Free Minutes Before Sunset by Shannon A. Thompson

knows much more than that.”
    “And she’s nothing compared to Darthon?”
    Their silence answered my question.
    “It’s going to be okay, Eric,” Urte said, helping me sit up.
    I shook my head. “Lying is my forte, Urte, not yours.”
    Slowly, I stood up on my shaking feet and walked across the office. I leaned against the desk, ran my hand over my father’s paperwork, and picked up a pen. Turning around, I shoved it in my father’s hand.
    “What’s this?” he asked, raising a brow.
    “You’ll need it to sign my death certificate,” I said, pain vibrating my veins against my muscles and bones. “Are we done now?”

 
    13

Eric
     
    “What are you going to teach me tonight?” The girl spun in a circle, her black hair flowing around her in a wave. “Flying?” she suggested. “Sword fighting? Maybe even dodging death-threatening blows?”
    I laughed and walked a few steps behind her. For once, we had taken most of the night off and talked—just talked—and I dreaded the fact I was actually enjoying myself.
    “I could teach you most of that,” I said, nearing the forest’s end. “But not the sword fighting—that doesn’t exist.” Except for the two descendants, and you’re not one of them, but I am. I locked my jaw, preventing an explanation of who I was.
    “No swords at all?” she asked, stopping.
    I stood at her side. “Of course not.”
    “Dang,” she sighed, her breath fogging out in front of us. “I was hoping I’d get to swing something at people.”
    “So pick up a stick.”
    She hit my arm. “Aren’t you the funny one?”
    “Your words; not mine,” I said, laughing to conceal a wince. She’d hit Luthicer’s mark. “What do you want to do tonight?”
    “Can we fly again?” she asked, widening her purple eyes. “We haven’t flown in three days.”
    “That’s because it’s tiring,” I pointed out. “And you won’t impress any of the elders if all you can do is fly.” Except you’ll never meet them.
    She frowned, shook her shoulders, and forced a smile. “So teach me something new,” she said. “I want to impress them.”
    My gut wrenched with guilt, but my mind raced with my twisted logic as I tried to justify myself. She was an outsider, we were in the middle of war, and I could’ve abandoned her or helped her—neither of which involved the elders for a reason. I didn’t want her killed over old laws not adapted to modernization. Especially with Luthicer around. He’d kill her to make a point with me. 
    I wasn’t allowed friends, and I was definitely banned from relationships. But this girl— she reminded me of what it was like to believe in something. Her hope was naïve, but it was real, and I hadn’t felt something real in years. Nothing positive anyway.
    “Shoman?”
    She leaned over and blinked her purple eyes when she caught my gaze. She smiled. “Are you okay?”
    “You have to learn something new,” I said, repeating myself as I moved away from her. I couldn’t let her affect my feelings.
    “Like what?” Her gaze flickered over the empty space where I’d been standing. Pathetically, I had to concentrate from moving back over.
    I dug my feet into the ground and shrug. “Dodging would be a good place to start.” Dodging this friendship would be even better—expected even.
    “Dodging what?”
    Without a word, I smacked my palms together and slowly pulled them apart. A cloud of energy, bright blue and electric, collected between my hands, and I shot it toward her. The air flashed, barely shoving against her, and she fell backward, her mouth hanging open.
    I burst into laughter as she folded her arms. “That’s not funny. That really hurt.”
    “I’m sorry,” I gasped through my laughter. “But that’s the simplest power to dodge; it doesn’t even hurt.” I walked over to her, offering my hand. “You only had to move, and it wouldn’t have knocked you over.”
    A purple light slammed into my chest, and I fell, slamming against