Chapter 8: Corpses

The walk was relatively slow, and the atmosphere was heavy. This weighed a lot on Darian's shoulders as the young man tried his best to stay composed even though he realized that he was actively looked for by at least two large organizations. After two minutes of walking, Zahid asked:

- "How long do we have to walk?"
- "Something between five and ten minutes." Answered Ivan after a short moment of silence where he expected Darian to answer.

Edgar was a bit more relaxed now. He was convinced that everything would end peacefully once Rami and Zahid got their hands on Skander and Zarek's bodies.

Darian's brain was boiling again. He tried to analyze and think about how Zahid managed to sense things. Darian knew some crazy superpowers existed but did not understand what Zahid could do. Thinking back, the change in his eye color could signify either that his vision was changed somehow, or maybe it was just the effects of him activating an ability totally independent from his eyes. Also, he could either feel very well or see through things since he perceived Darian's stress even though Edgar stood between him and Darian.

Ivan was looking at his friend, worried. He naturally led this excursion because he noticed that Darian looked weird. Many questions were crossing his mind. The loudest one of these questions was whether this situation would end well for him and Darian or not. Ivan felt powerless, and he hated that.

As he was leading the four other men through the road in the field, he heard Darian's voice behind him saying in a naive, almost childish, tone :

- "So, Zahid, right? How does your superpower work?"
- "Talk to me again this way, and I'll break your knees." Answered Zahid

Everyone was surprised by Darian's question. He broke a solemn and long silence to ask such a direct and naive question.

- "Okay, okay, no need to be so aggressive." Darian said.

Darian's idea was to appear clueless, and he was convinced that Rami and Edgar would do anything to avoid direct confrontation. After a short moment of silence, Ivan said :
- "Let's go into the plants right here. We are very close."
- "Lead the way. We will follow you closely." Said Rami

After a few hundred meters, the group arrived at the point of the impact where the soil was clearly visible and soft.

- "I assume this is here." Said Edgar.
- "Correct, sir. We buried the bodies here." Answered Ivan while pointing in the direction of an irregularity on the ground.

Zahid looked at Rami with expectation, and after Rami nodded, he ran toward the pile of soil. Zahid had heavy breathing as he went off his knees and started digging with his bare hands. Edgar signaled to Darian and Ivan to stay behind him, and Rami went closer to his young companion, who began to see the first signs of the corpses, which were not deeply buried.

Zarek's body was the first body he saw, and Zahid carried it almost effortlessly despite the massive difference in size. Zahid looked at Zarek's dead face with emotion and respect and put the body aside. He then resumed digging even tho he could already see parts of the thing he did not want to see. He pulled Skander's body out of the hole and put him peacefully on the ground next to Zarek. The boy looked at Rami. His eyes were tearing up. Rami clenched his jaw and said :

- "Permission granted."

At the sound of these words, Zahid let out a blood-curdling scream. A mixture of pain, despair, and sadness. He then fell to his knees and cried like a child.

Seeing Zarek and Skander again made Ivan and Darian realize the same thing simultaneously. The resemblance between Skander and Zahid was striking. They shared the same facial features. At this sight, Ivan was struck by the idea of losing those dear to him. On the other hand, Darian was just trying to figure out a way to exploit this.

- "Should we go to our mothers now?" Asked Ivan.
- "We will go soon." Answered Edgar.

Darian had a bad feeling about this. As he raised his head to the sky to think, he was hypnotized by the circles drawn by a bird flying above their position.

After a few minutes of mourning, Zahid stood up. His piercing green eyes were locked on Darian and Ivan.

- "We shall take our leave now. You can take the bodies and do what you want with them. But I beg you to leave this farm as fast as possible and let these people in peace." Said Edgar.
- "You are not going anywhere before I know what this boy knows about Hypernova." Said Zahid.

Edgar tried to find some support in Rami's eyes, as the older man always tried to compromise, but he found none. The royal guard understood that the situation was going in the wrong direction.

- "Young man, speak. Or we will make you speak." Said Rami.
- "I do not know anything." Said Darian.
- "Liar." Said Zahid.
- "Zahid, can see when you lie. Edgar, you might not know, but this boy is fooling you. If Zahid sees that he knows something, we should go to the end of it." Said Rami.
- "Darian, do you know something you did not tell us?" Asked Edgar.

Darian took a deep breath and answered:

- "No, Edgar. You have to believe me."
- "Rami, as it was ordered by my queen, I will protect these men with my life. Do you think you and this boy are enough to face me?" Said Edgar while removing his cape and removing the leather around his sword.
- "You are outnumbered." Said Zahid.
- "Let's not go to such extremes for the moment. Darian, you have the power to avoid the situation's escalation. Please be honest with us." Said Rami.

Darian was thinking hard and fast. His life was on the line. He tried very hard to gather all the information regarding the two enemies before him. He had to find a weakness in their position. As he was breathing out, an idea came to his mind.

- "Rami, don't you think Zahid's judgment is flawed? I think his special relationship with Skander is probably clouding his judgment." Said Darian
- "You dog, I will kill you!" Said Zahid.
- "Zahid, calm down. What Darian says is possible. Can you focus for a moment and confirm your beliefs?" Asked Rami.
- "Rami, I am certain this guy is bluffing right now. He knows something big. He fooled the Pendragons and is trying to fool us now." Answered Zahid.
- "Please. Be reasonable. You claim that this young man who knows nothing of the world fooled Richard Pendragon. And I should believe this over the fact that you are being emotional about the death of your relative?" Questioned Edgar.

Zahid was moved by this. He tried to keep his composure. He started to doubt his own perception.

- "Look, I am not saying that my judgment is perfect. But no one here can deny that this man caught my attention before I saw my father in this state." Said Zahid
- "He's right. Zahid, observe him very closely now. Darian, are you Hypernova's link?" Asked Rami.

Darian tensed up so much that his back started to hurt him.

- "He is. He definitely is." Said Zahid.

Edgar turned to Darian and looked at him with big eyes. Ivan did not really understand all the implications that this had, but he knew that being Hypernova's link was a big deal. Ivan grabbed Darian's hand without warning, and they started running through the field.

- "This is not possible. Calm down." Said Edgar, his sword pointing down.
- "Back off, Edgar." Said Zahid.

Edgar sighed deeply and figured that it was too late to talk now. He got a necklace out of his outfit. And as the guard blew into it, it played a very high note. As he raised his sword again, his skin turned pale, and his muscles flexed. He then said:

- "You guys are not enough for me."