Chapter 125 The Mark

Chapter 125 The Mark
Viktor did not say a word as Elara, Ellie, and Joyce finally got him away from the square. His clothes were torn from the fight, his hands were stained with blood, and tears continued to run down his face even though he no longer seemed aware of them. Every few steps, he looked over his shoulder toward the direction they had come from, as if he expected to see Maui running after them.

“Viktor,” Elara said softly, keeping one hand on his arm. “We need to keep moving before Caius sends more soldiers after us.” Viktor pulled his arm away from her and continued walking without answering, his jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles in his face stood out.

They eventually reached an abandoned stone building several streets away from the square, one of the few places Elara knew they could hide for a while. Joyce hurried inside first and checked the rooms while Ellie stood near the entrance, watching the street for anyone following them. Viktor remained outside, staring at the ground with his fists hanging loosely at his sides.

Elara walked back to him.

“Maui is gone,” Viktor said suddenly.

Elara stopped.

She had expected anger, perhaps another outburst, but the quietness in his voice frightened her more. Viktor stared ahead, his eyes red and swollen as he continued speaking, almost as if he were talking to himself. “I left him there.”

“You didn't leave him,” Elara said immediately. “We had no choice.”

“I had a choice.” His voice broke.

Elara stepped closer, but Viktor shook his head before she could touch him. “He was right there, Elara,” he said, his breathing becoming uneven. “I could see him, and I still walked away.” He pressed a hand against his chest as though the pain inside it had become physical. “He trusted me.”

“He chose to stand beside you,” Elara replied.

Viktor finally looked at her.

“He trusted you enough to fight with you, and that matters.” Elara swallowed hard, fighting back her own tears as she remembered Maui lying motionless on the platform. “You didn't kill him, Viktor. Caius did.”

Viktor looked away. “I should have been faster.”

“You couldn't have known what Caius was going to do.”

“I should have known.”

“Viktor—”

“I should have protected him!”
His voice echoed through the empty street causing Elara to flinch, but she didn't step away.

Viktor lowered his head, his shoulders shaking as he tried desperately to control himself. “He stood beside us when everyone else was afraid,” he whispered. “He could have walked away, but he stayed.” A tear fell from his chin onto the ground. “And I couldn't save him.”

Elara finally reached for him and placed both hands on his shoulders.

“You did everything you could.”

“No, I didn't.”

“You did.”

“I didn't!”

Viktor pushed away from her and turned his back, covering his face with both hands. His breathing became ragged as he tried to hold himself together, but the effort was useless. A sob escaped him, and once it started, he couldn't stop it.

Elara stood behind him, tears running down her own face.

She wanted to tell him that everything would be fine, but she knew better than to lie to him. Nothing was fine. Maui was dead, Caius was stronger than they had expected, and their enemies now knew exactly where they were.

Still, Elara stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Viktor from behind.

For a moment, Viktor remained completely still.

Then his hands dropped from his face, and he leaned back against her as though he had finally run out of strength. Elara held him tightly while he cried, neither of them speaking as the others watched silently from the doorway.

After several minutes, Viktor wiped his face and slowly pulled away.

“I want to go back.”

Elara stared at him. “No.”

“I didn't ask for your opinion.”

“You're not going back there.”

Viktor turned toward her, his expression hardening. “Maui is still there.”

“We don't know what happened to his body.” Elara retorted.

“I saw Caius take him.”

“And you saw what Caius did to him,” Elara replied. “You saw the army he summoned, and you saw how many soldiers were waiting for us.” She stepped in front of Viktor before he could walk away. “If you go back now, Caius will kill you too.”

“I don't care.”

“I do.”

Viktor went silent.

Elara's voice softened as she looked into his eyes. “I care, Ellie cares, Joyce cares, and everyone who escaped that square because of Maui cares.” She took a slow breath. “Don't make his sacrifice meaningless by throwing your life away.”

Viktor's eyes filled with tears again. “You don't understand.”

“Then make me understand.”

“I promised him.”

Elara frowned. “Promised him what?”

Viktor swallowed. “That I wouldn't let Caius take everything from us.”

Elara stared at him for several seconds before slowly shaking her head. “Then don't let him.”

Viktor looked at her.

“Caius wants you angry,” she continued. “He wants you to stop thinking. He wants you to run back there because he knows exactly what he'll do to you when you do.” Her fingers tightened around his arm. “Don't give him what he wants.”

Viktor looked down.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then his expression changed.
The grief was still there, but something else had settled behind his eyes. He was determined to finally make Caius pay for everything.

“No,” he whispered.

Elara watched him carefully.

“Caius doesn't get to win.”

Before Elara could answer, Viktor suddenly stopped moving.

His hand went to his chest then he sucked in a sharp breath.

“Viktor?”

He didn't respond.

The pain came again, but this time it wasn't the crushing grief he had been feeling. It was something strange, spreading from the center of his chest toward his shoulder and down his arm.

Viktor grabbed the wall beside him.

“What is happening?” Ellie asked, rushing over.

“I don't know.”

His breathing became faster.
Then Viktor looked down at his hand to see a faint mark had appeared across his palm.

His eyes widened. “Elara…”

She stepped closer. “What?”

Viktor slowly turned his hand toward her.

The mark looked almost identical to the one they had seen on Maui.

Elara's face changed immediately. “This was on Maui's body.”

The mark pulsed once then Viktor jerked his hand back.

“What the hell was that?”

Joyce and Ellie hurried over, both staring at his palm. The strange symbol remained there, faint but visible, almost as though it had been burned beneath his skin.

“It wasn't there before,” Ellie whispered.

“I know.”

Viktor stared at it. Then he heard something. A voice.

“Maui?”

Everyone looked at him.

Viktor's eyes widened as he turned toward the empty hallway behind them.

“What did you say?” Elara asked.

“I heard him.”

“Heard who?”

Viktor didn't answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the hallway.

“Maui,” he whispered.

Elara's heart began pounding. “There is no one there.”

“I know what I heard.”

Viktor took a step forward and the mark on his palm pulsed again.

This time, a sudden wave of heat rushed through his body.

He staggered backward but Elara was fast to catct him.

“Viktor!”

He gripped her arm tightly, his eyes squeezed shut as something flashed through his mind.

Maui.

He saw him standing in front of him, smiling the way he always did whenever Viktor became too serious. Then the image changed, and Maui was on the platform again, lying motionless while Caius stood above him.

Viktor opened his eyes with a gasp. “Maui is alive.”

Elara stared at him.
“What?”

“I don't know how,” Viktor said, breathing heavily. “I don't know where he is, but I felt him.”

“That could have been your mind,” Joyce said carefully.

Viktor shook his head. “No.” He looked at the mark again. “I know the difference.”

Far away from the abandoned building, Caius stood beside the platform where Maui's body had been left.

The square was almost empty now.

Blood covered the stone, broken weapons lay scattered across the ground, and several dead guards remained where they had fallen during the battle. Caius ignored all of it as he looked down at Maui.

One of the beasts he had summoned approached the body.

It sniffed him. Then it suddenly backed away.

Caius frowned. “Go.”

The beast growled and stayed back.

Caius's expression darkened. “I said go.”

The creature took another step backward.

Something was wrong.
Caius walked toward Maui and crouched beside him.

He grabbed Maui's hand.His eyes immediately narrowed. The mark was gone.

Caius stared at the skin for several seconds before turning Maui's hand over, searching for any trace of it.

Nothing.

“That is impossible.”

He had drained Maui himself.

He had felt the man's strength leave his body. He had felt his supernatural energy disappear until there was almost nothing left.

The mark should have remained.

Caius stood slowly. “Where is it?”

One of the guards approached cautiously. “My lord?”

Caius turned toward him. “Bring me the body.”

The guard looked toward Maui. “Yes, my lord.”

Two soldiers stepped forward and reached for him. The moment one of them touched Maui's shoulder, a violent force threw him backward.
He crashed into the ground several feet away and everyone froze.

Caius stared at Maui.

For the first time that night, the confidence disappeared from his face.

The other soldier refused to move. “My lord…”

Caius stepped closer.
Maui's body remained completely still.
No movement.
No breathing.

Nothing.

Then one of the beasts suddenly began growling.

Not at Maui but at Caius.
Caius slowly turned toward it. “What are you doing?”

The beast lowered its head.
Its body trembled.
Then another beast began growling.
Then another.

Caius looked back at Maui and he felt something was happening.

Something he could not explain.

He reached down and placed his hand against Maui's chest.

Nothing.
He waited.
Still nothing.

Caius narrowed his eyes.

Then, beneath his palm, he felt it.

A single pulse.

His hand jerked away. “No…”

The guard stared at him. “My lord?”

Caius looked down at Maui. Another pulse came.
Weak.

Almost impossible to detect. But it was there.

Caius's expression hardened. “How?”

Nobody answered.
Caius stared at Maui for several seconds before his lips slowly curved into a smile. “Take him.”

The guards moved forward again.
Before they could reach him, Caius noticed something on Maui's hand.

A faint glow appeared beneath the skin.

His eyes widened but the glow disappeared almost immediately.

Caius stared at the empty mark.
Then he looked toward the direction Viktor and the others had escaped.

His expression changed as he suddenly understood what had happened.

Whatever power he had taken from Maui had not disappeared.

It had gone somewhere.

And Caius suddenly realized that he might have made a terrible mistake.

“Find Viktor,” he ordered. The guards looked at him. “Find him before he finds Maui.”

Caius looked down at the body again and a worried look suddenly appeared on his face.

And somewhere far away, Viktor suddenly opened his eyes.

His palm burned. “Maui…”

He whispered the name again.
This time, he heard an answer.
Not with his ears.
Inside his mind.

Viktor.
He froze.
His breath caught in his throat.

“Elara…”

She turned toward him. “What?”

Viktor looked at her, tears filling his eyes. “I heard him.”

Elara stepped closer. “What did he say?”

Viktor stared at the glowing mark on his palm. “He called my name.”