Breaking The Balance

Breaking The Balance - The Words Of A Traitor

Wag was still lying on the floor, even though Caitlin had passed out hours ago and the shadows that had pinned him had faded as she fell unconscious. Caitlin was lying on a chair in the corner of the room, her breathing so quiet that you could barely tell she was still alive. Wag's breathing was regular; he didn't seem physically injured excluding a few shallow cuts that the shadows had inflicted. However, his eyes were filled with agony – an evident and overwhelming pain that was hard to look at for more than a few seconds. Nobody was really sure how to behave or to react; the air had lost all its tension and was merely filled with awkwardness.

Martha sat off to the side next to Mianite, staring at Wag in a never ending stare – confusion, grief and fury warring in her violet eyes as she attempted to regain her control over the situation. Mianite was glowing viciously, his normally comforting aura getting brighter and more painful to look at as the minutes ticked passed. If you listened hard enough, you could hear Dianite attempting to pace in the air – his spirit form making it hard for anyone to really take notice of it. His grumbles and empty threats merely faded into the background noise. Sonja and Tucker held hands, refusing to let go of one another for even a second. Tom sat by Jordan, glaring at Wag with pure spite and loathing in his eyes – his gaze constantly flickering back to Jordan's chest to reassure himself that his friend was still breathing. Ianita sat next to Tom, one of her hands in his and the other running through her father's hair in an attempt to soothe herself.

The day ended and the moon rose but nobody moved. The moon rose and sank in the sky, hiding behind the horizon once more and allowing the sun to peek its rays out, staining the sky a series of reds and oranges that on any other day everyone would have stopped and marvelled at. The animals outside and the rustling of the wind through the leaves was the constant soundtrack to the silent contemplation everyone in that room was experiencing. Until Wag finally spoke.

"I'm sorry."

Sonja's head jerked up, fire blazing in her eyes and her fists clenching in rage – clearly infuriated by Wag's attempt at an apology considering all he had done.

"You are sorry? For what? Putting our friend through immense torture, driving him into a coma? Working with the very creature that tried to murder us all time and time again? Literally being the cause of Andor being maimed and broken by his own father's men? Causing the murder of a goddess? Destroying the childhood of the girl that you seem to care so much for?"

Wag sat up, resting his hands in his lap and sighing deeply – his chest rising and falling tiredly as if every breath he took drained every ounce of his energy from his weary bones. He looked around the room, trying to catch everyone's eyes and wincing in pain when Martha refused to meet his eyes.

"Those crimes are all true. Back before Andor gave his speech, I had recently been approached by the Shadows as a potential ally as I was still deciding which god my allegiance fell with. They made bargains with me, offers that I desperately wanted – later on as I fell for Martha and became an Uncle to Ianita; they began to use them against me. Their safety depended on my good behaviour and obedience to their commands.

My first big test was at Andor's speech. We didn't expect Jordan to jump into the middle of it, it was meant to be a quick procedure that allowed us to take Andor and get out. T-The removal of the wings was planned, I gave them the spells that would stop Andor from bleeding out on the prison floor – I also gave them ones that would stop his pain and disinfect the wound but... clearly, they didn't want to use them. When Al was blown into the haystack by some weird force field that I didn't conjure – that must've been Ianite protecting her grandson, I was commanded to summon reinforcements for Al in order to take Andor out. When Jordan jumped into the fray and began to take down every guard in sight, I was instructed to make his job harder. Suddenly his enemies were parrying his blows, dodging away from his attacks and learning his fighting pattern. He stood no real chance, when those hands wrapped around his neck he was doomed. They injected his limp body with dark magic, to keep him unconscious whilst they transported him and set up their various... activities they wished Jordan to participate.