“Shut up!” Boaz shouted, stepping into the middle of the room. “We’re not going to get anywhere if we don’t listen to each other. We all lost someone during the war, and just because Blade saw one person in his vision doesn’t mean all of them are still alive. You all remember how vicious the demons were. It would take someone strong to fight them off and survive, especially with nowhere to run. I know it’s hard to accept, but the likelihood that your loved ones are gone is high.” He sighed. “And we really can’t save anyone, even the one Blade saw. Our main goal right now is to stop the veil from opening again. We can’t risk it opening and letting the demons into the living world. The world would end as we know it.”
The room fell into a tense silence as everyone absorbed what Boaz had said. Alexander itched to go to him, to pull him aside and ease the hurt he could see in the werewolf’s eyes. But he knew Boaz would see it as him avoiding the issue again.
“How do we even close the damn veil again? We closed it before, but now it’s open again,” Killan asked.
“I think it didn’t close all the way,” Blade said. “In my vision there was a gap at the top. The blood went through there.”
“Is that possible, Manlius?” Killan asked. “Do you think we didn’t close it all the way?”
“I don’t know. We couldn’t check, remember? We were all drained after we managed to close it,” Manlius said
“Did you manage to regain your sorcerer powers?” Killan asked out of nowhere.
The whole room seemed to hold its breath. Manlius’s face crumpled, and his eyes filled with so much hurt that Alexander could feel it even from where he stood.
“This is not the time for that,” Alexander said, speaking for the first time since they had gathered. “As Boaz said, our goal should be keeping the veil closed.”
“But what about our loved ones?” Melanie asked. “We should at least try to save them.”
Alexander looked around at the nodding heads, and then the room broke into overlapping voices again. He shook his head.
“We’re not going to get anywhere,” Manlius said with a sigh.
The discussion went on for hours, but by the end they had not reached a decision. Some wanted the veil kept closed, while others wanted to risk everything to save their loved ones. And some wanted Alexander dead. The only thing stopping them was that they needed him for the coming fight.
Alexander had never felt so much hatred in his life.
“They’re all crazy,” Manlius grumbled as he dragged the couches back into place. He dropped onto one and covered his eyes with his hands.
“I kind of understand where they’re coming from,” Blade said, sitting beside the sorcerer. Alexander settled onto another couch, while Boaz remained standing.
“I would do the same,” Blade continued. “I would give anything to save Drago. If only I could do more than just observe in my visions.”
Manlius sat up and stared at him. “Earlier you said you induce your visions. Don’t they just come to you?”
“They do, but sometimes it’s just fragments without context,” Blade said. “Like when I saw Drago, it was just images that didn’t make sense. I induced another vision so I could confirm what I was seeing.”
“You used your vision to astral project yourself into another plane,” Manlius said, suddenly excited. “I’ve never heard of anyone doing that.
“I did?” Blade asked, looking from Manlius to Alexander. Alexander shrugged. He didn’t really understand how Blade’s visions worked.
“Come, I’ll show you,” Manlius said, getting to his feet and walking toward the door.
“Manlius, is this the time for that?” Boaz asked, stopping the sorcerer. “We have a lot to figure out.”
“You don’t think I’m trying to do that?” Manlius said. “I can’t fucking see the veil, but he can.” He pointed at Blade. “I can teach him a few things. We need to know what’s going on.”
“Fuck,” Boaz muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Why didn’t you tell me you lost your powers?”
“Is that really what we should be talking about right now?” Manlius asked.
“I guess not,” Boaz said with a sigh.
“Come, Blade,” Manlius said.
They walked out of the room, leaving Alexander alone with Boaz. The silence that followed felt oppressive.
“I should go,” Alexander said.