Balshak
Days passed, but my grief did not loosen its grip. It clung to me like a second skin, it was heavy, it was suffocating. Every sunrise felt like an insult, as if the world dared to continue moving while mine was frozen in the moment my parents died. The pain was still sharp, fresh, alive, as if it had happened a few hours ago.
Nothing got easier.
Nothing softened.
Nothing healed.
All that lived inside me was one thing.
Revenge.
Revenge.
Revenge.
Their faces in death haunted me. Every time I blinked, I saw them falling again. Every breath reminded me that they could no longer breathe. It was madness. A slow, burning madness.
In the middle of all this, Doya remained steady beside me. A quiet shield. A silent presence. He cooked when I couldn't lift my hands. He cleaned. He sat with me in the dark when I couldn't sleep. He stayed even when I pushed him away with silence.
He didn't try to fix me.
He just stayed.
And that was what kept me from drowning completely.
Today, for the first time since the burial, I felt a shift inside me. A crack. A spark. A decision.
I was going to find him.
I was going to find Giselle's father and make him pay.
"Where do you think he might be?" Doya asked gently, pulling me out of the tornado of thoughts in my head.
I truly didn't know. It frustrated me. It enraged me. How could a man cause so much destruction and then vanish like dust?
"I don't know," I replied with anger building in my tone, "he's probably hiding in a hole somewhere. What a coward. Running away from a fight…"
"Dana," Doya murmured softly, stopping my rant before it spiralled.
I blinked, inhaled, exhaled.
"I know. I'm fine. I promise."
That was a lie.
But one I needed to tell... for now.
Doya studied me for a moment. "Alright then. Here's what we do. I suggest we use a locator spell to find him, but we need something that belongs to him."
"Locator spell… that's brilliant." A quick idea flashed in my mind. "We can go to Giselle's shack. They ran away but left some things behind. We will definitely find something of his."
"That's good," Doya said, but hesitation flickered behind his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"
No.
Not even close.
But I nodded anyway. "I'm okay."
"Alright. Then let's get ready to move."
---
Not long after, we mounted Bali. I sat in front and Doya sat behind me, his presence warm and steady. We rode in silence, but it wasn't awkward. It felt grounding, like a reminder that I wasn't doing this alone.
Giselle's shack was quiet when we arrived, almost abandoned, almost dead. The air smelled stale, like the remnants of a family that once lived here had long evaporated.
I pushed the door open without knocking. The emptiness inside felt eerie, hollow. Doya followed closely behind as we entered.
We searched all over looking for something that could belong to that man, then finally, my eyes landed on a small object half hidden under a stool, a wristwatch. I picked it up and turned it over. A name was carved on the back.
Jephas.
A man's name.
Perhaps her father's name.
"Doya, I found something."
He came immediately, took the watch, and examined it.
"Jephas," he muttered thoughtfully. "This should belong to him."
A flicker of hope sparked in my chest.
"Good," I said sharply. "Let's get out of this god awful place."
We stepped outside, heading toward Bali, but a sudden rustle in the bushes froze us.
In one swift motion, Doya stepped in front of me, summoning his glowing sky blue sword. He held it poised, ready to strike.
"It's me! It's me!"
Giselle stepped into view, hands raised in surrender.
Fire surged into my right palm instantly. I pushed past Doya and glared at her.
"What the hell, Giselle?! Have you been spying on us?"
"I'm sorry, I—"
"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you right here, right now."
"Because you need me," she said, steady but afraid.
I let out a harsh laugh. "Need you? What makes you think I need you, you coward?"
"I can help you find my Dad," she replied quietly.
"That won't be necessary. We already have everything we need." I paused, letting the venom in my voice sink in. "How convenient for you to betray your own father, your own blood. I should kill you and send him the message myself."
Giselle flinched.
Her voice wavered when she spoke.
"Dana, if you kill me, it wouldn't affect him at all. He doesn't care about me. He doesn't care about anyone. He left me. He left my mum. He only cares about power." She paused for moment then continued, "I'm sorry for everything. I ran because I was scared. After the massacre… I thought you were going to kill me too."
I looked at Doya. He gave a small, calm nod. A silent message.
Give her a chance.
"I can't trust you," I said plainly.
Her face crumpled a little. "I'm not asking for your trust. I just want to help."
"I do not need your help."
"You need me, Dana," she insisted softly. "Even if you won't admit it."
"Doya, let's go."
"You can't use the watch to find him," Giselle blurted out.
I stopped.
Turned.
Glared.
"What?"
"The watch. You can't use it to locate him."
"I never told y—"
"I overheard you inside," she said quickly. "I wasn't spying. Not intentionally."
I stepped closer. "So tell me. Why can't I use it?"
"Because he's not here," she said. "He's not in this world. He's in the labyrinth. You can't use a locator spell from one realm to another. It won't work. And I know him. He would run straight to his master just as a lap dog would do."
"Who's his master?"
"Balshak," she answered. "You know him as the—"
"…the god of destruction," Doya finished, his voice tight. "Why would your father look for Balshak in the labyrinth?"
"Because that's where he is."
Doya shook his head slowly.
"No. We searched for centuries. We've never found Balshak."
Giselle swallowed. "Well he's there. My Dad told me. I don't know anything else, but Balshak is in the labyrinth… and now my Dad is too."
I tried to keep up, but everything felt like it was piling too fast.
"So Balshak was trapped in the Labyrinth when it disappeared?"
"That's what I'm trying to understand too," Doya murmured, clearly disturbed.
My heart throbbed painfully.
My head spun.
Too many questions.
Too little time.
But one thing was clear. Crystal clear.
The man who killed my parents was in the Labyrinth.
I would go there.
I would find him.
And I would end him.