Two days ter, Simon was still staying at the Shaman’s mansion to recuperate. His body felt slightly better, but he was still a bit groggy so it was impossible for him to start working as a knight again. He didn’t do much, spending his days in his room or strolling in the garden, and he didn’t once see Thomas. The slim man had locked himself in his room when they were back from the castle, and had not stepped outside since.

  Simon sighed, looking through his window. He had never enjoyed reading, and now that it was the only activity he could do, he was seriously bored. That’s when he heard a knock on his door.

  -Knock knock

  “Yes ?”

  The door opened, revealing Tira who was smiling awkwardly.

  “Hello commander, I have a request.”

  He handed a small box to Simon. It looked familiar but the smell was horrible.

  “Are those new cigarettes ?”

  “Yes, master asked for them. It’s a stronger drug and it is normally forbidden for use… If you know what I mean.”

  Tira was looking deeply into the knight’s eyes, as if asking a silent question. If it was a few months prior, Simon would have vehemently refused, saying that it was too dangerous, and that illegal substances should not be used by the kingdom’s subjects, but now he was hesitant. Thomas’ condition was bad, even worse than anybody could have expected. To heal from all this trauma, he needed to distance himself from what was hurting him, and take the time to feel better, however he didn’t have that option. There were still five artifacts left, and Bael was still waiting for him. He couldn’t afford to rest. He needed to keep adding pain over his bruises. It was cruel but non-negotiable.

  “With the current drug he is already half of himself, what would happen if he were to take this one ?”

  Tira shook his head.

  “I don’t know. He won’t die, thanks to his power, but he might go mad. However, if we do nothing and leave him as is, he might end up killing himself. So I think that we should take that risk, as long as you are beside him it will be alright. Master seems to be relying on you a lot, and…”

  The boy gritted his teeth and lowered his head.

  “You are helping him much more than us…”

  He seemed hurt by his own words, trying to hide his wet cheeks. But Simon was looking at him without sympathy.

  “Well, you did bad things to him, what did you expect ?”

  Tira opened his eyes wide.

  “He told you about the baby ? I promise you, we won’t do anything, we know we were wrong !”

  Simon’s brows twitched.

  “The baby ?”

  The boy realized that he had slipped up and quickly changed the subject.

  “Anyway, it won’t do him any good if I am the one to give it to him, so it would be better if the commander was the one to go.”

  He bowed and quickly exited the room, leaving Simon confused behind him. The knight looked at the box, hesitated a moment, then headed to Thomas’ room. He knocked on the door and waited, but this time there was no answer.

  “Thomas ?”

  Silence. In the end, Simon turned the doorknob, fully expecting the room to be locked or surrounded by a barrier, but unexpectedly it opened without resistance.

  ‘That’s not normal… What’s happening ?’

  The inside was a mess. The bedsheets were torn and thrown everywhere, there were books on the ground and pieces of wood that seemed to have been the bookshelves. Even the desk, usually organised with Thomas’ notes and observations, was upside down in a corner, surrounded by paper sheets. But there were no signs of the Shaman.

  ‘He probably teleported outside and is sleeping on the roof, or he went flying over the forest… But it’s not like him to leave his room in this kind of mess.’

  Simon put the box on a convenience table, and started to clean. He couldn’t put the books on the broken bookshelves, but he stacked them neatly in a corner. He took the shredded bed sheets to the corridor and started to clean the ashtrays. He wasn’t a professional maid, but he learned to clean when he was in the military to gain his knighthood, so he knew how to do it decently. After putting the desk back in its pce, his gaze was caught by a notebook filled with delicate handwriting.

  ‘How to create clothes… Purifying air is hard… Are those the methods he used to create his magic ?’

  The notes were organised and well thought out, with pictures and sketches to help understand the concepts better. Even by only skimming through it, Simon could understand how the flow was moving.

  ‘I see… He was right, it’s not that hard. With a guide like this, I’m sure even I can learn a thing or two.’

  Simon was happy with this discovery, if he could help Thomas just a little, it would surely make his life easier. He could even clean this room in half a second. With such happy thoughts, he gathered the remaining papers on the ground, and spotted a peculiar note. The handwriting was very messy, different from the one in the notebook.

  ‘Repairing artifacts makes me stronger… I am becoming the Shaman… What does all of that mean ?’

  That’s when he spotted the bathroom door half open. He put the papers on the desk and carefully approached. The bathroom was probably as messy as the bedroom, with water spshed everywhere and the bathtub broken in two. But what was terrifying were the puddles of blood everywhere, and the strange silhouette in the corner.

  “Thomas ?”

  A curtain of bck hair was hiding his body, but Simon still approached with shaky legs. He slowly took a strand of hair and put it to the side, revealing a skinny face.

  “Are you alright ? You don’t look good…”

  The body kept still, with not even a trace of breathing, but a familiar voice echoed through Simon’s head.

  “I don’t want to do it anymore… I’m sorry Bael.”

  “No, don’t say that, try a bit more ! Please, Thomas, you can do it !”

  “I can’t. I won’t. Kill me.”

  “I refuse !”

  Simon tried to look into Thomas’ eyes, but his whole body was in the shadows so it was hard to see anything. Even by being so close to him that he could touch him, the knight couldn’t distinguish the Shaman’s features.

  “I can’t kill you. And what about Bael ? He needs you !”

  The body finally started to move. It was faint but Simon picked up on it. He continued to plead.

  “I know it’s hard, I know you are suffering, but please try again. Just a bit more. You still have five artifacts to repair ! You know what ? You can fly ! You can do all of them in a single day, there is no need to wait ! Let’s do that, all right ? We can just go right now. I have the new drugs you asked for, you can shut down your brain and let me take charge. I’ll handle everything !”

  Thomas slowly lifted his head to look at Simon who almost screamed in terror. The amount of self inflicted wounds was nightmarish. He didn’t only scratch his skin or cut himself like usual, he had ripped half of his face off. The knight’s legs gave up under him as he tried to muffle his sobs. But Thomas’ voice inside his head was ever so calm.

  “If we do five artifacts in a single day I’ll probably lose control.”

  “It doesn’t matter !”

  Tears were flowing out of Simon’s eyes, he csped his hand together to minimize the shaking.

  “You trust me, right ? Even if you go mad, I’ll calm you down. I’ll even take the blows if needed, I’ll make sure you are safe.”

  With a cloud of pink light, Thomas healed himself and knelt in front of Simon who was still on the floor.

  “I trust you. Let’s put an end to this.”

  He offered his hand that the commander took without hesitation. He was still pale and his body was weak, but he was determined.

  “I’ll take you back to Bael. I’ll make sure you are happy.”

  “But you won’t ever be.”

  Thomas went out of the bathroom, but his voice was echoing clearly in Simon’s head.

  “Because you love me.”

  The knight gritted his teeth but followed him quickly.

  “I do. But it doesn’t matter.”

  Thomas didn’t answer, he finished cleaning the room with his magic and opened the new box of cigarettes.

  “The first artifact was the tutorial, the second was the introduction to the antagonist, but starting from now it’s the real game. It might get dangerous.”

  Simon nodded solemnly.

  “I’m the commander of the knights, a familiar, and the best fighter of the kingdom. Don’t worry, I can do it.”

  He walked to the desk and took the notebook.

  “And with that, I feel like I can do anything.”