Akram let out a sigh and turned towards the sleeping figure beside him.
Parisa.
Then turned his gaze again towards the crackling fire, his hands playing with the hilt of his sword that was strapped to his waist awhile ago. He had sworn that he would do all the means to keep her safe.
But...he knows that there would come a day that he would have to let her go.
Until then, he have to stay by her side. Just as he had promised to her.
Her hair laid on the ground in silvery patterns against the dry earth beneath them. Her mouth slightly opened for her to breathe. Her eyelashes casting long shadows on her cheeks.
A small smile appeared on his face as he pulled a woollen blanket out of his backpack and draped it quietly over her form. And stood up, his eyes trained forward.
At the vast forest that lay before him. He watched as the leaves swayed gently in the wind, creating a soft noise equivalent to a lullaby.
And his heart pained at the thought of large acres of forest destroyed at the mere whims of humans, the thousands of years of beauty that was crafted by none other than God Himself.
He then turned to look down at the sleeping form beside him and couldn’t help but feel that he could never ease the pain that she was feeling, no matter what he do to make her feel comfortable in this life.
If only....he thought, his hands clenched into fists.
There’s only so little he knew about her, but he could already tell that her soul was never the same since the day that she had shown herself to him.
It was an unexpected event that happened in his life, one that rarely happens in a thousands of years, moreso in a millennia. For such a being to appear in a world riddled by all kinds of hatred and greed, it’s considered such a legend.
But he had promised to never indulge himself in the past while she was with him.
It was better to let things unravel themselves to serve its purpose. And not interfere with the hands of fate. For those who do so, could greatly create an impact with the Order.
The last thing that this fragile world would ever need.
He let out a deep sigh and was to leave their campsite, when a voice spoke.
“Is something on your mind, Akram?”
He turned to see her sitting up, her hair lying on her chest. Her eyes looking at him with scrutiny but also with a slight of sadness in them...and an emotion that he couldn’t fathom nor associate with her.
A small smile graced his face as he looked at her. “It’s nothing you should worry yourself, Parisa. Why don’t you get some rest? I’ll be back in a short while.” he told her softly then turned on his heel.
He was about to leave when she called out his name, softly like there was something underneath every syllable, an emotion that she was trying to show but was suppressing it at the same time.
“Akram...”
Eyes wide and slightly confused, he turned to look at her, his confusion replaced by the worry; the need to protect her as much as he could do.
“What is it?” he asked, his voice soft, as if he was afraid that any louder could break the thin sheet of ice that was underneath the both of them.
She looked up at him, her body wrapped in the blanket he had covered her with awhile ago. Her face was illuminated by the glow of the fire, which was showing him the emotion that she had shunned years ago.
And was quickly replaced by something else.
Something a whole lot different from awhile ago.
But her words had surprised him to make him forget the undeniable question he was preparing to ask her about the look on her face.
She looked up at him and for the first time since they came here, she smiled; real genuine this time, not the lies that so littered the world.
“Thank you.”
He stopped for a moment as he looked at her then he felt his features softened and he spoke. “You're welcome.”
She watched him as he disappeared into the forest then turned to look at the crackling fire in front of her, her knees brought to her chest. With her arms wrapped tight around them, her chin resting on top.
Back before everything had happened, she was a being that never had the need to satiate her needs. She was not in need of such mundane tasks nor had dreamt that she would experience the need to do so.
“How easy time flies...” she murmured as she watched the fire eat away the wood. “And how fast human lives tend to disappear as if they never had existed.”
She then picked up a small thin stick laying beside her and began poking at the fire. Her thoughts on her past...her past which started everything.
Flashback...
She stood before the Council in her plain white robes, her silvery hair kept tied in a braid with a gold band. Her eyes downcast as she awaited the judgement that would determine her fate.
“Parisa...as a servant, it is your duty to fulfil what your Master wishes you to do so...but in light of recent events...you have failed...” an old but powerful voice spoke.
She kept her eyes downcast, awaiting the moment of trial.
“And as decided by the Council, you will no longer be called as such and will be cast away from our kind.”
Her eyes widened as she heard those news. There’s no way they would do that to her! She’s one of the oldest! Not to mention one of the most powerful to ever grace their presence!
Why?
Is it because of one simple thing she had failed to accomplish?
Is that it?
She shook her head free of the memories and stared at the fire. Its bright red orange flames satisfied of its meal and was asking for more. Burned cinders littered the bottom of the pit as the flames asked for more.
She poked at it again, and then threw the stick that she had used awhile ago. It would have to serve its purpose for now.
To satisfy one’s own need other than its own. Just as she had before she was thrown aside just for one mistake.
One mistake that she had failed to accomplish.
With a heavy sigh, she stood up, the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders. And lifted her gaze upward towards the starless sky.
‘Am I just some tool to be used for your own purpose?’ she asked. ‘And discarded after I’ve had lost my zeal?’
‘Am I?’ she demanded angrily. ‘Am I...’
‘Just a part of some twisted game?’
A tear drop to the ground, creating a small dark presence before completely disappearing in all its splendour.
Aedrelet out a sigh as she stood upthen walked away from the fire, her arms crossed over herchest. Her back turned towards them.Tivonalooked between the two of them, unsure on who she would ask about what happened awhile ago. And the mere fact that the two seemed to have a history that likely happened years ago...Well, it’s safe to say that it’s better to let things run as they are.
“Aren’t we going to go after her?”Tivonaasked as she followed after the older.Who was not saying a thing after their separation awhile ago.“Aedre.” she called the older as she stopped walking thenhunched over to catch her breath. “Can you please stop and look at me for a minute?”The o
“It has been years.” The Huntress spoke in a hushed tone asshe steppedin frontof a large dome made of marble and stone,thinvines spread across the smooth surface. “How fast time flies.”she said with a smile as she approached the wooden doors at thecenterof the dome andplaced her palm on it. “I still remember the day that everything
Torches lined the walls along the hallway leading to the main chambers, their lights casting a long shadow across the walls,as if an ominous being itself was moving against the very structure itself.Devouring every written inscription dating back to the beginning of the first civilization that societyhadbegotten to the world.As if their very presence indicates a lot more than mere writing on stones could.
Sounds of plates and wooden utensils rattled against each other, along with curses and slurred words ringing throughout the roomasdrunken men bragged on about their exploits to other lands, while prostitutes and servers alike hang on to every word like one does with a gossip.The bartender-a scraggy old man of mid 80’s shook his head at thechaos in his tavern and continued on cleaning the drinking keg in his hand, muttering at the sheer absurdity that some of the tales he was hearing.
Parisa walked quietly through the forest, her mind flashing back to the village from earlier. It made no sense that a village would just disappear without affecting the other areas although it was the same with what happened to the Nordic settlement in Vinland thousands of years ago.But why? And how? Why would a group of people suddenly leave? It's not like they have run scarce the source of food that they lived off and decided to go someplace.And the fact that it wasn't just the physical bodies that were missing but the souls as well. It doesn't make any sense at all."Who could've done this..." she mused, as she walked through the forest, her feet barely making any noise.Akram followed suit, cutting down any branches or bushes to make a clear path for her, that for some reason is entirely in her own world, not noticing anything at all."Maybe someone with a grudge?" he supplied with a small grunt as he lifted the
"Here, take this." Akram held out a brown faded cloak towards Parisa before placing his bag over his shoulder. "What is this for?" she asked as she looked at the cloak with curiousity, lifting the fabric gently as if it were made of glass. "It's for you," he told her. "Use that to cover yourself as not to attract unwarranted attention." he said, gesturing to the other's otherworldly looks. "The place where we are going is heavily supertitious when it comes to seeing something different." he explained. She raised an eyebrow at that, and with a teasing smile responded. "Am I that different?" He looked at her for a minute before shaking his head with a small chuckle. "Your looks...are not common," he told her. "Very few people have the same looks as you are, and when I say few, say about 0.01 percent of the entire world." She nodded, slinging the cloak over her shoulder. "And you say that us different are considered evil, is it not
"Stay back!" Aedre shouted as she brandished a knife towards the small childlike creature who was grinning oddly enough at her and imitating a small child.She knew enough that what was in front of her was no small child who just got lost in the forest, it brims of something far more different. It screams anger and jealousy but at what, she doesn't know.But what she cared for most was Tivona. Eversince the demise of her home, the younger had been taciturn to the point that she had shut herself off from the world. And since the younger was also knew to using the power she had inherited, her aura had been leaking through the barriers and had somehow attracted the creature to the smell of childish innocence.After taking a small bath and refreshing herself with the water from the river, she had decided to come back with a small catch to likely appease the younger and to hopefully get a response when upon stepping into the clearing, she had sensed somet