"Do you understand?"
She spoke slowly, carefully enunciating each word. It was clear she wasn't comfortable with the language, her accent fought with every syllable but if I focused, I could understand her well enough.
I didn't respond aloud, but something in my expression must've given me away. Her shoulders eased, and a visible wave of relief passed through the group.
"Ah… thank our Mother of the Cycle. Holy one, please… be calm. We are of kin. You are one of the lost, are you not?"
I tilted my head slightly, confused.
"Who is speaking?" I asked. "What name do I address you by?"
It seemed wise to get a name as how many she gave would tell me how important she thought she was considering nobles normally had longer names.
"Oh, forgive me, holy one. I am called Yun Suu Chin. I serve as an interpreter for the crusading forces of Emberland."
She gave a half-bow and lifted her eyes to me again, likely expecting the same in return. I found the bow slightly odd as it was different from the ones we gave here.
"I see. I am called Edric, the champion of the arena. As for your earlier question, I'm afraid I can't answer it… I don't know."
I considered lying… telling her what she wanted to hear, but something in her manner warned against it. They weren't hostile. If anything, they were respectful. Now wasn't the time to make things worse. I was also interested in this crusade she spoke off.
"You don't know…? How is that possible?" she asked, her voice tightening. "Forgive me for being rude, holy one, but I struggle to understand." She shook her head, visibly flustered.
"I was born human," I said, keeping my voice calm. "Taken as a child and made into… this. I come from north of the forest, but I've lived here for most of my life. I've fought and killed just to bleed for the crowd. And now, all I want is to leave this place behind."
I let the words hang for a moment, offering up the bare bones of my story. Just enough to evoke pity, or at least distance myself from Caldrithy civility.
For her part, Yun Suu Chin didn't seem to fully trust me, but there was no hostility in her expression, only curiosity with perhaps concern or a similar emotion. It was hard to tell as I hadn't seen a person with such a face before. She looked to the officer and spoke a few quick words in their native tongue. He nodded once, then turned and left the room with two of his men in tow.
"I'm sorry, holy one," she said, returning her attention to me. "But may we ask for just a bit more of your time? There's something we wish to confirm."
It was framed as a request… but the way she said it, the look in her eyes, it felt more like a warning. A polite way of saying… don't do anything rash.
Time passed, each moment gnawing at my nerves.
My strength was fading fast. I felt my sword begin to wobble, I didn't have the endurance to keep it raised much longer. I bent my knees, shifting the strain to muscles that weren't as shot, but it was a stopgap at best. I was a glass wall ready to shatter, and the Emberland soldiers probably saw it… but they didn't move.
My wing pulsed with dull pain, and something was wrong with my breathing. It was like I had something poking my lungs. There was a metallic tang building in my mouth. I tried to ignore it, but the taste thickened, rising until I finally had to spit it out.
Bright crimson blood hit the floor with a wet smack.
Yun Suu Chin stepped forward like she wanted to say something, but stopped herself. Her eyes darted down to the blood on the floor and the blood all over me, her brows furrowed. She opened her mouth again, hesitated, then closed it once more. Her fingers twitched at her sides.
She was trying to say something or more like trying to ask something. But the words wouldn't come.
I could see the frustration building in her expression. She bit her lip, muttering to herself in her own tongue. After a final attempt that ended in silence, she stomped her foot and let out a huff, clearly cursing whatever word had slipped her mind.
The clink of leather and steel broke the quiet that had settled over the room. The officer returned first, his men close behind. I looked at them with tired indifference. I didn't hold any grudge against them, but their presence didn't exactly improve my situation either.
But the figure walking behind them did elicit a reaction.
I felt her before I saw her, not through my eyes, but something deeper. A sense beyond the five I'd always known. She radiated a presence that stirred something in me, like a half-remembered memory. That feeling pulsed at the back of my mind, it was like back to when I first had undergone the surgery.
She appeared to be a woman in her thirties, tall and regal, with flawless skin, golden eyes, and hair the color of ripe wheat. Her posture was composed, graceful. She stood a head taller than everyone around her… everyone but me. We were the same height. She looked like the first Deva I witnessed as a child.
The moment her eyes landed on me, her expression shifted at first it was a soft smile, then a sudden frown.
"Sister… What has happened? Oh mother…"
She stepped forward without hesitation, unafraid of the blade still in my hand, unbothered by my appearance. She moved past the invisible boundary that no one else had dared cross and wrapped her arms around me. Her embrace was gentle… and I felt the warmth of her tears on my cheek.
"It's okay, younger brother," she whispered. "You're going to be okay."
But her touch didn't calm me but I did feel maybe something like my earliest memories, those of my mother before she was gone. I didn't understand what was going on but it felt like something long ago was waking up in the back of my mind. The presence of her was definitely at play with that happening.
I pushed her back with one hand, wincing as pain flared through my side. I limped a step away, keeping my blade low but ready as I was not sure if this was some kind of mental attack.
"I'm sorry," I said. "But we're not related. I don't remember having any sister…"
My eyes scanned her more closely now and that's when I saw the White wings. Folded neatly behind her back.
Her gaze softened further. "Oh… yes I guess you wouldn't know much about us and what you are considering where you are. But please know that we are family. Well you're more like an adopted family member but that matters little in the grand cycle."