THE GHOST OF A BROTHER

The scene in the cavern was desperate. Noelia, cornered, moved with lethal efficiency but exhausted. Each ice spell she cast was a little slower, each dodge a little less accurate. The Lizardmen, sensing her weakness, pressed the attack, their obsidian spears seeking the slightest gap in her defense.

From the ledge, Sacres assessed the situation in a split second.

— His mana is almost at zero. It won't last much longer.— His voice was calm, but charged with urgency. - Ikel, from the right. Break formation, go for the leader. Asimil, with me. Covering fire on the spearmen on the left. —

There was no time to hesitate.

— THERE I GO! — roared Ikel, leaping from the ledge and landing in the middle of the enemy group with the impact of a meteorite. His fists of fire knocked back several, creating the chaos Sacres expected.

At the same time, Asimil and Sacres descended a natural ramp.

— Now, Asimil! — ordered Sacres.

Asimil stretched out his hands. The green fire that erupted from them was not devastating, but bright and annoying. The crackling flames struck the Lizardmen's shields, forcing them to shield their eyes and breaking their coordinated advance toward Noelia. The combined attack was a symphony of tactics and brute force. In less than a minute, the last of the enemy was completely dissolved.

Silence fell, thick and heavy, broken only by the sound of four agitated breaths. Ikel dusted off his shoulders with a triumphant smile. Sacres approached Noelia, his face impassive. Asimil followed them, his heart still racing, a mixture of relief and the strange satisfaction of having functioned as a team. He expected, if not gratitude, at least silent recognition.

He did not obtain either.

Noelia leaned against the cavern wall, pushing herself to stand up. She ran a hand over her face, wiping away a smudge of dirt and sweat. Her cold gaze settled on them.

— They took long enough. — he said, his voice dripping with icy contempt. — Did they get lost along the way or were they having tea? —

— I didn't ask to be saved. — she replied, her wounded pride a wall of thorns. — She could handle it. —

It was the straw that broke the camel's back. All the fear, humiliation and Asimil's newfound confidence crashed inside him and exploded. He stepped forward towards Noelia, his fists clenched at his sides.

— ENOUGH! — His shout echoed through the cavern, startling them all, including himself. Noelia looked up at him, her green eyes widening with genuine surprise.

— Why are you like this! — Asimil continued, his voice trembling, but not from fear, but from a wounded and honest rage. — We got separated, I was almost wiped out, I fought to survive and to find you! I stopped being a coward, I fought to find you and you only know how to despise others! What have we done to you that you treat us like trash? —

The direct and crude confrontation left her speechless. It was not a forceful challenge like Ikel's, nor a silent rebuke like Sacres'. It was the voice of someone she had hurt, asking for a reason. Ikel stepped forward, standing beside Asimil, a wall of silent support. Sacres, from behind, simply watched them, his presence confirming that Asimil was not alone in this.

She was cornered. Noelia's mask of coldness, her shield against the world, began to crack visibly. Her lips trembled. The fury in her eyes faded, replaced by something much older and more painful.

His voice, when he finally spoke, was barely a broken whisper.

— You... — he said, his gaze fixed on Asimil, a mixture of rage and unbearable pain. — You have the same stupid, stubborn look he had. —

Asimil frowned, confused by the sudden change. The anger dissipated, leaving only puzzlement.
— Who? —

Noelia averted her gaze, as if eye contact was too painful. She clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white.

— My brother... Gray — she whispered, the word barely audible, laden with the weight of a wound that had never healed. — Before it disappeared. —

The silence that followed was absolute, so profound that Asimil thought he could hear his own heart beating. Ikel gaped, his anger completely forgotten. Asimil did not know what to say, what to think. All the scorn, all the arrogance... it wasn't about him. It was about a ghost.

Sacres watched the scene, and in his gray eyes there was a deep understanding. He understood that something fundamental, something irrevocable, had just changed. Noelia did not hate Asimil. In him, she saw the reflection of her greatest failure, of her deepest pain. She hated herself when she saw him.

No one said anything else. There was no need to. The revelation hovered between them, changing the atmosphere forever. The tension did not disappear, but it was transformed. It was no longer hostility; it was an unspoken, somber understanding.

After a long moment, Sacres cleared his throat softly. — We must go on. The center of the pit is not far. —

They were on the move again. But the formation was different. They no longer walked as individuals forced together. They moved as a unit born of painful truth. Ikel took the vanguard, his energy now focused and protective. Sacres covered the rear, the silent anchor of the group.

And in the center, Noelia and Asimil walked. They did not speak, but moved with a strange, silent synchronicity, covering each other's backs by instinct, aware of each other in a completely new way. An invisible, fragile bridge had been built over the ruins of a broken heart.