There's a third choice, Ysevel sent me calmly, prompting me to look at her. You know that these opportunities don't come often, so don't do anything you're going to regret, she said with a slow nod.
I closed my eyes and sighed.
As I reopened them, I didn't see the face of the man I'd grown to hate, but rather one who'd lost everything. It wasn't hate or anger I was feeling, it was pity, I realized. I took a step back from him, unclenching the fist I was prepared to use to break his nose if he'd lied, and gave a relenting sigh.
"I don't forgive easily, but I know that what I'm about to say isn't just for my sake, but Mom's and Bernar's as well," I began, dropping my tone to let him know I was being honest, causing nearly everyone in the room to hold their breath. "I don't forgive you for the years of pain we went through, the trauma you gave me, the seal on my core, or the way you treated us," I began, getting a disappointed sigh from Ysevel and my mother.
"But I can forgive you for not knowing any better. I can't attribute to malice what I can tie onto the tail of ignorance, and you did something really fucking stupid," I said, immediately feeling both of them react to my words as I outstretched a hand to him. "Thoma, I…" he faltered, swallowing the lump I could tell was growing in his throat. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he began to sob, taking my hand and squeezing it tightly.
"Saying you're sorry is like apologizing to a broken glass. Luckily for you, I'm not made of glass, but others might be," I said, regarding him without disdain or anger. I'd managed to push them down momentarily, but when he looked back up at me, I lowered my torso to be at eye level with him.
"Strive to be better than you were yesterday. You won't always get it right, but that's okay, just so long as you can show me you're trying, then I'll know you listened to me for once," I said with as warm a smile as I could muster, while he began to sob and shake uncontrollably, like a baby deer finding the ground beneath its feet for the first time.
I could feel the sense of relief pouring into me from Ysevel, Mom, and even Kalia, which somewhat surprised me. I allowed him a few moments to let my words sink in, knowing that this entire situation could have gone a different way entirely had I let my anger toward him take over.
"Softy," I heard Athar's alternate voice mutter, nearly causing me to chuckle, just before I heard the sharp crack of Kalia's hand slap him upside the head. Ignore him, Kalia sent with a snarl while Athar gave a pained grunt. "Th-thank you, Thoma," Kayne said, wiping away a string of snot on his sleeve. "I thought you were going to kill me," he said half-jokingly. "It wouldn't be the first time I've thought about it," I returned wryly, causing his eyes to widen.
"W-Well, if you did, then Siraye might have never found what she was looking for," he said, gesturing to a small box above the fireplace. "I've kept it there just in case you ever needed to go there again," he said, prompting her to get up and grab the box. As she lifted the lid, there was a golden insignia engraved in a shiny, black stone, right next to the necklace she'd given my father.
As I stared at it, I couldn't help but notice that much of its former color was gone as if it had been drained from the stone. My mother must have thought something similar, because she only took the black stone from the box. "It's been years since I've seen the necklace, but knowing what it represents…" she trailed off, picking the necklace up and turning it into dust as she infused a copious amount of mana into it.
The silver and green dust began to float into the air like ash in the wind, and it gave me a strange feeling I couldn't put my finger on. "There. You're free now," she smiled at my father warmly. While I didn't know exactly what she meant or who she was speaking to, I got a sense of both relief and release from her, as if she had just overcome some sort of trial, as well.
She quickly closed the box and handed it back to him, signaling it was time for us to leave. Kayne saw us to the door, and while he gave the others only a passing nod, his eyes fixed on me for much longer than I would've liked. "Will I ever see you again, Thoma?" he asked weakly, forcing me to pause and consider the possibility.
"Probably not, but if I ever come back here, I hope to see you doing better," I said, outstretching my hand yet again. He let out a short sigh and shook my hand with a small amount of determination and happiness in his once-dead eyes. "I promise," he said with a nod.
With that, we mounted our horses again and waved our farewells before beginning down the path that we'd come from earlier.
As we rode in contemplative silence, Mom gave me a warm smile, and the sense of pride I got from her told me everything I needed to know. "I thought you were going to cut his head off when he tried to hug you," Ysevel said jokingly. "I might have if he tried any harder," I scoffed, getting a light punch on my shoulder as a result. "Still, I'm proud of you. That wasn't easy, and I don't know if I'd have had the strength to do that," she said with a warm smile as she stared at her horse's nape.
"I didn't," I admitted, knowing it was what she'd said that allowed me to see the third choice. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she seemed to know what I meant.
After riding for another hour or so, we came to the fork where the paths split off; one to Hjalfar, and the other toward the Coltendian coast. As we turned down the path to our left, a sudden sense of unease overcame us all. "Do you feel that?" Devyr asked, catching most of us by surprise at her attunement to this realm.
"I do, but it's impossible; we killed him," Athar noted. As soon as the words left his mouth, I realized what he was talking about. "It's the same feeling I had when facing Nexis, but why?" I asked aloud, looking for any sign of danger. "Incoming!" Mom shouted, forcing all of us to split off the side of the path and out of the way of what looked to be a portal releasing a beam of pale green flame.
The earth erupted where it struck, knocking most of us off our horses from the size of the blast. Even though most of us were trained to fall from horseback, Kalia, Devyr, and Athar were not, causing them to hit the ground hard. "Are you guys alright?" I asked, having recovered from my own fall. Ysevel and my mother were also already on their feet, though I couldn't see Athar, Irun, Kalia, or Devyr.
"I wouldn't worry about them," a growling voice came from the dust-covered crater. What the fuck is that? I sent Kalia between coughs, hoping she would recognize the large silhouette that spawned from it. With a single swipe of its large axe, it separated the dust cloud, as if dismissing it from its sight, revealing the large Thran warrior.
"I'd be more worried about how you're going to survive an encounter with me," the Thran said with a snarl.