beneath deep hoods, but I didn’t need to see them to know.

The same ones from before.

The ones who had attacked us.

I forced my breath to steady. "How many?"

Cairon’s expression was grim. "Too many."

I exhaled slowly. "Do we run?"

"No." His fingers tightened around his sword. "We finish what we came for."

I nodded, trying to ignore the way my pulse quickened.

I had no idea what we were about to face.

But one thing was certain.

This was only the beginning.

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