SPIRITBINDER: The Boy Without A Mark
Chapter 54: Unfolding the Betrayal?

Chapter 54: Unfolding the Betrayal?

Morvane was cornered, his back almost literally against the wall. Medas loomed over him, his presence suffocating and crackling with tension. Accusations hung heavy in the air, each word driving deeper into the fragile thread of their friendship.

"You killed Hiraya, didn’t you?" Medas growled, his voice low and venomous. His telekinetic aura pulsed faintly, an unconscious reflection of his growing fury.

"I didn’t—" Morvane began, his voice faltering. He wanted to tell the truth, to let everything spill out, but the weight of it threatened to crush him. Medas couldn’t know—not all of it.

"Stop lying!" Medas shouted, his voice echoing through the chamber. "You admitted you’re evil, you admitted you killed Drace, and now you’re dodging everything about Hiraya! Tell me the truth, Morvane, before I make you!"

Morvane’s mind raced, but no words came. He couldn’t reveal the whole story. If Medas knew the truth—if he knew he was the one who had stabbed Hiraya—it would destroy him.

"Why are you quiet, Morvane?" Medas snapped, his eyes wild with anger. "Tell me! How did you kill her?"

"Enough." Hiraya’s voice cut through the tension like a blade. She floated closer to the two men, her spectral form shimmering with an intensity that made Morvane flinch.

"I remember now," Hiraya said, her voice trembling with suppressed rage. "I know the truth, Morvane. You were there that night. You were sent to kill me. But what I still don’t understand—" Her gaze hardened, locking onto Morvane’s. "Who was the one beside you that night? The one standing in the shadows?"

Morvane froze, the question hitting him like a hammer. He swallowed hard, his heart pounding. He wanted to stay silent, but Hiraya’s gaze bore into him, demanding an answer.

"It was... Drevon," Morvane finally admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.

Hiraya’s form flickered violently, her rage surging like a storm. "Drevon?" she hissed. "How could you? How could both of you do this to me?" Her voice cracked, and her eyes burned with betrayal.

"I trusted you, Morvane," she continued, her tone breaking between sorrow and fury. "You were supposed to be the one who’d help me find my killer. I thought we were the same. I thought... I thought you cared!"

Morvane’s fists clenched at her words, his shame and guilt clawing at his insides. "I didn’t want this," he said weakly. "Hiraya, I swear—I never wanted this to happen."

"How?" Medas interrupted, his voice cutting through the rising tension. "How did you even manage to kill her? You weren’t even five years old that time, so you don’t have the capacity to kill someone like Hiraya. What aren’t you telling me?"

Morvane hesitated, his breath uneven. "I... I absorbed a power gem," he admitted reluctantly. "It gave me the ability to open portals. To travel through specific timelines."

The weight of his confession settled over the room. Medas stared at him, his expression a mixture of disbelief and disgust.

"So, you went back in time," Medas said slowly, his voice laced with contempt. "You had that kind of power. And instead of fixing things, you killed her? Why, Morvane? Why?"

Morvane couldn’t answer. He looked down, his shoulders sagging under the weight of everything he had done—or failed to do.

Hiraya let out a sob, her form flickering as her emotions surged. "You had the power to save me," she whispered, her voice breaking. "And instead, you used it to betray me. To kill me."

Her spectral form began to fade, her edges dissolving like mist in the wind. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at Morvane one last time. "You were supposed to help me," she said, her voice trembling with heartbreak. "But you were the one who took everything from me."

"Hiraya, wait—" Morvane reached out, his hand passing uselessly through her fading form.

"No," Hiraya said softly. "I can’t... I can’t look at you anymore."

With a final sob, she disappeared, leaving only a faint shimmer in the air.

The silence that followed was deafening. Morvane’s chest felt hollow, the guilt suffocating him like a heavy fog.

Medas turned his back to him, his movements slow and deliberate. "You’re not the man I thought you were," he said quietly, his voice devoid of emotion. "I don’t even know who you are anymore."

"Medas, please—"

"No," Medas interrupted, his tone cold and final. "You’ve done enough, Morvane."

Without another word, Medas bowed down, leaving Morvane thinking what should he say, the weight of his choices threatening to crush him.

Medas turned his face, his eyes narrowing as they burned with anger and betrayal. He looked directly at Morvane, his voice trembling but sharp, cutting through the suffocating silence.

"Starting now," Medas said, his tone cold and final, "you are banished from Ketamran."

Morvane’s breath caught in his throat. "Medas, wait—please!" he stammered, taking a step forward, but the glare Medas shot him stopped him in his tracks.

"You have no place here," Medas continued, his voice laced with venom. "No place in my kingdom, no place in my trust, and no place in my life."

Each word hit Morvane like a hammer, but Medas didn’t falter. His fists clenched tightly at his sides, and for a brief moment, it looked as if he might unleash his powers right then and there. Instead, he turned on his heel and walked away, his cape billowing behind him as he left without another word.

Morvane stood frozen, his mind a chaotic storm of emotions. The weight of his choices had finally caught up to him, and there was no escaping the consequences now.

Medas had vanished into the distance, leaving Morvane behind, standing utterly alone in the woods. The air felt colder now, heavier, as if the weight of his banishment had seeped into the earth itself.

He looked around, his gaze falling on the empty clearing where Hiraya’s cabin had once stood. It was gone now, reduced to ashes and memories. All that remained was a haunting stillness, broken only by the faint rustle of leaves in the wind.

Morvane sank to his knees, his fingers curling into the dirt as if trying to ground himself in the reality of what had just happened. He stared at the space where Hiraya had once lived, her laughter and presence once filling the air with life. Now, there was only silence.

"Maybe this is better," Morvane muttered to himself, his voice hollow and trembling. He let out a bitter laugh, one that echoed in the emptiness around him.

He clenched his fists, his nails biting into his palms. "I don’t want Hiraya or Medas to hate themselves," he whispered. "If they knew the truth... if they knew that Medas killed her..." His voice broke, the words catching in his throat.

He sat back, his gaze shifting to the night sky above. The stars blinked faintly through the canopy of trees, distant and indifferent to the turmoil below.

"Maybe this is the better way," he murmured, his voice barely audible now. "If it’s me they hate... if it’s me they blame... then at least they won’t have to destroy themselves over it."

A part of him ached to shout the truth, to scream it into the void, to make someone—anyone—understand. But another part of him, the part that had always carried the weight of others’ pain, knew this was his burden to bear.

The wind picked up, a cold breeze brushing against his face as if mocking his resolve. Morvane let out a deep, shuddering breath and bowed his head.

In the end, he thought, it didn’t matter what he wanted. What mattered was that Hiraya and Medas would never have to face the truth of that night. He would carry it for them, no matter how heavy it became.

And so, with nothing but the shadows of the forest for company, Morvane sat in the emptiness, trying to atone for a sin he didn’t commit, knowing that he could never truly absolve himself of the guilt.

Suddenly, without warning, a figure emerged from the shadows, stepping into the faint moonlight. Drevon’s smirk was as sharp as ever, his presence as unsettling as it was familiar.

Morvane didn’t flinch, nor did he seem surprised. He simply sighed and looked away. "Have you been watching?" he asked, his tone flat.

"Of course," Drevon replied casually, his hands tucked into his coat pockets. "And I’ve got to say, that was dramatic. All the guilt, the self-sacrifice—so over the top." He chuckled, the sound grating against the somber air. "It’s like watching a bad soap opera. And trust me, that’s the last genre I’d pick for entertainment."

"Do you ever take anything seriously?" Morvane shot back, his voice tinged with irritation.

"Nope," Drevon said, popping the "p" with exaggerated flair. "But you already knew that. Now, what I don’t get is..." He leaned in slightly, his smirk fading into something almost contemplative. "Why didn’t you tell them the truth?"

Morvane didn’t answer right away. He stared at the ground, his hands clenched tightly into fists. "Because it doesn’t matter," he said finally, his voice low.

Drevon raised an eyebrow. "Doesn’t matter?"

"They love each other," Morvane continued, his gaze distant. "Medas and Hiraya... they were everything to each other. If they knew the truth... if they knew what really happened that night..." He swallowed hard, the words catching in his throat. "I can’t imagine what it would do to them. It would destroy them both."

Drevon snorted, crossing his arms. "You’re really something, Morvane. Sacrificing yourself to protect their feelings? Taking the blame for a murder you didn’t commit? That’s... well, honestly, it’s stupid. Noble, maybe, but mostly stupid."

Morvane shot him a glare. "You don’t understand."

"Oh, I understand perfectly," Drevon said, his smirk returning. "You think you’re saving them. But let me tell you something, Morvane. Lies don’t protect people. They just delay the inevitable fallout. Sooner or later, they’re going to figure it out. And when they do?" He leaned in closer, his eyes gleaming with dark amusement. "They’ll hate you even more. For lying. For thinking you had the right to decide what they should or shouldn’t know."

Morvane looked away, his jaw tightening. He knew Drevon was probably right, but that didn’t change how he felt. "It’s not about me," he said quietly. "It’s about them. They deserve to live without that weight."

"Sure, sure," Drevon said, waving his hand dismissively. "Keep telling yourself that. But just remember—truth has a way of surfacing, no matter how deep you bury it. And when it does..." He gave Morvane a mock salute. "Good luck dealing with that mess."

With that, Drevon turned and began to fade back into the shadows. "Oh, and one last thing," he called over his shoulder. "You should really work on your dramatic monologues. They’re painfully cliché."

And then he was gone, leaving Morvane alone once more, the weight of his choices pressing heavier than ever.

As Morvane sat in the heavy silence, his thoughts were interrupted by a strange shift in the air. The faint scent of burning wood crept into his senses, and when he looked up, his heart froze. Thick, black smoke was rising into the night sky, curling ominously above the treetops. It wasn’t just a small fire—this was something massive.

Though the dense forest blocked his view of the source, the sheer size of the smoke plume told him everything he needed to know.

Something was burning, and it wasn’t far. Morvane’s pulse quickened as he stood, his gaze fixed on the smoke towering in the distance. Whatever it was, it couldn’t mean anything good.

He followed the smoke, the more he got closer, the more he finds out that somoke is coming from a village and it wasn’t just any village. It was there village. His grandma, Luna, and Esmael were there!

He followed the smoke, and the closer he got, the clearer it became—it was coming from a village. But as the realization dawned, his heart sank. It wasn’t just any village. It was their village. His grandmother, Luna, and Esmael were there! Panic surged through him as he broke into a run, his thoughts racing as fast as his feet.

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