Leo sat with his eyes partially lidded. Tired was an understatement, but he was unsure as to why it felt so deep. Perhaps it was the mental toll of killing three more people. Or worse— that it wasn’t getting harder to kill, but easier.

  Cecelia’s words kept ringing out in his head. They deserved it. Do not pity them.

  She was right.

  The thought left him feeling conflicted, hoping that this interrogation would end quickly and the man would give up all they needed. What Leo needed was sleep, and time to digest this new way of thinking.

  “Right,” Bjorn said, standing. “Cecelia and I will go talk to this guy, if you’re willing.” He looked towards Cecelia. She nodded, eyes cold.

  “Alright. The rest of you can go get some rest. You look like you need it. Ron, mind taking watch for any of his people? Forgive me for assuming, but I don’t think interrogating is your thing,” he said, forcing a weak attempt at humour.

  Ron nodded and left, no sign of humour present on his face.

  Leo wasn’t needed for this. He barely felt present at all. Sleep tugged at him, heavy and insistent. He breathed a deep sigh of relief as he let the relaxation wash over him.

  Amy got up and gently took Lena by the hand to where she could go and rest. “Come on sis,” she said, trying to ease her along softly. Lena's expression was numb and she looked even more tired than Leo.

  “You too Leo,” Ashley said, trying to help him up. “You don’t look so hot.” Her hand was placed gently on his forehead. “No fever… Come on then, you need some sleep.”

  “Wait,” Cecelia said, standing. “I need Leo in the questioning too.”

  Ashley frowned, hands planted firmly on her hips as she glared at Cecelia. Leo just closed his eyes.

  “Why?” Ashley snapped.

  “His skills in fighting and his reaction speed. If this man pulls some kind of secret power we aren’t ready for then I’d rather have someone to catch it.” Cecelia’s voice stayed calm, unshaken by Ashley’s edge.

  “Can’t you see he’s exhausted?” Ashley argued, her voice rising another octave.

  “I’ve been impaled twice—by both an arrow and giant mandible. Yet I still will question him because it’s what we must do,” Cecelia said resolutely. Her tone invited no more argument, carrying a controlled edge of her own.

  “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?” she pleaded softly.

  Cecelia shook her head. Ashley started to argue once more, but Leo cut her off. “It’s fine, Ash, I’ll manage. Somehow.”

  He gave her a weak smile, trying to hide the exhaustion.

  Her response was to glare at him, hiding her worry for a moment before leaving, not saying another word.

  “Come along then you two,” Bjorn said, grim expression.

  “Get up. Don’t make me force you.” Cecelia said to the warrior. Her words coated with venomous threat.

  The man groaned but complied, following Cecelia into a private room in the large house they had on the upper floor.

  He sat down on a rock that might have been a chair once upon a time. Even a solid stone bed sounded comfortable to Leo right now. After getting the man situated, Cecelia began her questioning.

  “First. Let’s start with your name.”

  He just scoffed, turning his head in rejection.

  “I see. So you’d rather Leo here question you? You do have another few limbs… Yes. That could work. Leo, would you mind?”

  “David! My name’s David. Please. Not him… I’m sorry.”

  Cecelia leaned in calmly, as if she hadn’t just threatened him. “Alright, David. Easy questions first. I assume you have a base of operations—a camp, perhaps. How many people do you have, and where is it located?”

  David scowled. “Why would I tell you?”

  Her eyes hardened subtly, but were accompanied by a smile. “I already told you why. Because the alternative involves pain.”

  Leo didn’t like where this was heading, no matter how effective the threat seemed to be. If they followed through on their threats, then they’d be no better than those whom he killed earlier. Monsters.

  Will visibly breaking, the man started trembling slightly, audibly gulping as she continued to stare at him. Calling Cecelia’s bluff wasn’t something he was capable of.

  Leo wasn’t even sure it was a bluff.

  “It’s towards the giant tower thing, I don’t know how directions work in this place, but it's right-ish from where we fought.”

  She sighed. “You never learned that the sun rises in the east?”

  “Why would I learn shit like that? Sounds pretty pointless, also what if like, directions aren’t the same here, like north is south,” he said, a bit of snark in his tone.

  “A valid point,” she conceded. “But we do not have a compass. So direction is whatever we say it is currently. Therefore, if the sun rises in the east then that’s east. It’s basic stuff.”

  She tilted her head slightly, her tone turning deliberately patronising, most likely to get him to lose his temper and start spouting something without thinking.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Fuck you. I don’t care about directions. I grew up on the streets. All that mattered was how to survive and where to run when shit went down.”

  “I can appreciate that,” Cecelia said. “Being on the streets must have been tough. But I bet it helped you in this tutorial. Fighting seems to be key.”

  “What do you know about the streets?” He looked her up and down. “With looks like yours, I bet you were some kinda hot shot lawyer, or you slept your way to the top of some rich prick’s company.” David laughed, it was awkward and uneasy.

  Cecelia’s smile only grew but her eyes remained unchanging. Leo saw the man visibly swallow under the pressure.

  “We’re getting off topic,” she said, completely unphased.

  “So, it’s close to the tower? Have you been there?”

  “Fuck no! The closer you get to that tower, the stronger those bloody ants get. There’s a soldier one in almost every group and the group sizes get bigger.”

  Leo nodded to himself, his theory confirmed, albeit by a weak source, but confirmed all the same.

  “Now that’s useful!” she said, face brightening. “Let’s continue with that, shall we? How many are you?”

  “There’s—”

  “Now before you lie to me, just know that I will know if you’re lying,” she said jovially.

  “Do. Not. Lie. To. Me.”

  His eyes went wide with fear, his teeth biting his lower lip as if to punish his mouth. Leo felt genuine pressure from Cecelia as she said that. Telling himself not to lie to her. Unaware that Cecelia knew he was the worst liar she’d ever met.

  “There's like forty of us, give or take. I didn’t count.” he said.

  “Forty? Christ,” Bjorn repeated in a whisper, shaking his head. “That’s an army, Cecelia. What are we getting into here?”

  Cecelia raised an eyebrow, curiosity starting to rise and ignoring Bjorn’s question. “You’re not lying. But there’s deceit in your voice. What are you not telling us?”

  The man looked unsure, but relented. “It’s probably forty, maybe less now, depending.”

  “Depending on what?”

  “On if the few guys left with ‘em got bored,” he said, laughing.

  “So, not forty of you convicts? Assuming you’re one of those,” Bjorn asked pointedly.

  “Hah! Those cattle wouldn’t last a day inside. There’s three guys around our level, creepy fuckers too. The rest are low level civvies, just waiting for the tutorial to end. Good fun though.” He was still laughing, giving off a real sadist vibe.

  A lot of dark thoughts crossed Leo’s mind. These people were the worst of the worst. Locked up for crimes that some wouldn’t even dream of doing in their sickest fantasies. He thought about the people, scared and helpless. In a new world they didn’t understand. Forced to do unspeakable acts by those stronger. He thought of his sister, the thought that she could be one of them, unlikely as it was.

  “You–” Bjorn started to speak—and stopped.

  A terrifying presence washed over the room.

  Leo’s fury bubbled to the surface, erasing all thoughts of tiredness and exhaustion.

  He started slowly walking towards the seated man, each step striking the stone harder than the last as fire burned from his Essence into every step. Leo channelled every bit of hate he could muster towards the man, his inner storm rising as his control slipped.

  Flashes of terrified faces, helpless and violated burned through Leo’s mind. The sight of the riverside massacre just two days ago passed through his head. Each step he took caused his control over his storm to be lessened. His rage fanned into uncontrollable flames.

  Cecelia moved to stop him but was unable to speak, her mouth opening to an empty noise as she bit her lip. A frown was all she could manage.

  David fell backward from the rock-chair, scrambling desperately until his back hit the wall, eyes wide with animal panic. Sweat streamed down his face, his breath coming in rapid gasps.

  “No! S–stay back! Please! Get him away from me!” he pleaded desperately. “I told you what you wanted to know!”

  Leo slowly crouched, lowering himself until he was directly in front of him. Slightly tilting his head as if questioning.

  “Is that what they said to you? When you forced them?” he asked, no louder than a whisper but heard by all.

  David’s lip quivered, struggling to form coherent words as the pressure descended harder and harder.

  “You think it’s okay? To take advantage of people who just want to live another day and see their families again?”

  “Please, I–”

  “To torture those who just wanted help!” he roared, his fist glowing with so much power he could feel his bones creaking as he pushed more and more into it.

  Leo’s fist trembled, power surging dangerously. He could end this man and it would be just. His body demanded justice, his mind screamed for control.

  “Now you get to see how they felt!”

  His fist was careening towards David’s head until the last possible second. He diverted his punch, releasing everything into stone instead of flesh.

  David screamed, but it was dwarfed by the sound Leo’s fist made.

  The sound was like a bomb detonating as it was sent echoing through the house. Shaking the very foundation of the building. The wall almost threatened to collapse as spiderweb cracks raced up it.

  David slowly opened his eyes. His head shakingly turned to his left, and seeing a fist firmly embedded in the solid stone wall, started to cry.

  Wrenching his fist from the wall, blood dripped down it as bones had punctured through his skin. The bones in his arms had taken a massive toll too, enough that raising his arm caused him incredible pain.

  He looked down, noting that a pool of warm liquid had formed under David.

  He stood up and wordlessly walked away. Cecelia said nothing. Bjorn tried to approach him but was stopped by Cecelia.

  Staggering through the house, Leo tried to regain control. The rage had almost taken him.

  He tried to calm his breathing but it wasn’t letting up. The storm in his chest had almost exploded. He had been aiming for the man’s head, until the last minute when his brain stepped in to try and quell the rage. Pain started to dull his mind. His body ached, he needed sleep.

  Ashley came running around a corner, instantly noticing Leo’s state as blood dripped from his hand.

  “Leo! Are you okay? We heard a really loud noise that shook the whole building, was that you?” she asked quickly, her curiosity laced with a bit of apprehension.

  “Yeah,” he said, voice still hard.

  “Did you…”

  “No,” he breathed. “But I wanted to.” His voice cracked, his eyes became moist.

  She sighed with a slight relief, before walking up to him and grasping the back of his head. It was brought down to her shoulder and into a fierce embrace. Her arms trembled slightly as she held him.

  “You don’t have to carry it alone, Leo,” she whispered, voice firm.

  The warmth of her magic, the comfort of her embrace. It gently pulled him back from the edge until the tension finally drained from his body.

  Leo didn’t feel guilt for what he’d almost done.

  What frightened him was how easily the rage had taken him—how his body had answered before his mind could.

  The storm hadn’t cared who stood in front of it.

  And that scared him far more than the thought of killing ever could.