Michael did not train Elliot the next morning.
That alone told Elliot something was wrong.
Instead of waking him before dawn, Michael sat at the kitchen table with a cup of untouched tea, staring out the window as the sky lightened. His sword leaned against the wall beside him, still sheathed, still present.
Elliot padded into the room quietly.
"Did I do something wrong?" he asked.
Michael flinched—not visibly, but enough that Elliot noticed.
"No," he said. "You didn't."
Elliot waited.
Michael gestured to the chair across from him. "Sit."
Elliot did.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The house creaked softly as it settled. Somewhere upstairs, Paige laughed in her sleep.
Michael finally sighed.
"When I was young," he said, "I believed strength solved problems."
Elliot listened.
"I believed that if I trained hard enough, fought cleanly enough, protected the right people… the world would make sense."
He shook his head. "It doesn't."
Elliot folded his hands in his lap, small fingers tightening.
"I stopped because monsters changed," Michael continued. "But that wasn't the whole truth."
Elliot felt something heavy settle in his chest.
"I stopped because I didn't trust myself anymore," Michael said quietly. "Because every time I drew my sword, it became easier to justify what I took from others. Lives. Choices. Mercy."
Elliot's breath caught.
Michael met his gaze.
"I see that same pressure forming around you," he said. "Not because you're cruel—but because you care too much about doing it right."
Elliot didn't look away this time.
"I don't want to become someone who takes," he said.
Michael nodded. "Then you need teachers who will stop you when I can't."
The words hurt.
Elliot felt them anyway.
"So the elf…" he began.
"She's not here to replace me," Michael said. "She's here because I'm afraid of failing you."
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, Michael reached out and placed his hand on Elliot's head—gentle, steady.
"I can teach you how to hold a sword," he said. "But I can't teach you when to let go."
Elliot closed his eyes.
For the first time since being reborn, he felt something unfamiliar.
Not guilt.
Trust.
End of Chapter 14