The friendly rivalry pushed the two Byks to train a lot in order not to get last place in the children’s games, and Lenart to spend a lot of time out of his head. He was a healthy, happy child surrounded by people who loved him.

Fresh air and group activities were the best therapy for him. Rena knew that her boy would never regain the innocence he had lost, but she was happy to see that the mental scar from Makhari’s death faded bit by bit.

The only one who failed to move from square one was Leran.

More than a week had passed since the day of the attack on Zekell’s house, yet he showed no sign of improvement, no matter what Slash or his family members did. Leran had no trouble during waking hours, but would experience terrible nightmares the moment he closed his eyes.

The dream was always the same.

Leran tightened his grip on Boros, Slash pinned the Awakened to the ground, and the boy delivered the finishing blow. Leran had seen those images enough times to know their every detail, yet that only made his reaction more violent over time.

He started to sleep so little that he dozed off in the middle of the day, and to puke so often that he had to always carry a bucket around.