Chapter 101: Avoiding.

“How could you use them as bait?” Ezra asked through gritted teeth, glaring at Kaelis.

Kaelis glanced at him briefly.

For a moment, Ezra had actually started to think the prince might be tolerable.

Clearly, he had been wrong.

“I told you,” Kaelis said calmly. “I have spent years proving their existence. Years searching for them.”

He kept his eyes forward as he spoke.

“We can protect that family. But first we need answers. We need at least one of them alive for questioning. Either that… or we expose every last one of them tonight.”

Ezra still couldn’t understand.

And even if he did, he wasn’t sure he would care.

Because standing in front of them was a family who trusted them. A father, a mother, and two small girls.

“I know what I’m doing is wrong,” Kaelis whispered quietly.

Ezra stiffened slightly.

“But I’m not doing this for myself,” Kaelis continued. “There are other children in their hands. Hundreds of them. If this is the only way to bring them into the open, then I have to do it.”

He glanced at Ezra.

“You can be angry with me later. Right now I need your help.”

Ezra clenched his jaw again.

Then he clicked his tongue and looked forward.

“What’s your plan?”

“Follow my lead.”

Kaelis stepped forward toward the silent figures.

From Ezra’s perspective, it looked like the prince was deliberately making himself appear calm. Commanding.

Ricardo turned to him with wide, fearful eyes, clearly waiting for him to do something.

Anything.

Kaelis patted him on the shoulder briefly before moving past him to stand in front of the family.

Ezra shifted closer to them as well, positioning himself behind them.

’What are you planning to do, you jerk,’ Ezra thought, narrowing his eyes as he watched Kaelis carefully.

Kaelis walked forward until he stood just a few steps away from the cultists.

He stopped directly in front of the one standing in the middle.

The mask on that one was slightly different from the others.

More detailed.

More intricate.

By that logic, he had to be their leader.

“So,” Kaelis said evenly, “you are the ones responsible for what happened to Fleur De Lys.”

It wasn’t a question.

It was a statement.

The leader simply stared at him.

No answer.

None of the cultists moved.

Not even slightly.

They stood there like statues.

Ezra felt a chill creep up his spine.

They didn’t even look like they were breathing.

’The way they just stare…’

Ezra carefully scanned their surroundings with his eyes, not daring to move his head.

“I won’t bother asking who you are,” Kaelis continued. “It’s obvious how you managed to avoid every knight in this country. You killed those parents. You destroyed an entire island full of people.”

He tilted his head slightly.

“You’re clearly very private people.”

Ezra narrowed his eyes.

’Gentleman my ass.’

If Ricardo and his family weren’t standing right behind him, Ezra might have already punched Kaelis for the stunt he had pulled.

But right now the situation was bigger than his anger.

“I’ll give you a choice,” Kaelis said calmly.

His voice echoed softly through the quiet forest.

“We can do this the easy way.”

His hand slowly rested on the hilt of his sword.

“Or the hard way.”

’That’s…’ Ezra cringed inwardly. ’So corny.’

He didn’t expect the cultists to respond. With the way they were standing there in silence, cloaked and masked, it felt like they were deliberately leaning into the whole eerie mystery.

If anything, Ezra expected them to attack immediately.

So he stayed alert.

His hand tightened slightly around the hilt of his sword.

But then the man in the middle stepped forward.

Ezra’s eyes narrowed.

He still couldn’t see the man’s eyes behind the mask. That alone was strange. With masks like those, the eyes were usually visible through the openings.

Yet these weren’t.

“Your Highness.”

The leader’s voice was distorted.

It didn’t sound natural.

It was as if something was muffling it, twisting it.

Ezra felt a small shiver crawl down his back.

’Is he hiding his voice?’ he thought. ’Magic…?’

Even Kaelis looked slightly disturbed. His eyes widened for just a moment.

The leader placed a hand over his chest and bowed politely.

“Who would have thought,” he said, “that after all these years someone would suspect our existence. For so long we believed no one knew who we were.”

He straightened slowly.

“That remained… human.”

Kaelis’ gaze hardened.

“Is that a threat?” he asked.

“No,” the leader replied calmly. “Merely a statement of fact. One you may have already come to yourself.”

He tilted his head slightly.

“But I must admit something.”

His masked face turned slightly toward Ezra.

Ezra felt his muscles tense.

’Why is he looking at me?’

“Of all the people we expected might uncover us,” the leader continued, “we did not expect it to be you.”

Kaelis’ lips curled faintly.

“I like being full of surprises.”

The words sounded almost playful, but his tone was anything but.

Ezra frowned slightly.

’Why is he still talking to them?’

They should have already moved. Grab one of them, take a hostage, break through their line, and get the family out.

But something about these people felt wrong.

Too controlled.

Too calm.

“Yes, well,” the leader said. “Unfortunately, Prince Kaelis…”

He paused.

“We only have one directive tonight.”

His head turned toward Ricardo’s family.

“So while this conversation has been… enjoyable…”

His voice hardened.

“We will be taking those children.”

The words cut through the forest like a blade.

“And the remaining survivors,” he added quietly, “will be turned into Dark Ones.”

“No!” Lanie screamed, clutching her daughter tightly.

Ricardo pulled Larnie closer and stepped protectively in front of his wife.

“Over my dead body,” he said through clenched teeth.

Ezra’s eyes swept across the clearing.

The cultists were moving now.

Closing in around them.

Slow steps.

Careful.

Measured.

And perfectly in sync.

They slipped between the trees like shadows, their black robes barely making a sound as they advanced.

Ricardo tightened his hold on Larnie. Lanie pulled Ranie close against her chest. Without realizing it, both parents had started backing away.

Kaelis’ voice cut through the tension.

“Ezra.”

Ezra didn’t turn.

“Take them down,” Kaelis said quietly. “One by one if you can. Protect the family.”

Ezra’s lips curled slightly.

“With pleasure.”

His sword slid out of its sheath in one clean motion.

The sharp metallic sound sliced through the quiet forest.

Ezra lunged forward.

The nearest cultist was only a few steps away.

His blade flashed toward the man’s shoulder, fast and precise.

The cultist moved.

Not quickly.

Not violently.

Just a small step to the side.

Ezra’s blade cut through empty air.

’Fuck… what?’

Ezra frowned.

He pivoted instantly and slashed toward another cultist on his left.

The man leaned back slightly.

The blade missed again.

Ezra didn’t slow down.

He stepped forward and attacked again.

Another strike.

Another.

His sword carved through the air with deadly speed.

Each time the result was the same.

The cultists shifted just enough to avoid him.

Smooth.

Controlled.

Precise.

Ezra stepped back a half step, eyes narrowing.

’How are they so fast?’

He attacked again, this time faster.

His sword came down in a sharp diagonal strike.

The cultist in front of him twisted his body aside at the last second.

The blade missed.

Again.

No counterattack.

No attempt to block.

Just avoidance.

Ezra swung again.

Same result.

The cultists moved around him as if they had already predicted every strike.

One step.

Half a turn.

A slight lean of the body.

Each movement was minimal, yet perfectly timed.

Ezra stopped for half a second.

His chest rose and fell as he watched them.

None of them were attacking.

They weren’t even looking at him.

They simply moved around him like he wasn’t there.

’Are they…’

One of them walked past him slowly, their robe brushing close to his shoulder.

The man didn’t even glance at him.

Just kept moving.

Toward the family.

Ezra’s stomach tightened.

’…are they just avoiding me?’

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