Despair and desire (Kaeli POV)

Kaeli sat alone. Her room and workshop were her whole world now, after the twin disasters of the hunter’s escape and the failed assault on Hope. Though the others couldn’t be sure of her involvement there was enough suspicion to lock her away. There were guards at the door to keep her in. She could probably escape if she tried, there was plenty here to make equipment, but what was the point? Outside of the palace, the corruption would claim her.

And that was the horrific end that awaited her. Without the Great One’s protection, the corruption would take her mind away.

Kaeli doesn’t fear death. Quite the opposite, there were many times she would welcome it. What she fears is the loss of self. She had watched with growing horror as Victoria had changed from a kind, loving friend, into the monster she was now. How long before Victoria was nothin more than a walking mass of corruption like Niran?

Kaeli looks into her mirror. Though her dark skin hides it well, the signs are obvious to her. Dark lines around her eyes, the telltale marks of corruption. With a sigh, she turns away, walking back to her workbench.

A device lays disassembled, intricate workings spread across the table top. The golem control device, given back to her by Niran, with a demand to improve it so that it will disable the golem girl completely. Kaeli knows she’s capable of that, but she’s dragging her feet on the attempt. She remembers her encounter with the golem, along with the others, during Nicholas’s escape.

That day stuck in her mind. She remembers feeling a longing, a touch of jealousy, with the way they reacted to him, and to each other. That’s why she helped them so readily. That, and a feeling of hope, something she hadn’t had in years. She was attracted to Nicholas, and strongly, in a way she hadn’t felt before. And so, she worked on his behalf in secret.

And that’s why she couldn’t create this weapon. She wanted them to succeed, even if that meant she died. The Order, started with such noble intentions, was rotten to its core. And she couldn’t stand to see more of it occurring by her hand. She would give in to what she feared before she would let that happen.

Just then, a commotion outside her door. Sounds of a scuffle, quickly silenced. And then, after a moment, her door bursts open, shattered by the kick of the golem girl on the other side.