Technomancer: Genesis Chapter 71: Lament for a Friend

It took every ounce of willpower for Evan to stay conscious. He saw the horrified look in Ezra's eyes.

"Milord. . . It has been," Evan choked as he attempted to convey his final thoughts to Ezra who was standing a few three feet away from him, "a pleasure to . . . serve you... and your... mother . . . Urgh. I know you . . . can change the world." Evan clasped his the hands of his killer not letting go and looking at Ezra with eyes full of hope. After the last word, Evan's eyes were lifeless. He had finally succumbed to death.

"NO!" Ezra gasped.

"No... NO.. NOOOOO!" Ezra shouted. The pain, the agony he was feeling was something he could not describe. His emotions took control of his body.

Ezra instinctively took the magic crystal that he got from the Chimeraan. He looked at Evan's murderer from the refracted light that made him seem invisible shadows were swiftly forming. He was trying to escape with the dagger still embedded in Evan's chest.

He aimed the magic crystal at the shadow walker. He mustered all his magic into the crystal as he screamed incredulously.

BOOM!

A shockwave emerged in the area, the instantaneous heat blew away all everything the archers who were stationed in the exit toppled over. Both bandits and allied soldiers near Ezra were swept away. A few of them died from the shock wave, the other knights were affected but were only slightly injured.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" Ezra's roar boomed over the whole battlefield. His thoughts were on the memories he shared with Evan, the pain, the joy, and the boredom, his adventures and his misadventures all of them seemed to collapse in his mind. The reality of Evan's death was gradually impacting him.

All eyes were on the toddler and the skirmishes stopped for a brief moment.

Where Ezra aimed, everyone was vaporized, friend and foe. The flames roared stronger than a furnace, the constant supply of Ezra's magic fueled the intense heat, every soul in a 1-meter distance of the actual flame died. Be it knight or common soldier everyone in the range of the flame died instantly.

After a few seconds of the raging flames, the magic crystal cracked. It became brittle and slowly it turned to dust. It couldn't handle the magic output of Ezra.

Ezra was now on the ground thoroughly depleted of his magic. He crawled toward Evan's corpse.

"UNCLE EVAN," shouted Ezra.

"You are a damn liar!" Ezra's tears were welling up and started to flow.

"You told me you would bring me home!" he said as he pounded on Evan's corpse.

"You damn LIAR!" Ezra repeated. He was sobbing now tears were flowing uncontrollably. He simpered and wept.

"You stupid, stupid liar. You promised me you'd bring me back home. You promised me you'd return me to Castle Blackfyre." Ezra wiped his tears. "Well, I'm not home yet. You stupid knight. You swore an oath. YOU SAID YOU WOULD TAKE ME HOME! YOU BROKE IT. YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE!"

Ezra then paused as he sobered up a bit, he forced himself to stop and think. He wiped his face.

"I… I… killed him, "Ezra snapped to a realization.

"I killed Evan, I killed my uncle, if it wasn't for my stubbornness. If it wasn't for my utter stupidity, Evan wouldn't have died. I'm an utter buffoon. An idiot. No… no... no more. I don't want to feel any more. It hurts, it hurts so much. "Ezra clasped his chest, he felt a stinging sensation. "I've never felt this before." His nails were now deeply embedded in his chest.

"It's my fault, it's my fault. I hate feeling. I hate it why does it hurt so much. I have never felt such pain." Ezra closed his eyes. He was exhausted. His body was coiling and twisting from the emotional agony.

"This is a new body, a new life. I have been trying very hard to stick to my past. To who I was. I have failed to see who I am now. The responsibilities I bear. The consequences for my actions. I am no simple man, I do not have the leisure to act my own whim." Ezra wiped the tears off his face once more as he looked at the stars.

"This is my home, no matter who I was it is now all in the past, I must focus on who I will become. I have family, I have friends, and I have subordinates and people who look to me. I must be able to help them. To teach them, to strengthen them. " Ezra was slowly losing his consciousness.

"I will change the world. I will make it fair and equitable so that everyone can live peacefully. I will change the world!" Ezra said as was now blinking slowly toward drowsiness, slowly nodding off in languor as he slumped on Evan's body. "For your sake my friend. . ."

"For your sake." Ezra finally stopped speaking as his eyes closed succumbing to tiredness.

Ezra woke up. He found that his surroundings were quite familiar. He saw a desk with would carvings of aeroplanes. He tried to gather his consciousness and process everything. Lying on his bed, there was no one else in his room except his tired mother sleeping at his bedside.

He sat up. He was in a meditative state, trying to recall the things that had happened. A stinging sensation shot at his heart again.

"Evan," he whispered.

He looked at the room half expecting to see Evan's broad smile but reality smacked him in the face. He was gone now. The weight of that realization came flooding back, the senses he felt the emotions he endured, the anguish and the sorrow, everything crashed down.

"Wait if I'm in Bren, what happened after? How many days has gone by? Mother looks tired." Ezra sighed.

"Did I miss his funeral? I want to be there to at least see my friend commemorated," Ezra said as he gazed at the window.

"What happened when I was out?" Ezra rubbed his chin.

Ezra racked his brains for information. He was shocked, as he tried to recall everything it seemed there were pieces that he could not remember.

"What? I can't remember their faces. Those who fought the battles. Except for the significant people, I can't remember everything," Ezra looked thoughtfully.

"It seems this body does not have an eidetic memory as I did back on earth." Ezra gave a puzzled look. "I thought at first that my body had one but I guess, it is another attribute of magic," analyzed Ezra.

"I have been depleted of magic before but this is the first time it truly went to zero, I should keep that in mind. I wonder what other changes my body has," Ezra tried to think. He was distracting himself from the pain of Evan's death, from the guilt, from the weight of his actions, he tried his very best to analyze to lessen the pain for the time being at least.

"Am I truly in control of everything? I have read before on Earth there were cases of children having knowledge of past selves. Of course, I dismissed them, but looking back it seemed that these people acted as children even though they did possess knowledge of their former selves. I think it sort of a reversion to the mean, being in a toddler's body having a toddler's emotions and hormones. I can't change subtle influences like that I must be more aware. "

The pain of Evan's passing was fighting, his forced distraction. Evan's memory loomed still, his feelings caved in once again. He closed his eyes as he shed a tear.

"I must be more mindful, for my sake and everyone else's," Ezra glanced at his sleeping mother and looked upward and talked to himself.

"I never thought of an afterlife on Earth, maybe you'll be reincarnated, maybe you'll find peace in a heaven of sorts but where ever you may be, my friend, it's goodbye for now. I'd never thought I'd say this but you taught me, my friend. You taught me well. " Ezra closed his eyes as tears flowed again.

"Goodbye, my friend and uncle. Goodbye," sobbed Ezra as tears gushed from his face.

Chapter end