Ending Maker novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: Saint Orla

The springs of Saint Orla lay in a ring of black rock, with steam rising off the water into the cold.

It was day twenty-six.

Tavi had stayed behind at the shrine to pack her herbs, and she had looked at us when we left.

We came down the path at dusk.

No one else was there.

The pools were carved into the rock in steps, one above the other, and the highest was wide enough for six people.

"Twenty paces," I said.

"The far end is nineteen."

"Then you take the far end."

"You think I won't look?"

"I think you'll look and lie about it."

He grinned.

I undressed behind a boulder, one buckle at a time, and the cold air hit my skin.

I went into the water with my shift still on, and the heat made me gasp.

He came in from the other side, in his shirt and trousers, and the water went black around him.

We sat at opposite ends of the pool with our backs against the stone.

Steam rolled between us.

"All right," I said. "The rest of the truth."

He rubbed a hand over his face.

"In patch 5.2, the world-first was going to be yours," he said.

"I know."

"I knew it too. I'd watched your guild for three weeks. I'd mapped your pulls. You were going to clear it at nine on a Sunday."

"We wiped seven times because you were camping the room."

"I camped the room because I wanted to see you."

I stopped.

"What?"

"I wanted to see how you played." His voice was low. "I'd watched your guild's streams. I watched how you called the raid. You never raised your voice, and the whole room moved when you spoke. I wanted to be in that room. And the only way I could be in it was to be the guy who ruined it."

"That's insane."

"It's stupid. I know."

"You wrecked my clear on purpose so you could look at me?"

"I wrecked it so you'd look at me."

The water lapped between us.

I was silent for a long time.

Then I said, very quietly, "I reported you because I was in love with the way you played, and I couldn't stand it."

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