Kael paced restlessly inside his small house, the wooden floor creaking beneath his boots. His thoughts were tangled, torn between guilt and frustration. The village had been attacked right after he'd left. He'd abandoned them when they needed him most. Countless battles had taken place, lives lost, homes destroyed—and he hadn't been there. Now, after days of agonizing over it, he had finally earned the forgiveness of most of the villagers. But their faces, filled with weariness and suspicion, still haunted him.

Somehow, it still wasn't enough.

A knock at the door startled him, but when he opened it, no one was there. Instead, a single piece of parchment lay at his feet, crudely scrawled with the words: "Coward. You left us all to die." His hands shook as he crushed the note. It stung more because he knew there was truth in it.

And then, there was Elara.

The girl in the alley, hidden by the shadows, had called him a coward. The voice had been so familiar, like a blade to the chest. And when she stepped into the dim light, her piercing eyes met his—Elara. Her words had been venomous, cutting deeper than any physical wound. She had sacrificed everything while he had... what? Cowered in fear?

Tonight, Kael needed to find her. To face her.

He stepped outside, the cold night air biting at his skin as he closed the door behind him. The village was eerily quiet now, save for the occasional rustle of the wind through the trees. He had to find Elara. He had to explain himself, though he doubted any words would ever be enough.

As he moved through the narrow, winding streets, the faces of the villagers he passed were barely illuminated by the flickering torches. Some looked at him with pity, others with resentment. They had forgiven him, but their scars remained. Kael's steps were heavy, each one laden with the knowledge that he had failed them when they needed him the most.

Elara… where are you?

He finally found her standing near the village square, her back turned to him, staring off into the distance where the forest loomed like a dark, waiting presence. His heart clenched at the sight of her, shoulders squared, the weight of her sacrifices evident in the way she stood. The air between them seemed to thicken as he approached, hesitant yet determined.

"Elara," Kael began, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

She didn't turn to face him. "What do you want, Kael?" Her voice was cold, distant, and he could feel the icy wall she had built between them.

"I… I need to talk to you. Please, just listen to me." His heart was pounding now. How could he make her understand? She had been through so much. More than anyone should have to bear.

"Talk to me?" she scoffed, finally turning around. Her eyes, usually so full of life, were hard now. "What could you possibly say that I haven't already heard? You left, Kael. You weren't here. We had to fight without you. And people died."

Kael flinched, the guilt crashing over him like a wave. "I know I left. I know I wasn't here when you needed me. But I had no choice—"

"No choice?" Elara's voice rose with anger. "We all had choices, Kael. You chose to leave. And now you're here, trying to make excuses, thinking that'll change what happened?"

Kael shook his head, his throat tightening. "I'm not making excuses. I swear I'm not. I'm trying to explain—"

She cut him off, her face twisting in anger. "You think your words can undo the nights I spent fighting while you were gone? You think they can bring back the people we lost?"

Kael's hands trembled. He knew she was right. His words wouldn't undo anything. But he had to try.

"Elara, I never meant for any of this to happen," he said, his voice cracking. "I was… I was scared. I didn't know what to do. I—"

"Scared?" Elara spat, stepping closer now, her eyes burning with fury. "We were all scared, Kael. But we stayed. We fought. And you? You ran."

"I didn't run," Kael protested, his voice rising in desperation. "I left because I thought I could help in my own way. I didn't want to bring danger to the village—"

"You abandoned us," she hissed. "And now you expect us to just forget that?"

Kael's heart pounded, his breath coming in short gasps. He knew this wasn't going well. He could feel the weight of her anger, her pain, and it crushed him. He had to make her understand. But words alone wouldn't do it.

The voice…

"Show her," Kael whispered under his breath, his eyes flicking upward as if speaking to someone unseen. "Show her what I went through. Show her the treehouse, the nights I spent terrified… the pain. Please."

But the voice was silent.

"Elara, you have to understand," Kael said louder now, panic creeping into his voice. "There's this… voice, this presence. It showed me everything. What was happening here. I didn't want to leave. I tried to come back sooner, but it wouldn't let me."

Elara stared at him, her brow furrowing in confusion. "Kael… what are you talking about?"

"The voice," Kael said, his words tumbling out. "It's in my head. It showed me the village being attacked, the battles. It made me see all of it while I was gone. I—I even tried to hurt myself just to stop it."

Her expression shifted from anger to something closer to concern. "Kael… I think you need help. Real help."

"No," Kael shook his head, desperation clear in his eyes. "I'm telling the truth. I just need the voice to show you. Please…" He closed his eyes, clenching his fists. "Show her!"

But still, there was only silence.

He opened his eyes to find Elara watching him with a mixture of pity and disbelief. "You're not well, Kael," she said softly, though her voice still held an edge. "You've been through something, I get that. But this? This isn't normal. You need to see someone before this gets worse."

The weight of her words crushed him. She didn't believe him. Of course, she wouldn't. How could she? He had no proof. No way to explain what he had seen, what he had felt. And the voice—his only connection to that terrible truth—had abandoned him too.

Kael stood there, defeated. "Elara, I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice hoarse. "I don't expect you to forgive me. But I never meant for any of this to happen."

Elara sighed, looking down at the ground. "I don't hate you, Kael. But I can't forget what you did. Not yet."

Then, finally, the voice returned, low and calm in his mind. "You need to do this without me, Kael. She deserves the truth—from you, not from me."

Kael's heart sank. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words died in his throat. There was nothing more he could say. He had failed. Again.

As Elara walked away, the weight of her words still hanging heavy in the air, Kael watched her fading figure with a sinking heart. He had failed—again. But just as she disappeared into the shadows, something shifted. A soft, mocking chuckle echoed inside his mind, cold and familiar.

"You really thought you could handle that on your own?"

Kael froze. The voice.

"What? Nothing to say? Look at you, standing there like a kicked puppy."

Kael's blood ran cold. "Not now," he muttered under his breath, frustration flaring. "You didn't help when I needed you."

But the voice just laughed, that cruel, playful tone sending shivers down his spine. "Oh, but you don't need me, remember? You wanted to handle things all on your own with dear Elara. How's that going, by the way?"

As if the voice's words carried a weight beyond the physical, Elara stopped. Kael's heart skipped a beat as she turned back around, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"What did you say?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she approached.

Kael's breath caught. "I… I wasn't talking to you," he stammered, his eyes wide.

Elara stepped closer, searching his face. "Kael, who are you talking to?"

"Go on, tell her," the voice taunted. "Tell her you've got a little friend in your head. See how she reacts then."

Kael's hands clenched into fists at his sides. "I'm talking to the voice," he admitted, his voice strained. "The same voice that… that made me leave the village."

Elara's gaze sharpened. "That voice… the one that you said showed you everything? The battles? The attacks?"

"Yes," Kael whispered. "But it's not just in my head. It's real, Elara. And it's… it's been guiding me. Showing me things I didn't want to see."

Elara stepped back, her expression guarded. "Kael, this is sounding—"

"Crazy? Sure, but let's make this interesting," the voice interrupted, its tone growing more amused. "Time for some truth, kid."