Nir collapsed, sinking to the ground.
His voice broke as he spoke: "Kim... how many of them are coming?"
Kim did not turn around.
"The Seven," he said, with a terrifying stillness.
Baith swallowed hard. He hesitated before asking: "And us...?"
Silence fell.
A silence longer than it should have been.
A silence carrying the weight of a final decision.
Then Kim spoke: "We... are the spark."
Finally, he turned to face them.
His eyes were not filled with rage, nor were they filled with madness. There was something far more dangerous in them: exhaustion.
"They will try to break us in different ways," he said in a low voice.
He raised a finger. "One will come with War."
The second. "One with the Mind."
The third. "One with Hope."
The fourth. "One with Regret."
The fifth. "One with Guilt."
The sixth. "One with Erasure."
He paused.
He lowered his hand slowly. Then he said: "And one... will try to make me love them."
Silence reigned once more.
Kim closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he said: "And that... is when I will truly burn."
He took a single step toward Nir.
His voice cracked for the first time: "Listen to me, Nir..."
He placed his hand on his chest. Where the seal resided. Where the pain lived.
"You are the piece I have been searching for my entire life for one reason only..."
He raised his head, looking directly into his eyes.
"To erase the pain within me."
He took a deep breath.
"I do not want to lose you."
Then, in a voice barely audible: "I am sorry."