‘You see things as you have been taught. Good, evil; right, wrong. But things are not always as they seem—’

‘No, they are not. You are living proof of that. Claiming to be one of the Ben Elim, yet you are the opposite: Kadoshim, a fallen angel, servant of Asroth.’

‘You speak of things about which you have no understanding,’ Calidus snapped. ‘Kadoshim, Ben-Elim, they are just names given by those too ignorant to comprehend. Remember, history is written by the victors. It is not an unassailable truth, but a twisted, moulded thing, corrupted by the victor’s perspective. Elyon is not good; Asroth is not evil. That is a child’s view. The world is not scribed in black and white, but in shades of grey.’

‘So you would have me believe that Asroth is good? That Elyon is the deceiver?’

‘No, something in the middle of that, perhaps, with both parties capable of both good and evil. Like you. More human, if you like. Would that be so hard to imagine?’

Uthas saw something flicker across Nathair’s face. Doubt?

‘Your histories tell that Asroth would destroy this world of flesh,’ Calidus continued. ‘They claim that was Asroth’s purpose in the War of Treasures. Ask yourself: if that were true, then why is he so desperate to come here, to become flesh?’

‘I would not dare to guess after having been proved so monumentally naive,’ Nathair said with a sour twist of his lips. Something of his earlier rage returned, a vein pulsing in his temple.

‘Don’t be so dramatic,’ Calidus scolded, ‘like a sulking child. I have come to you to speak hard truths and would hear you speak in return as the man you can be, the leader of men, the king. Not as a petulant child.’ He took a moment, waiting, letting the weight of his words subdue Nathair’s anger. ‘Now think on this. Asroth would come here not to destroy, but to rule. He would fashion an empire, just as you have imagined. A new order, one defined by peace, once the dissenters were dealt with. No different from your plans. And you could still be a part of it. Our numbers are too few; we will need someone to rule the Banished Lands. Someone who could unite the realms. I believe that someone is you.’

‘And you think I would believe anything that crosses your lips, now. After this?’ Nathair gestured at the towering bulk of Murias.

‘Yes. I would. Put your anger, your pride and shame aside and think. War has raged in the Otherworld for aeons. It has been bloody and violent and heartbreaking. I have seen my brothers cut down, broken, destroyed. And I have returned the violence upon the Ben-Elim a hundredfold. I did what I had to do. Withholding some of the truth from you was necessary. Difficult decisions must be made in war, for the greater good. You know this.’ Calidus paused, holding Nathair with his gaze.

‘There are some lines that cannot be crossed, regardless of the greater good,’ Nathair spat.