THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 236. THE REUNION III

It didn’t take long before someone arrived, and it wasn’t Kaka or Kiuga.

"You finally show up? What were you thinking, keeper?!" N’varu snapped, standing a few yards away behind Sagiri. "What are you even doing here now!!" N’varu was seething as always.

"Which question will you let me answer first?" Sagiri said, still keeping his eyes on the western side of the Tagayia Collegium.

"Don’t play smart with me. You had to go and kill a warrior in front of the whole Tagayia. Showcase your right eye to the watcher’s eye. Do you so badly want to die, keeper?" N’varu was trembling with rage, and Sagiri could feel it. It had been a while since he heard his lectures, and he was not mad to hear them this time.

"Was the teardrop poison neutralized?" Sagiri ignored N’varu’s outburst. Silence stretched out before N’varu stepped closer a few steps.

"The teardrop was nothing. I knew they were trying to trap you. Why don’t you ever listen to me?" N’varu was now standing two feet behind Sagiri. Even with his visible anger, Sagiri could feel his relief mixed with it.

"That is good," Sagiri said. It was good to know that N’varu was safe. He could get mad at him all he wanted, but he wasn’t the only one who wanted to protect him. Sagiri, too, had an obligation to protect him, too. He could let him be mad all he wanted as long as he was safe. He could do the same if things were to repeat themselves.

N’varu sighed after a long moment. He must have realised he was not going to get an answer from Sagiri.

"How have you been?" he asked. Sagiri did not know what to say to that. He had been through a lot, to say the least, and he had now made a deal. He knew whatever he was about to ask of Nvaru could drive him over the edge.

"I am going south in a few days or a month," Sagiri said. He was avoiding all of N’varu’s questions because he knew N’varu could tear him a new one and could beat him to a pulp.

"Why don’t you go now? Why come here? You haven’t answered me how you escaped. Lotaga told me you were in the custody of the warriors’ guild." N’varu said. Of course, whatever Salka did, Lotaga could know. Sagiri sighed in laughter and finally turned around.

"Typical lotaga to know everything Salka does," Sagiri found himself slightly smiling. He was going to miss the man’s madness so much.

"What do you mean, everything Salka does?" N’varu saoid tilting his head slightly.

"He is the one who dropped me off in the warriors’ guild base when the shadow corps were trying to kill me," Sagiri said, and N’varu’s eyes widened slightly.

"Why would he do that?" N’varu said, taking another step closer.

"Well, it was either that or they would have killed me. The archive went silent on me at that time," Sagiri said, and N’varu’s eyebrows furrowed even deeper.

"What do you mean the archive went silent?" N’varu looked worried now, and some feeling passed in his eyes, but it was gone quickly.

"What did you do..." N’varu started to say, but before he could finish, another voice joined in.

"It seems mother hen beat us to it." Kiuga’s voice joined in, his voice slightly out of breath. Kaka was, of course, not far behind him. "Do you know how hard it is for me to run from my wing to the second dormitory wing to find you?" Kiuga whined.

N’varu wheeled around swiftly. His look was hostile when his eyes settled on kiuga and Kaka.

"What are you two doing here?!" N’varu asked, standing in front of Sagiri.

"When did we become bad people? We had to endure two days of questioning for him, and now mother hen is looking at us like we are bad people," Kiuga said.

"How does N’varu know that person?" Kaka asked. It seemed Kiuga had not told him anything.

"I asked them to find you and meet me here. I don’t have much longer," Sagiri said with urgency, moving from his spot behind N’varu to meet the two boys. Of course, with N’varu hot on his heels.

"Don’t you all think we should wait for him to tell us his identity?" Kaka said when they were all now standing in arm’s reach. Kiuga and N’varu both sighed.

Kaka was truly a character. He was strong when it mattered and deadly, but he couldn’t tell voices apart to save his life. Sagiri knew Kiuga had had enough of teasing him and rolling his eyes along the way, and so he didn’t want to torture him further. He stepped closer. Close enough that all three could see him and no one else. Well, he had not felt anyone close, but he was not going to take any chances. Then, just slightly, he lowered the veil. Just enough for the three to see his face. Well, he was especially doing it for Kaka, but he was sure the others wanted to see his face, too.

Kaka’s breath caught. "...Sagiri?"

Kiuga stiffened. It seemed he was still a little surprised, even though he already knew who he was. A beat passed, then Sagiri let the veil fall back into place.

Silence.

Kaka looked around quickly, lowering his voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Yes, sagiri, what are you doing here. N’varu told the squad you were in the custody of the guild. The guild just doesn’t let its prisoners out. And is it really wise for you to come to the war college?" Kiuga asked.

It seemed that his massacre of a whole squad was kept under wraps, and no one outside the nine council knew about it. If no one knew about them, then why did the councils make it so much so that the whole of Tagayia already knew? Sagiri was beginning to think that no matter the outcome of the council meeting, the supreme mandra and tsalka already had this ending planned.

"I need your help," Sagiri threw it out there, and there was another moment of silence.

"In case you haven’t noticed, we are in war college, and we can’t leave this place for two years until we get the warrior’s badge," Kiuga said.

"I am going on a mission for Tagayia, and when it’s done, I get to go south and never return," Sagiri said, and silence and mixed feelings were flying around.

"What do you mean, go south and never return?" Kiuga asked. It was the first time Sagiri had felt that feeling reek off him. Hurt. He was hurt that he would go south and never return. It somehow made sagiri feel a bit guilty, but the matter was now out of his hands.

"Don’t talk such nonsense!" Kaka said, stepping forward. Of course, the only emotion the boy was capable of was anger.

"Even if you killed one warrior. That still does not equal you getting exiled," N’varu said. Well, they had been planning to go south all the while, but exiling a capable warrior like him on account of that.

"It is not only one," Sagiri said, and everyone froze.