Never Really Gone

Chapter 65

Grian's POV

"I was wondering when you'd interfere again." One of the Watchers growl

"You know us. When we hear the players cry for help, we listen." The woman responds with a slight smirk

"Kill them." The first Watcher commands, moving in to grab me."Get this over with one and for a-"

The man is cut off with a choke, falling to the ground. Behind him stands a person holding a sword, who doesn't hesitate to take down another Watcher who immediately rushes at them.

I watch in what I can only describe as awe as this person eliminates Watcher after Watcher, countering any attacks with magic or blades. Out of any of these Listeners, they fight the hardest and are the most persistent.

That's when I see their face.

Despite it being years since I'd last saw him, it's a face I'd recognise anywhere. The beautiful red eyes, with an X shaped scar between them. The striking, white hair I'd ran my fingers through so many times.

And it all makes sense.

Why he fights so hard.

Why I feel so drawn to him.

Why he feels so familiar yet like a stranger all at once.

"It's Ezra."

My voice is so quiet, barely a whisper, but Xisuma seems to hear it clearly. He doesn't respond, so astounded by his brother's appearance that he can't talk.

Ezra doesn't even acknowledge us, too busy fighting person after person without any failure. Despite the fact I hate fighting, it's almost mesmerising to watch this.

He does, however, seem to take notice of us when someone comes up from behind

to try and grab me. I'm too late to make a move, but he's 10 steps ahead, swords already pinning the Watcher to the ground.

Ezra doesn't move, only keeping them pinned down like that.

"Never touch the people I love again."

I've never seen him like this before. So calm, yet seething with pure, raw anger. His voice is so different, not how I remember it at all. There's almost no trace of the scared boy I met nearly 18 years ago, it's almost surreal.

The final Watcher is taken down, and Ezra stands up, facing Xisuma and I. There's silence, nobody moving a muscle, before I break down into tears, running towards him and throwing my arms around his waist.

And suddenly this facade, this deadly, protective anger, it all seems to shatter. It disappears completely, leaving the sweet young boy with the big heart I used to know. He brushes my hair out of my eyes, smiling with both sadness and happiness.

"Hey Gri." He whispers, smiling as tears flow freely down his cheeks. "It's alright, I'm ok, you're safe now."

Xisuma seems to snap out of his trance of shock, and runs over, pulling his twin into a hug so tight he may never let go.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry I'm the worst brother ever..."

"You're not. It's alright, I'm alright."

Then Ezra pauses

"Ok, 'alright' is a stretch, I'm pretty traumatised and mentally scarred, but I'll be ok. I think I should apologise too. I... well... this sounds like a pathetic excuse but I didn't have any control over what I did."

"I don't care. You didn't mean or want to do what you did and I'm not for one second judging you on it."

One of the Listeners comes over.

"Is this a bad time?"

"No..." I respond quietly "But thank you for your help. We appreciate it more than I can even begin to describe."

"I should be the grateful one. You don't understand what you've done. The Watchers are no longer a threat to this world, nor any other. They'll never take another child away again, never destroy another world or hurt another being."

"You... you mean it?"

The woman's warm smile tells me she's telling the truth.

I exhale heavily, not realising how exhausted I am.

"It's so weird to think this is all over now..."

"Trust me, it is." The woman promises. "But that also means I must leave. There's still much work to do and someone has to do it."

Ezra smiles gratefully

"Thank you for all you've done."

"It's no problem. We'll always help those in dire need."

With a last nod, the Listener says something to the others, and they disappear into thin air. I don't question how they did it, I'm too worn out.

"You look tired, Grian, you need rest." Xisuma tells me, almost reading my mind

"But... but Ezra..."

"I'll be right here, I promise you." Ezra tells me. Much taller and stronger than I remember him being, he's able to lift me up, carrying me protectively as I slowly begin to fall asleep in his arms.

But before I fully nod off, while I'm in that state between being awake and asleep, I hear him whisper something to me barely audible. I don't need to hear it to know what he's saying.

"I still love you, Grian. No matter what."

A shorter chapter then usual, but considering I was having serious writers block it's fairly long. It's also unfortunately one of the final few chapters before this book ends!

Don't worry, we aren't done quite yet, but we're certainly getting there.

-Xan