Chapter 43: Avantine

"Every heart sings a song, incomplete until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet." —Plato

"If you're reading this...

Congratulations, you're alive.

If that's not something to smile about,

then I don't know what is."

—Chad Sugg, Monsters Under Your Head

"To be nobody but

yourself in a world

which is doing its best day and night to make you like

everybody else means to fight the hardest battle

which any human being can fight and never stop fighting." —E.E. Cummings

***

Blinded by power, Grenoble and Baron desperately yearn for the ability to control animals. Xenia could not see the point in consuming the power within the man since there were only two ravens and a single bear left on the island. Other animals said to have occupied the island had already perished and turned extinct only in this place. What remains were bugs, insects, and smaller "animals", which Xenia doubts were controllable by the "gift".

"I assure the three of you that none of you will have to die. Just... get out of here while I'm still considering it."

Thaniel had to take some countermeasures when he heard that despite giving the Sultenians the man they would not let them go. So, Thaniel told Xenia to throw the obsidian knife at him, which he caught and immediately threatened to acquire the gift.

"Don't get near us!" Thaniel exclaimed and Baron came to a stop, but the smirk on his face never faltered. "I'm not joking about taking the gift for myself!"

No, no, no. Thaniel overlooked one mistake he just made. Grenoble and Baron were just caught off guard by Thaniel's sudden decision. Putting his life at risk when Xenia already instructed him to come back to him.

"Xenia! I know what you are thinking right now! My brother is in trouble!"

"Yes," he shortly and bitterly replied. "Unfortunately, he was not actually threatening anyone. Thaniel just put his life at risk and now we— no, I have to save him. I'm sure Grenoble already knew that Thaniel will be unable to steal the "gift" since he is a Balmackian. Both of you should already have one."

And the case about "gift rejection" might occur with Thaniel if he ever consumes the man's flesh, who regained consciousness a while ago and yet was still pretending like he was unconscious.

"Focus! Focus!" Thought the man, tensed and distracted by the obsidian knife on his throat. "I must transfer my consciousness to the bear once again and get out of this predicament. But... If I do that, the kid might actually slice my neck! I will die!"

Even so, he chose to wake up the bear and proudly growl at the pain in his hand. A broken arm and blurry vision because of the earlier incident.

Their attention shifted to the bear, raising their guards from a possible attack. But Xenia saw this as an opportunity and pulled Thaniel away from the man, leaving the gifted behind to Grenoble and Baron.

"Hurry, Thaniel! This is our only chance!"

They took advantage of that and distanced themselves from danger.

And since the two Sultenians were both faced with a threat from the bear, they had to deal with it first and let go of the kids.

"Those kids managed to put a stop to this damn bear. That man must be conscious!"

When his cover was blown, the man purposefully cut off his connection with the bear, which brought him back to his own body and set off somewhere before Baron could get his hands on him.

However, Grenoble would not let him get away like how he did with the kids. He has no business whatsoever with the kids, therefore, did not waste his time on them.

"I won't let myself get eaten and killed by some weird ass tribesmen!"

Upon looking back, fear terrorized his mind because of Baron's "gift", everything he ability-consciously touched withered and turned to ashes. This caused him to put more speed to his feet and sprint off or else he will be dead meat.

Baron would not just let him go. Like a wild madman chasing its prey in the woods, Baron picked up his pace and went full throttle. As someone who had been living in the mountains ever since he was born, being accustomed to the rocky and uneven path was easy. Moreover, he knew his way around the forest.

"I'm sorry, but you are not going anywhere."

"Ahhhhh!!! Someone help me!"

"Don't make things hard for you."

Being injured and hungry took a great toll on the guy. He was completely overrun by Baron and instantly caught when the Sultenian chose to take things seriously.

Roughly, Baron shoved the man's face on the ground, which clearly hurt the guy. Still, he found little strength to put up a fight but Baron was far stronger than him. There was no way he could escape. Baron had pinned him and he could not move at all.

"What do you want from me?!" He said, gritting his teeth in anger.

Baron just chuckled at his foolishness.

"You know exactly what we want. Your life and that ability of yours."

Chilling. Baron's words were cold and callous.

"I'm Avantine! Descendant of the royal family! Inside me is my sister's ability, which will trigger once I lose my last breath. So, if you dare try to ki— argh! My arm! Y-You cut it off! I'm bleeding! No, no, no, no! Not the other one! Uwah!"

Avantine was tortured and showed no mercy. He passed out before Baron could go down to both of his legs and soon regained consciousness when Grenoble was ready to put him down.

"May your soul rot to eternity and wrath finds its way to your household."

And so the dagger painfully went through his neck. Avantine could not even struggle as he gradually lost his precious life. All he could do was gargle his own blood and saw his life fading away as his visions blur eternally.

"I've been meaning to ask but don't his ability kind of useless in our environment without any other animal besides that bear."

The poor bear could not even go on a rampage. Grenoble knew how to deal with a black bear and instantly acted before the bear could pose a far greater threat.

"Plus, his gift leaves the inheritor vulnerable. So, it is not really a desirable "gift" to begin with. Forgive me if I'm contradicting you. I just don't really see the importance of his ability."

"No worries, Baron. You will see soon enough why I am choosing this "gift" for myself."

~