Mud and dirt covered his clothes, and his hair was ruffled and messy. His suit seemed to have acquired some new scratches, and I noticed a few cuts along his arms and legs.
I narrowed my eyes at the sorry state Kael had gone through at the hands of Ravus.
Did you have to go overboard with the plan, Ravus?
When Kael saw me staring at him, he smiled.
"Hello again," he said with a grin, hiding the object he carried behind him.
King Zephyr stopped cheering and waved for him to come closer.
Kael approached us for a moment, then stopped briefly when he noticed some of the spectators staring at him.
He cleared his throat and spoke, making sure the others couldn't hear what he said.
"It appears I had lost my way to the bathroom, but above all, sigh!" I must have been mistaken. You are definitely not the girl in my vision."
There was no way he couldn't tell that we could tell he was lying, but then again, something he had said: 'A girl in his vision?' What's that supposed to mean?
He paused for a moment. He seemed conflicted, as if unsure whether or not he should continue talking to us.
Then he continued, his voice cold and distant.
"You are indeed quite phenomenal, Miss Wyn. Your strength is incredible, even beyond anything I could have imagined."
His words sounded sincere enough, but his tone made it clear that they were empty compliments meant only to appease her.
He gave me a curious glance before turning his attention back to the king.
"And I'm very sorry for how things turned out earlier today. I can assure you that I will be much more careful next time, Master Dare. Now please excuse me."
With a single glance from Kael at the screen, all the Fenrirs disappeared from the sewers, leaving their fallen comrades behind.
They were gone without a trace.
No traces of the bodies were left anywhere.
Nothing that would suggest any kind of struggle whatsoever.
Except for the fact that the entire sewer floor was littered with black splatters of what could be considered dried blood of the clan of fenrirs.
The crowd cheered for the victory of the remaining participants, but we knew better.
We knew what really happened, and we knew why no one else seemed to notice.
The king stared at the screen, confused for a second, then frowned.
I could see Kael lowering his head in shame, trying to hide from the king's gaze.
King Zephyr glared at Kael, his eyes burning with rage, but he remained silent.
"Damn, that took a lot from me." Ravus sighed, leaning against the wall with his hands pressed together. "Not too long ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about murdering that cynical bastard, but it turns out he's got a heart after all."
"Next time, could you try to sneak up on me like a normal person?" I asked sarcastically, giving him a look.
Ravus raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "What do you think I am? A fucking ninja? How would I get close to you unnoticed if I wasn't sneaking around like a ninja?"
I shrugged. "Maybe if you weren't wearing those ridiculous sunglasses?"
Wyn walked up to him and pulled him by the collar. She held him in front of her for a second, glaring at him until he looked away.
She released him, giving him a pat on the shoulder.
"Thanks, Ravus," she told him with a smile.
He nodded, looking slightly embarrassed.
"I guess our plan worked out well, though, didn't it?"
Ravus chuckled, looking at the screen again.
"Yeah... but still..."
The king stood up abruptly and started walking towards the exit.
"There was some other information I happened to stumble on while I was investigating our little problem," he said.
"And that is...?" I asked curiously.
Ravus placed an arm on my shoulder, forced me to stand up straight, then turned me around so I could face the screen.
"First, how about you put your focus there?" he said, pointing at the screen.
I followed his finger and nudged him in the ribs.
"Get your hands off me, dumbass. You aren't as strong as you think."
Ravus smirked at me, pushing me back a bit.
"Hey!" I complained. "That's not how you treat your best friend."
"Well, you're not mine anymore."
"Oh yeah? Then who's yours?"
He grinned. "Why don't you question the esteemed idiot Kael? Maybe he'll tell you."
Wham!
Wyn slapped the back of Ravus' head and pushed him forward.
"Ow! Ow, ow, owwwwww!" He whined, rubbing his head.
Smooch!
Wyn kissed me on the cheek.
Sigh!
"You've gotten bolder, Wyn, could I say it's because you know Ravus would take care of blocking the vision of anyone watching us in this space?"
She giggled and winked.
"I'd rather just keep kissing you whenever I feel like it," she whispered into my ear.
"Yeah... don't do that either." I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, where did you learn how to kiss anyway? It looks like someone tried to teach a monkey how to give a peck on the cheek."
"That's not fair, Wyn! A hit to my head and a kiss on his cheek? That's just plain unfair!" Ravus complained.
"You know what they say: 'Never piss off the princess.'"
Wyn countered with a dramatic flip of her hair.
"Yeah right! Like that ever works." Ravus scoffed.
"What he meant to say when he pointed at the screen is that you seem to have forgotten something, beloved," she giggled, pulling away and wiping a smudge of lipstick off my cheek.
Ravus' expression grew serious.
"Yeah, you might be forgetting something," he replied. "Something very important."
"What's that supposed to be?" I asked, turning around to see what had caught his attention.
He pointed at the screen and made a motion by grabbing the microphone and speaking into it.
My eyes doubled in size.
"Holy shit!" I exclaimed, pushing Ravus aside so I could reach the microphone myself.