As Malakai walked out of the Grath'Mekhai's chambers, his emotions were more riled up than he would ever like to admit.
His reasoning earlier was completely accurate. The Gor'Mekhai were not his problem. They were people with their own free wills.
They chose their actions, and if it was their choice to fight even when their deaths were practically assured, then it was just how things were supposed to be.
But as he began walking away from the massive tree, he couldn't help but feel some sense of pull.
It wasn't the fountain he had just found out about. No. He felt something different. Something trying to pull him back to the chambers, something trying to urge him to have a different sort of conversation with the coven head. Something urging him to stop the meaningless deaths that were about to occur.
'It's simply guilt.' A voice finally sounded in his head. Valentine's. If Malakai had to be honest, it had been a while since he had heard the ghost's voice. Of course, he had chosen to speak now.
'Guilt…' Malakai echoed in his mind.
'Yes, guilt,' Valentine said. 'You're feeling bad for these people. You know they're about to die. You know there's something you can do about it, but you're not doing it because of your selfish reasons.'
Malakai frowned. He always hated it when the chubby ghost spoke fact. Still, he didn't turn back and instead continued moving forward.
'It's an emotion I have to bury,' Malakai said after a second.
'Why?' Valentine asked.
'Because my goal is more important.'
'More important than the lives of thousands?'
There was a slight pause. Malakai's expression turned darker. "Yes." This time, he said it out loud, as though trying to convince himself.
Valentine didn't say anything after that. He knew better than to push things when it came to Malakai.
By the time Malakai left, he saw that some of the coven adults had started returning from wherever they'd gone.
He didn't miss the hostile glances he got from the people. Nothing had changed since he defeated their elite this morning.
'It's time to leave.'
He decided it was time to leave and was about to go find Grunde when he caught sight of multiple figures approaching him. Malakai turned, and his guard rose to the extreme.
'Of course.' His eyes flashed cold as a group of Gor'Mekhai youths approached him. Stalkborns, to be exact.
"Malakai," the youth leading them said as he stopped a few meters away from him. Neither his eyes nor lips were smiling. "Right?"
Malakai gave the youth a once over. It was none other than Vaelik, the Stalkborn youth that Malakai had tagged as their strongest.
The same one that had challenged Malakai to a fight this morning. He had been followed by his entourage. Other Stalkborn youths, whose glares screamed their hostility towards him.
Malakai didn't respond. He simply stared at the group, eyes calm. They had come to him, clearly hostile, he wasn't going to greet them as though all were normal.
The youths behind Vaelik flared, about to step forward, when he suddenly raised his arm, stopping them.
Vaelik leveled his gaze on Malakai, taking a step closer. Malakai didn't move, neither did he flinch. But the youths could instantly feel a spike in tension that descended across the area.
"I hear you might be participating in the Kor'Vekkah," Vaelik said, voice like steel. "Good. I hope we clash."
"You gave my people a lesson today. I think it's only fair I return the favor. I've got a few lessons of my own."
Though his eyes didn't show it, Malakai could feel the anger radiating from his words.
Not receiving another response, Vaelik didn't seem to care. He nodded. "We'll meet there." And without another word, he turned and walked away, along with his crew who threw cold glares at him as they left.
After a second, Malakai began walking without uttering a word, mind spinning.
Malakai had gone way past worrying about useless feuds. Growing up in the Sanguine had made him realize that worrying was a quick way to die.
In everything you do, there should always be planning and execution.
It was necessary for your mind to constantly be at work.
Just like now. Rather than worrying about the useless confrontation, Malakai had used the opportunity to gain information about Vaelik.
When he had stepped closer to him, Malakai had felt it. The boy had formed 6 nodes.
This was why Vaelik felt so dangerous from the beginning. He had formed in all the different parts aside from his stomach. And even that, it was only a matter of time.
Malakai still wasn't sure what they were supposed to do during the event, but for Vaelik to say everything he said, there was a high chance they would clash. It was going to be a difficult battle. An almost impossible one.
Malakai decided to stop pondering about it. He wandered around the coven, ignoring the whispers and glares. Eventually, he found his target, Grunde.
The large man was with his woman, both cuddling and giggling inside the small space at the outskirts of town.
As Malakai saw both of them, he felt an unexplainable flicker of irritation. They were having the time of their lives here while he was going through so much…
Somehow, what he was about to do felt… good.
"Get up. We're leaving."
Malakai's cold words froze Grunde. They were both about to kiss.
"Can Grunde have just 5 mi—"
"No," Malakai said. He found his lips wanting to crawl up, he was enjoying this. But he held it back.
Grunde flashed Malakai a pleading look, followed by all the ways he knew to beg. But Malakai wasn't having it. Still, Grunde seemed determined not to stop.
Eventually, Luna had to interfere. "It's alright, Grunde," she said softly. "Now that the coven allows our relationship, we can meet anytime we want."
Her words calmed Grunde down significantly. And eventually, the big guy agreed to leave. After what Malakai would consider an endless series of goodbyes, they both began leaving the forest.