I leave the tent and look up, noticing the low position of the sun in the sky. It is evening.

Not too far from the edge of the cliff, I spot the others sitting on a blanket and talking. David and Daniel have their heads resting on Emma’s lap and as I get closer I notice her stroking David’s hair. By this point I have accepted and gotten used to the fact that they are in a relationship, so the sight doesn’t surprise me too much. As I sit down, I notice Daniel playing with a small glass box filled with numerous ants. The box is filled with what looks like dirt and... are those ants?

“What’s that?” I ask him, nodding at the box.

“None of your business,” he replies, his voice suddenly a bit cold.

I look at him a bit speechless knowing that I had asked a touchy question but not understanding what was so wrong with the question. He clenches the box, making a flicking motion with his hand as a blue light covers the box. The light disappears, taking the box along with it.

“Anyway,” Drew says dispelling the awkward silence that settled less than a second ago. “That’s when we knew he was possessed, after that, PM restrained him while we sealed it up.”

“What possessed who?” I ask, trying to understand what he is talking about.

“A Fasuru. It possessed an Erhaz.” he replies. “And before you ask, Erhaz are magicians that are not affiliated with the Laen. They’re usually quite weak unless a Fasuru possesses them.”

“How come no one told me Fasurus can possess people? Isn’t that the kind of thing everyone should be warned against?”

Lathia shrugs like it's not a big deal. “Relax. It’s mostly only normal people that can be possessed. People with magic can resist possession, well, everyone can; but it is much harder to possess magicians. Besides, it is impossible for us Laen to get possessed, the seal on our forehead protects us.”

I immediately think back to when I was attacked by the Minotaur, I remember that for a moment I saw a human’s silhouette before it was completely covered up by the Minotaur.

“Wait, that time I was attacked, at Cassandra's party, it was by someone who was possessed?” I ask and one by one they nod. At this moment it makes sense why apart from me, everyone else believed it was a man carrying a gun. That is because it was a man carrying a gun. The only thing is that at that moment I was able to see what was behind his actions. Then I think of Arthur. More than once, during lunch, I had seen something kind of flicker over him. A Fasuru. Could it be that he was getting possessed?

“Arthur- ” I begin when Drew interrupts.

“I know, some stupid Fasuru tried to possess him. I took care of it. He’s okay now.”

I nod relaxing a bit. “Why do they possess people? I mean, what do they have to gain from making people do wicked things.”

“They don’t always make people do wicked things-” Lathia says.

Daniel interrupts. “Yes, they do. The thing you should know is, for some perverted reason, Fasurus get stronger when they are close to people who are suffering, or feeling any strong negative emotion. So when they possess people, they usually use them to make as many people as they can miserable and in exchange, they get stronger.”

For a moment I don’t believe him, but when no one refutes his words I slowly become convinced. “So the more people suffer, the stronger they get?” I ask as if to clarify things.

“Yup. But not all Fasuru do wicked things.” Lathia says. Daniel just shakes his head as if mocking her naivety.

“But, why don’t they just go around causing mass mischief?” I ask.

“Because we Laen are not stupid enough to stand aside stupidly while they get stronger off human misery.” Drew answers this time.

I let out a small sigh. “You know, it’s kind of unfair that normal people have no defense against possessing.”

David snorts. “Who said they don’t?”

“I thought you guys said-”

Daniel speaks.“We said only normal people get possessed. We didn’t say they didn’t have any defense against it because they do. People usually get possessed because they allow themselves to.”

“Why would anyone want to get possessed?”

“Simple. Power. Look, in their normal forms, Fasuru can only use a limited amount of magic, but when they possess others, that amount increases massively, and at the same time, the person they possess gets access to their magic and vice versa. Basically, getting possessed equals getting more magic. And if you’re a magician, you get a power boost. If someone doesn’t want to get possessed, however, the Fasuru won’t be able to possess them. That’s why they target specific groups of people to possess, even then it takes time, days, even weeks for them to completely possess someone.”

“Oh. Wait, do magicians…, Erhaz, allow themselves to be possessed.”

Lathia nods. “They do. To them, it’s quite a normal thing. They even call their Fasuru’s Familiars.”

I immediately think of Tahku and ‘Taur. Tahku had once introduced ‘Taur to me as his Familiar. Now I know the meaning of that statement. Tahku allows ‘Taur to possess him in exchange for power. Is that why he was near that house that night? He knew people would suffer and his Fasuru would get stronger because of it.

“How do you know if someone is getting possessed?” I ask.

“If they are resisting the possession, you’ll usually see a Fasuru kind of overlaid on them if you use second sight. Sometimes it's weak but sometimes it’s so strong that you can only see the Fasuru if you look at that person. But if they allow the possession, the whites of their eyes will begin to release this weird green light.”

“Okay,” I say, finally running out of questions to ask.

They continue to talk and I listen absentmindedly, my mind mostly on what I just learned about the Fasurus. Possesion. Getting stronger off negative emotions. With abilities like this, I can see why the Laen don't like the Fasurus very much. The presence of one somewhere is probably just a warning that bad things are about to happen. Their only redeeming quality now is that they can boost magic.