Ryan saw something else.
He was not in the corridor. He was not in the academy. He was somewhere else. A dark place.
There was a girl. Not this girl. Another. Younger. She was sitting on the ground, her walls of earth, the light of fire coiling around her like a serpent. Her body was stained with blood. Her eyes – blue, like the girl's before him now – were looking at him.
"Brother..."
Her whisper was weak, as if pushed by a breeze.
"Brother... please..."
Her body trembled. The voice faded. Scars bloomed on her body like red flowers.
This girl was not that girl. This place was not that place.
But the pain was the same.
Ryan felt heat in his chest. The scars beneath his shirt – the old burn scars, the scars of the fire that had made him – began to smoulder like a slow flame. Cold anger, heavy, rising from a place he did not understand. He heard his heartbeat, fast as drums. His hands trembled.
The two images merged – the girl against the wall and the girl he was see it
He saw the boy raise his foot.
He did not think.
He did not plan.
His hand moved.
In an instant, Ryan was in front of the boy.His left hand grabbed the boy's neck from the front,like a claw. He lifted him.
The boy's shiny black shoe left the ground. He dangled in the air, kicking involuntarily.
Ryan raised his arm, the boy hanging like a torn doll. His face had reddened, his mouth gasping for breath, trying to scream, but no words came.
Ryan eyes were blue. But not the blue of the sky, nor of the sea. They were blue as the ice in the depths of caves, where no light reaches.
His eyes were empty of emotion.
No anger. No hatred. No mercy. Only emptiness.
The students around him stepped back. The laughter stopped. The whispers stopped. Even the sound of breathing seemed absent – as if time had frozen.
Edan stood behind Ryan, pale, mouth open. His hand rose as if to touch Ryan's shoulder, but it froze in the air.
The silence in the corridor was like a grave.
Ryan did not take his eyes off the boy.
He did not see the boy's . He did not see the fear in it. He saw something else. He saw a sister crying in the darkness.
And he saw himself – A child who could not protect anyone.
He stood still.
He did not throw the boy. He did not choke him further. Only held him, and his eyes were empty.
His hands still trembled.
And the cold anger in his chest burned slowly.
*********
Ryan was looking at the boy hanging in the air. His eyes were icy blue, empty of any feeling. The cold anger in his chest burned slowly.
The students around him stepped back. The silence was absolute.
Then Ryan felt an iron grip on his right arm.
"Let go of my little brother now!"
A rough voice, full of anger and fear. It was an older young man, perhaps sixteen, tall, with prominent muscles. He wore the dark blue robe. His face was red with anger, his eyes glaring at Ryan with hatred. He gripped Ryan's arm tightly, trying to pull his hand away from the boy's neck.
But Ryan did not let go.
He did not even look at the older boy. His eyes remained fixed on the trembling child. His grip tightened slightly, and the boy began to make a choked sound.
the young man shouted, yanking Ryan's arm violently.
"I said let him go!"
Then, Ryan slowly turned to him.
His eyes were still icy blue, but they were no longer empty. They were filled with deep hostility, an unwavering cold hatred. He looked at the young man as if looking at an insect.
The young man froze for a moment.
He did not retreat. He was larger, and he was angry. But something in Ryan's eyes made him stop.
the young man asked, his voice less confident.
"Who are you?"
Ryan did not answer. Just kept looking at him.
The young man pulled Ryan's arm again.
"Let him go, or..."
He did not finish his sentence.
Ryan was about to move. His left fist was still clenched around the boy's neck, and his right hand was free. He was ready to face the young man. He was ready for anything.
Then he heard a voice.
"Ryan!"
A childish voice, high-pitched, full of worry.
Ryan stopped.
He recognized it.
He slowly turned his head toward the source of the sound.
She was standing a few steps away, in the middle of the crowd that had gathered to watch. She was small, wearing the blue robe that fluttered around her ankles. Her long silver hair was braided in two simple plaits. Her big blue eyes were filled with tears and fear.
She was looking at him – not at the boy he was choking, not at the angry young man. She was looking at him. At her brother.
she whispered.
"Ryan, please..."
She could not move. She was frightened. She had never seen him like this.
This was their first meeting in a year. She had imagined it differently. She had imagined him smiling, hugging her, asking how she was. She had never imagined him choking a child before her eyes.
she said again, her voice weaker.
"Brother..."
Ryan's hands trembled.
He looked at Ari. At her pale face, at her tears, at her fear.
Then he looked at the boy in his hand. He was crying silently, his face red, tears falling onto Ryan's robe.
Ryan stepped back.
He relaxed his grip.
The boy fell to the ground, gasping, clutching his neck, coughing. The young man bent down to help him, looking at Ryan cautiously.
But Ryan did not care. He was looking at Ari.
he said, his voice hoarse.
"Ari..."
He said nothing else.
They stood there, brother and sister, staring at each other in the middle of the crowded corridor, as students whispered around them.
It was their first meeting at the academy.