Secretly, I had hoped that the next morning would never have dawned. I got up dazed, went outside and sat in the grass in front of the tent, and I fiddled with the little flowers that were growing there. I thought I was the very first one up again, but in my absent-mindedness I had not seen that Rellian and Kindles' bunks were already empty.

I sighed deeply before sitting down in the tall grass in front of the tent, fiddling with the stems of the flowers that grew here and there. Thinking about the previous evening, I grabbed the small cylinder around my neck. Why was Rellian so secretive about it? Why did he give it to me yesterday? Did he sense misfortune, hanging like a dark storm in the air?

The first thing I heard was the gut-wrecking screaming. Then, two running figures appeared on the horizon; I narrowed my eyes to see who they were. My heart sank when I recognized them;

Kindle.

The commander was running for his life, screaming at the top of his lungs, trying to outrun a rabid Rellian. I screamed in fear; other members came out of the tents dazed and confused, not knowing what was happening. Rell's eyes were bloodshot, mucus dripping from his mouth down his chin. He had no shirt or shoes on, and in his crooked, burnt-looking hands, he wielded a knife, made from something that looked like animal bones, slashing it at his target as he sprinted after the second-in-comand. Kindle screamed as the rabid dragon breeder tackled him and jumped on his stomach. With one hand he held Kindle to the ground by grabbing him by his throat. With the other hand he raised the knife high, ready to strike. Time seemed to slow down. Before I realized it, I had jumped up and rammed my sick friend in his side. He went floundering to the ground, fighting my grip. Kindle got up quickly, sprinted towards us and pulled the knife out of Rell's hands.

On that very moment I knew for sure that this was not the old Rellian, and with that realisation, the last bit of the rotting piece of my heart vanished forever. He wasn't that funny guy playing the guitar during our bonfire nights. He wasn't the listening ear that everyone loved talking to. He wasn't the gentleman I danced with at the Moon Ball. Not anymore. His eyes had turned completely black and a purple substance seemed to swarm through his veins, his fangs way too sharp for a normal Ecrian. My last hope scattered as I saw Rellian wince from anger, from pain, from shock. Before I could do anything, I heard someone running from behind me, and I saw Aros enter my field of vision. He struck our old friend against his temple with the flat side of his staff, and the dragon breeder fell unconscious, smacking is head hard against the ground. The leader kept his cane pointed at him as he turned, terror on his face, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Are you two OK? Are you hurt? What the hell happened??", Aros asked urgently, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. Kindle had fallen onto the grass, and I noticed that the commander was shivering with fear, having to catch his breath before beginning to explain what had happened. He had heard Rellian getting up early this morning, and he did not sound like himself, so the commander decided to follow him to see if everything was alright.

"He was standing on the edge of the island and...and..."Kindle anxiously ran his hand through his curly hair and started sobbing. "He was going to kill himself..."Aros sat next to his friend, putting his hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, but he failed to hide his own heartbreak. I looked down at my feet, feeling sick; Kindle could have been dead because of my secrecy. Meanwhile, one of our medjacks was examining the unconscious Rellian. To my horror, he removed the bandage from Rellian's bite wound, which we had hidden so well until now. "He has the Vortex...you know what that means..."

All the Ecrians present had gathered in a large circle around us, Mali and the other leaders in front. She clasped her hand in front of her mouth, looking nauseous. Suddenly, I heard some Ecrians muttering irritably, and I saw them being pushed apart by a hunted-looking Rexus. He came to a halt when he saw his comrade like that, and fell down on his knees, screaming his lungs out.

Slowly I walked up to him, and I embraced him. "Rex, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."He pushed me away and scowled in my face, his deep voice cracking;

"YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS!!! YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS, AND YOU DID NOTHING! NOTHING!!! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TREATED HIS ARM, YOU SICK BASTARD!! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"

That being, he half stumbled up and walked away, knocking over a whole bunch of guild members again while muttering enraged words to himself. Aros stood behind me, his gaze turning acrid.

"Tie him up. I don't want any incidents until we take action."

I swallowed. Take action.

The medjacks grabbed Rellian by his arms and legs and he was carried off, whilst the other leaders tried to send the rest of the guilds back to their daily activities, which they only just managed to do. I was still sitting in the grass, staring at my feet, completely zoned out, trying to fight back the tears. Rexus was right, it was my fault, maybe the others would've found a way to help Rell before it was too late. I felt hands on my knees, and Mali appeared in my field of vision, squatting before me on her toes and using my knees to keep herself balanced; my vision blurred because of my sobbing; I couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Hey darling, it's not your fault. You wanted to protect your friend at all costs, hmm?", she said while brushing my hair out of my eyes; "There's nothing you could have done to cure him, despite what Rexus said, but you did help Rellian feel safer during his last days."

"But it could've caused Kindle to-"

"But it didn't." she interrupted me, a stern look on her face. I looked her in the eyes and slowly nodded, and she helped me back up on my feet. She looked at my own leader, who was standing behind me, and nodded at him herself.

"I propose that we part ways here and today. This is a sad affair that other guilds should not interfere with."

I saw how the other leaders all agreed, and softly muttering to each other the remaining Ecrians walked off. A deathly silence reigned in moon valley, interrupted only by the sound of falling tent tarps as everyone packed up.

...

Once back in Eastborne, the biting silence still lingered, even Kindle kept his mouth shut tightly. Not that they were angry with me, they would have reacted the same way if they didn't know any better. Only Rex was still in denial, and he flew a long distance behind the whole group during the journey home. On the flight back, Rellian flew strapped to a dragon, a wide circle of other guild members surrounding him, each holding a piece of rope. He remained silent the whole way, even though he seemed to have calmed down for a bit.

After we landed back in home base, Aros walked up to the prisoner.

"Do you think you can walk?"

I watched from a distance as our leader tried to communicate with his old friend, who didn't budge; I was unable to see Rellian's face, as he had his back turned to me.

I felt a smaller pair of hands wrap around mine, causing me to look down in surprise;

Rellian's little brother clung to my forearm, not making eye contact. "Do you think he'll be okay?..." a small glimmer of hope came through in his voice, and my heart broke. "No...I don't think so, no...what's your name, honey? I think I never got to that..."

The boy looked up at me as I stroked his hair, trying to comfort him as well as I could.

"Thyme."