Zajo had succeeded in taking the beauty and grace of the one that all the Underworld admired.
By his action, he had condemned her to be much more than a poor outcast, he had condemned her to be much worse: a wingless outcast.
There was a tenacious belief among the fairies that anyone who had their wings torn off, or who was simply born without them, was rejected by the gods.
The worst thing was that those who suffered the worst treatment were those who had lost their wings, this hatred was equal to the hatred they had for the person who had done this to them.
Talemilia could never again find comfort among her own kind. She had lost everything that made her a fairy in the eyes of her fellow humans.
And all of this, Lelelitio understood with a single glance at her scarred cousin.
- I think it's time to go, Chief," said one of Zajo's subordinates, "Yarwuik is in place, we can get away.
The Aberios nodded and took off with the wings of his victim.
Lelelitio threw himself over the fairy's body and held her in his arms, crying his eyes out at the barbaric act on this poor girl who had never asked for anything. He watched her heartbeat and was barely reassured that she was alive. The blood dripping from her back stained her poor clothes black and sticky. He comforted her by cradling her as best he could, having no way to heal her, knowing no healing spells. His tears kept flowing along with those of the amputee.
- Why?" he whispered, "Why did it have to happen to you?
If Sawyer hadn't moved for the moment, it was because the vision of horror he had just faced, as a fairy and protector of Sylvania, was going to send him over the edge. He who always seemed to be in a happy mood, slow to violence and the most reasonable person of the trio that made up his friends and him, was going to make him lose all reason for the second time in his life.
- Where do you seriously think you're going?" he hissed through his teeth.
With a look of hatred in his eyes, he slowly descended the slope that these poachers were walking, he who had resolved to begrudge taking lives on the battlefield, prepared to fight as if he were facing the Tyrannical Army.
Continuing his long descent, he incanted a spell of a power that could not be expected to be seen anywhere but in training barracks - in a lesser form -, on the battlefields or on the execution docks executed by the most sadistic executioners - of which the expert Triface was one.
- Alteriam, ruler of flames, justice and vengeance, bring upon my enemies the greatest of your condemnations...
As he performed his spell, the leaves of the trees caught fire and a gigantic blaze awoke in the silent forest. The fire made all the inhabitants of the forest flee, but their escape was in vain, the flames of Sawyer's anger eventually reached them and immolated them. Sawyer had just lost all sense of compassion, neither the little cries of the beasts of the forest, nor the destruction he was spreading could stop him in his tracks. And just as he was about to finish incanting his spell, he received a bullet in the knee, he turned in the direction of the shot and saw the faun Yarwuik pointing a gun in his direction.
- Is that how far you've lost all honor?" Sawyer scolded him, "To be reduced to using the weapons of humans and used as bait for these cowards?
- As if humans don't use swords or magic!" he retorted, "and my leader will come back for me.
- Poor fool.
Sawyer threw an air blade at him with his hand, decapitating him with inhuman ease, before moving on. He drew his sword and, like a throwing hammer, swung it at his prey. The troop stopped at the sight of the weapon appearing in front of them, amazed at how it could have got there.
Meanwhile, Sawyer resumed his spell:
- Alteriam, ruler of flames, justice and vengeance, bring upon my enemies the greatest of your condemnations, the greatest of sufferings and the greatest of agonies. Let the flames of your glory and mercy come to me...
The flames that covered the whole forest rose into the sky and formed a huge ball of fire, Sawyer pointed his finger in the direction of this sphere of flames.
- ... Annihilate these heathens! Mar Igniari!
Like the shooting stars described in the ancient stories and books of the luminous world, the fireball rained down on the mercenaries at breakneck speed and right on Sawyer's sword, which served as a "target" for it to hit them with precision. The blast was so powerful that it brought down all the surrounding trees, pulverising them and reducing them to ashes, before ending in a column of flame that almost touched the heavens, causing them to rumble violently.
The repercussion would soon be felt.
You have just witnessed the execution of level ten magic, which is the limit of magic for ordinary mortals. It's the ceiling for magicians without having to acquire a demented knowledge that makes them archmages, or choose the path of curse or corruption. To go beyond level ten of magic is to begin to touch the realm of the gods - only genetic attributes escape this reality.
His steps were firm, confident. Sawyer approached the corpses charred by his attack, counted them and saw only four, one was missing. His attack was unstoppable, unless he was facing a great magician, or that this last man possessed a magical artifact or even technomagic.
Thinking about this possibility, a trap door opened from the ground and he saw a motorbike with Zajo on its back with the wings of the fairy, the body completely wet. Sawyer went after it, but stopped. He had a chance of catching him, despite having used so much magic, but he couldn't leave the two children alone.
He had failed again to protect one of his own, or even to avenge her.
He went up sheepishly, with his head down, to join Lelelitio and Talemilia.
He cut off the head of one of the mages with the sword he had retrieved from the bodies of his victims and ordered the second to heal the princess before activating the portal to the kingdom of Sylvania. He sat down against the runes of the great circular stone architecture, pulled the bundle of rubarb from his armour and devoured them, both enraged and sad. His only thought at that moment was that the spirit of the Sylvania forest would have killed him if he'd gotten that angry there, fortunately the fight was here...
If there were sylphs here, he hoped that they would forgive him not only for his debacle, but especially for his inability to protect one of them.
Finally, if Audiselia behaved like a queen, perhaps the forest's security system would be activated instead of letting anyone through.
He was interrupted in his reflection by the belligerent words of the boy he had struggled to help.
- This is all your fault!" said Lelelitio, "If we didn't live in this rubble and this insalubrious district, all this would never have happened! If the Nether and its stupid rules didn't exist, she wouldn't be in this state.
- I know that, boy," he replied, staring at the black sky in front of them, his voice weary, "I know that...
Lelelitio got up from the ground and grabbed the knight by the collar and lifted him off the ground.
- Do you think I'm joking? You will pay for the pain Talemilia had to endure!
- Avelilinélia, rather.
Lelelitio gasped.
- What? Did you know about this?
- I knew her mother, so yes, I know her.
The elf brought his forehead even closer to the knight's.
- Then why didn't you do anything?" Lelelitio raged, "She's a princess of Sylvania, though not from the same branch as the others!
Sawyer couldn't stand the boy's anger, and grabbed his wrist and twisted it to make him bend his knee.
- Do I look like I run this country?" Sawyer snapped, "Do I look like I'm called Audiselia? I did what I could!
Sawyer withdrew his embrace from the young elf and patted her hand to make sure she was okay, before rearranging her breastplate.
- I knew what was going on far too late... The government is not in favour of the Queen, nor of you, and given the state of our leader, it's not going to get any better. The only thing I can say is that you must be happy to have crossed my path and that I knew about it in time, if one can say "in time". Nothing more, nothing less.
Then he sat back down on the floor.
- She only has to give up!" said the elf.
- I won't let her.
- And why not?
- Because she is the only one who can change things in this kingdom. At least, be the instigator of a change. One thing I can promise you, Lelelitio, when she comes to her senses, things will change. Now go to your fairy and leave me in peace.
Lelelitio wanted to continue their confrontation but knew that it would lead to nothing but unnecessary shouting which would upset Talemilia more than anything else. He went back to his fairy, watching the mage heal her.
- And you," Sawyer harangued, addressing the mage, "a trick and you end up like your partner. If you want to have any hope of living a little longer, she'd better survive.
Finally, the sky did not react to Sawyer's attack. Surely it took pity on the troop in the charred woods.
Nothing was ever the same again.
The one most affected by what had happened to Princess Avelilinélia was Malalalivia, who was distraught to see the state in which her late mistress' daughter had returned. Covered with a sheet painted with blood at the back, her face pale, her eyes empty. All joy, all mirth, all hope had disappeared from her favourite emotions. She had become a mere empty shell without feeling. Malalalivia threw herself on top of her, crying her eyes out, crying in place of her adopted daughter who no longer had the strength to cry for herself.
Sawyer was watching them from afar, stuck against a wall, his eyes in the dark, filled with empathy for this girl who had just lost all her charm because of these vulgar poachers of misfortune.
This Zajo was really ahead of him. He wouldn't be surprised if people from the kingdom had helped him in his escape, and he didn't think it was Zajo alone who had managed to bribe them. Another nation must have been at the helm, or even other nations.
When she already had nothing and had lost what little she had, much more had been taken from her than she had.
For twelve long weeks, Malalalivia took care of Talemilia, who had become mute since this horrible experience: she washed her, fed her, spread very good quality fairy dust - which she managed to obtain with the meagre salary she combined with that of her son - on her back to relieve her pain and give her the feeling that she still had her wings. She helped him to walk because without her wings she had lost her sense of balance - the number of times she had wallowed simply by leaving the table...
All of this made the household feel gloomy and almost unbearably sad, it almost made Lelelitio want to vomit.
Every night Lelelitio heard his mother crying in her room, her head buried between her knees. He was helpless in the face of this inextricable situation.
He tried to offer the fairy a daily life more or less similar to what she had before, taking her out for a walk, covering her with a sheet so that the scars on her back were not visible and to keep her warm - without her wings, she could not catch as much light from the magically artificial sky, but the looks of disgust cast at Talemilia aggravated her torpor as she struggled to get out and Lelelitio forced her to take to the air, the faces of the people who passed them showed an unspeakable distaste for her now that she was without wings.
Nevertheless, the face of the princess did not change. It remained the same: pale and expressionless, her eyes empty of life, her lips chapped, purplish rings hanging under each eye.
One day, during one of their walks, they came across two of the girls Talemilia had saved. They came to see her to thank her for her action and her courage, for once since this tragic incident, Talemilia's face brightened up a little, she did not smile, but for a moment, her eyes came back to life, the time for these two young fairies to discover that she had lost her wings. The horrible look they gave the princess made her tremble with shame. When Talemilia was frightened, they apologised and wanted to run away, Lelelitio grabbed the arm of one of them and brought her back to him, demanding an explanation. The girl started screaming to let go of her, alerting the whole neighbourhood and claiming she had been assaulted, but Lelelitio stood his ground, he wasn't going to let go of her without getting an apology from them.
- You're going to apologise right now! If it wasn't for her, you'd be out there whoring around for some chubby human who'd throw you away like a rag after...
He felt someone timidly tugging at his sleeve, he turned around and saw that it was Talemilia who, without daring to look at him, implored him to stop bothering them. At her request, he released his embrace of the girl and let her escape. One of them said as she left:
- You can't show off with a wingless... sorry.
- You don't have to apologise to a nobody," said her friend.
Even in the Nether, in the dregs of Faerie society, among the outcasts of the Faerie race and other Faerie races, there was still discrimination, even though the human world already hunted them down and rejected them enough.
Lelelitio wanted to catch up with them, but Talemilia grabbed him and pulled him with all her strength to continue their walk. He finally gave in, and the two of them continued to walk.
A year passed since this event.
Life was getting harder and harder, and soon the period of peak famine in the kingdom of Sylvania was reached. The bourgeois and the nobles gorged themselves on the kingdom's reserves while the inhabitants of the Upper Town had to tighten their belts as they could no longer live without worrying about rationing.
So you can imagine what life was like for those living at the bottom, and even more so for those who lived closest to the old Hydragon. Rats were swarming all over the city, even their civilised counterparts were being attacked and now there were giant cockroaches at least fifty centimetres long roaming the Nether.
Starvation was in full swing here, the cost of living had gone up for all the families down there. And the Grave family was no exception. They had spent all they had of Lelelitio's late father's savings, Malalalivia's maid's salary and the shell cleaner's salary were no longer enough to support them, especially since most of their wages went to medical care in Talemilia, and the worst part, it was more than difficult to get a fairy's care while living in the Nether and the few competent doctors didn't want to be seen with a wingless fairy at the risk of missing the way to go up or back to the Upper Town and thus get a better lifestyle.
So their only two ways of getting treatment were either to be taken in by the quacks who swarmed all over the Nether district, having no talent for medicine and preferring to rip off their fellows to live well in the surrounding filth of the Nether, or those who didn't have the funds to settle in Upper Town took advantage of the misery of the poor wretches of that section of the kingdom in different ways: making the stooges - the slaves - or making them pay in kind.
And the latter was the option Malalalivia had chosen to treat her adopted daughter.
Of course, she had not informed her children, making them believe that Doctor Niloran, an Elephantis - a kind of humanoid elephant with black and yellow tusks, this race can be found in Eden but also far from Europea -, or a saint who graciously offers his services to them, being touched by the story of the princely faerie of the Nether, whereas he was only interested in Malalalivia and wanted to take advantage of her to satisfy his perverse lower instincts.
It is notable to say that it was the norm for a fairy to be examined by another fairy, but of course it is impossible for this to happen if one did not want to wait in an endless queue - especially since at that time Sylvania's technological hospital and all its experienced doctors did not yet exist, the programme had only just been accepted at that time, after long and heated debates generated because of the Queen's sudden insistence.
Lelelitio was waiting for them, peeling potatoes to prepare the evening meal with the little meat they had obtained with the meagre wages from his and his mother's work - and with a bit of skulduggery. The memories of that fateful day for his cousin came back to him whenever he was alone, concentrating on an activity or just resting. It was difficult for him to distract himself, he had no passion or ambition to satisfy. He let himself live, waiting for death like most of the inhabitants of these cursed places.
Did he still hold a grudge against the holy knight who had come to help him as soon as he knew that Talemilia was in danger? A little, even though he recognized his kindness in having come to his aid as soon as he knew he was missing, and that he had doubts about the actions of the rulers. He could only blame the queen and her government for allowing such a thing to happen.
But what could he do?
Lead a revolt?
Take the lead from the queen, who was called "the Absolute Weapon" or "the Ultimate Weapon of War" among the population.
One had to be at the level of an archmage to confront this enormous power, and of unparalleled power to confront all the over-trained soldiers of Sylvania.
He could only mourn and apologise for not being able to save her. He vowed to take care of her for the rest of his life to make up for the mistake he had made that day.
It is after having donated his body, without Talemilia being aware of it, as a payment and Talemilia was examined that they found the man of the house who had finished preparing the meal.
- Thank you Lelelitio for looking after the house in my absence," said her mother.
- It's nothing, at the moment, I have to spare some time since the magma monsters are out of town.
Once Talemilia left for her room to put on more comfortable clothes, Lelelitio asked his mother the same question he asked every time they came back from the doctor.
- Has there been any change? Is it fixable?
- No, there's nothing yet. The medicine he's giving her isn't having any effect yet, but he swore that normally it would help to soothe her wounds until there was some regrowth.
- I see.
The three of them sat down at the table and, as every day, Lelelitio gave Talemilia a peck of food, as she no longer had the strength to feed herself. Then he took her to her room to lay her down in bed and help her not to reopen the wounds on her back, then, as he did every evening, he took the book with which she had come to their house and which she never parted with - even when she was older - and began to read to her to soothe her and help her fall asleep.
Although he hated this tale about the hero of the legend and his sidekick the fairy of the legend, he could only submit to his cousin's choice because it was the only story that made her sleep peacefully and forget her daily pain. So he submitted to her choice and read the story mechanically without noting its content or how it was written.
Seeing her smile, even though it was due to the fact that she was a bedtime story, gave him some relief, but realizing that even in her sleep tears were falling in the corners of her eyes devastated him.
To realise the immensity of his helplessness was so painful, especially at such a young age.
In his sleep, he held her arms and stroked the scars on her arms from her bath, used to smelling the blood of the corpses that lined the streets of the Nether and the living creatures of the land of Kano that clung to the shell and, for the valiant ones, were killed in the Forest of Oblivion by the guards or the guardian spirit that guarded the place, he distinctly sensed that of Talemilia. She was saved by the ingenuity of the boy who had the idea, because of his obvious lack of strength - and therefore unable to break down the door with his weight. He climbed up the whole house and down the roof until he reached the other side of the house, he managed to get into the bathroom and take care of Talemilia who had cut her wrists, letting her blood run into the bath water. Luckily for him, it had happened recently and there were bandages and disinfectant to treat it. A few minutes later, she would be gone.
He would have liked to hide it from his mother, but she was not fooled, she realised it quickly enough although they had gone to see the doctor just in case. Malalalivia didn't even have the strength to blame her, to punish her, to comfort her, to do anything useful, she just threw herself on the floor in tears.
Their daily life had become very grim.
Lelelitio was thinking of getting fired from her job. It might give them some peace in his tumultuous life, but he couldn't afford it, they both relied on him as he brought home the biggest paycheck.
In the end, the problem would not be with him but with Malalalivia's secret.
A few weeks after Talemilia's last consultation, the doctor summoned Malalalivia to tell her the painful news: he would no longer call on her services to relieve him.
- What do you mean by that?
- Business is going badly, my dear Livia," said Elephantis, wiping himself with a handkerchief that was far too small for his huge forehead, "the taxes are getting heavier and heavier as I refuse to be part of his hospital project.
A blatant lie.
The queen's emissaries who had come to see all the doctors in the kingdom to find out the potential of each of them had found deceit in this elephant man and had therefore cut short their proposal. And of course, the inhabitants of the Netherland, whoever they were, paid no taxes - since it was because they were not taxable that they resided here - but that was something only those who were able to keep abreast of the laws of the realm could know. Not poor proles like Lelelitio and Malalalivia.
- But what should I do?" she cried.
- That is not my problem," said the doctor dismissively, "the time I spend with your daughter could bring me much more money.
The mother's mind was completely broken, which left the way open for Elephantis to move closer to her and stroke her with his trunk and whisper to her:
- But anyway, I'm willing to be more lenient with her if you're willing to do me a favour.
- I... I... I can't go any further than what we're already doing.
- Then I won't hold you back," he said, returning to his desk filled with peanut shells that were spread all over it.
She wanted to speak, but the doctor ignored her copiously, and she could only walk away with her head down, ashamed.
Malalalivia ran home, thinking of the humiliation that that fat pig Elephantis had just inflicted on her. Wasn't this twisted man ashamed of using a mother's distress to satisfy his impulses?
When she reached the door of her house, just as she was about to grab the handle, she changed her mind and checked in a puddle of water what she looked like: ugly dark circles under her eyes, her cheeks hollowed out, her smile wiped out, her eyes red, puffy, caused by sadness. She looked more and more like her adopted daughter.
She couldn't afford to go home like this, they couldn't both be in the same state of gloom. At least she had to get her eyes back to normal and also her smile. She then used some ceremonial magic nearby to feign a good mood, the only problem was that Lelelitio would sense that magic had been used. She would simply say that she had sprained her ankle on the way here.
Malalivia then returned to her house, greeted everyone and pretended to be excruciatingly tired so she could take refuge in her room. She searched her room to find out how many vials of fairy dust she had left - she had kept them in her room since Talemilia had tried to swallow them all.
Only two.
Enough to ease her pain for another month only.
The examination of Talemilia's back was important to check that no necrosis was occurring and the fairy dust was used to prevent that, but it was always good to see if the application of the fairy dust had been put on properly or if a more concentrated lotion was needed. If they were from the Upper Town it might have been easier, and even more so if they had access to the Miracle Bath, but only the nobility of the Sanctuary were entitled to it - it was difficult for even the soldiers to be entitled to it, and that was on rare occasions, only the highest ranks of the army could bathe there as much as they wanted.
Perhaps she would end up granting Dr. Niloran's request for the sake of Talemilia? It was inconceivable that she would stoop any lower than she had already done, but what could she do?
A dilemma that would have to be solved as soon as possible since the famine would reach its peak in a few days.
Because of the queen's demands, the ministers "revolted" against her and decided to place an embargo on Sylvania's food, preventing it from circulating freely within the kingdom so that the population would eventually revolt and Queen Audiselia would give in to the wrath of her people.
Unfortunately for them, but especially for the inhabitants of Sylvania from all walks of life - except for the nobles, of course - the queen did not give in, convinced of the validity of the undertaking she was undertaking for the good of the Faerie nation. A tug of war between Sylvania's officials and the Queen ensued, causing an exponential increase in famine in the country. The Upper Villagers had to feed themselves with ration tickets and had to tighten their belts as much as those from the Netherland, and for those from the Netherland, tightening their belts was no longer enough and buying ration tickets was inconceivable for the starving budget - and this only applied to the outcasts from the Netherland, unlike the Upper Villagers who were entitled to free ration tickets.
This situation caused a great dilemma in the Grave family, as the ration tickets were extremely expensive: either they continued to care for Talemilia and all three of them would eventually starve to death, or the fairy could risk dying if her scars were not completely healed. And that, Malalalivia would never accept!
Unable to accept the death of her adopted daughter, she swallowed her pride and went to see Niloran to beg him to continue Talemilia's care, whatever the cost. He agreed to talk to her.
He finally got what he expected, since she did everything she had refused to do until then, and at the end of their coitus, she asked him if he could continue to care for Talemilia.
- I never said I would. I just said that I wanted to talk to you and I told you, I don't see the point of looking after your daughter just for a fuck here and there. There are people in the Nether who have far more money than you Graves. Since the royal family died out, you're not worth a nickel, so if you want to come and relax me, you're always welcome, but unless you've got money, I won't look after her.
- But we don't have enough money to support and look after her! she lamented, we've already sold everything, the best clothes we owned, our furniture, my jewellery, all I have left is the ring my late husband gave me... I even sold my own hair so that we could feed ourselves and you could take care of her, so please be merciful to her. And you can take advantage of me as much as you like!
Disappointed, the doctor shook his head and turned away from her while getting dressed.
- I must say that ever since I saw you, I have always coveted you," he admitted, "but your husband and your status as a servant of the royal family made you such an unattainable person, but thanks to all the tribulations that the country is undergoing at the moment, luck turned in my favour: you lost your husband, your son is a weakling with no ambition, the royal family was decimated and the girl your husband did to your back had her wings forcibly removed, he listed, all these factors made you finally see me and in your utter distress I was able to take advantage of you at my convenience.
Niloran put a sheet over her to hide her nakedness, Malalalivia saw in it a form of kindness on his part, perhaps he had realised that he was capable of showing kindness? No.
- But now that I can make you my thing, I see no point in using you. I have been able to taste an elf though I am ugly inside as well as out, without having to pay for a whore girl from some brothel. I am fulfilled. So, as I told you earlier, if you don't have any money, could you clear the place?
- You are a despicable character," Malalalivia spat at him.
- That's how I was made," he replied with a broad smile.
And as she was leaving, he stopped her to tell her one last thing:
- For your food story, I heard that in an ancient human religion, it was said that the saviour of humans offered his body and blood to feed his people. You could do the same," he laughed.
How humiliating! He had rejected her pleas when he had soiled her with the... practices he had done to her. If she had not already been married, she would have no chance of being married.
She returned home in tears, without even greeting her children, screaming her despair into the flowers of her leaf cushion. Lelelitio hurried to his mother's door and knocked to find out what was going on, she begged him to leave her alone. She begged him to leave her alone. He reluctantly agreed to do so, but hearing her crying like that tore at his heart.
This whole house had become unstable. And that since Avelilinélia's arrival. That was the conclusion Lelelitio had come to.
It was all her fault!
If she hadn't been part of their life and had died with her mother in her burnt-out house, they wouldn't be going through such a misfortune, he thought.
If he wanted everything to be resolved, he had to get rid of her.
So he went into the kitchen, took a knife and burst into the fairy's room, which was pitch black and seemed to be fast asleep. He couldn't tell because he was facing her back. Lelelitio then approached his cousin delicately, gently, with hushed steps, the tip of the blade shining thanks to the streaks of light that were seeping through the curtains of her window. Above her, with a look full of resentment, he put the point of his knife above the girl's neck, ready to bring down his wrath upon her.
Then, looking at her back, he saw Talemilia's scars again, and remembered the words she had spoken when they had managed to reopen the portal to the brigands who had kidnapped her sister: "You... are finally... here... Leleli...".
No! No! He couldn't kill her!
What was he doing?
Had despair dried up his heart to the point that he no longer considered her as someone he cared about?
Was he going to hurt her again when she had lost the most?
Her mother, her place as a princess, her home... and until she lost even her wings. She had always, somehow, kept smiling in the face of adversity, she had even ended up being stronger than him in some ways.
He admired her.
Wondering every day how she could be so cheerful when she was living in filth and poverty while her fellows were feasting happily upstairs, where she should have been.
He dropped the knife to the ground and fell to the floor, weeping at the despicable act he was about to commit.
Sobbing, he let out "Forgive me Avelilinélia... Forgive me mother...".
With her back to Lelelitio, Talemilia was fully awake, her eyes wide open, she had heard the clink of the knife blade echoing through the room and the cries of her cousin. Her face was still as lifeless as ever, only her tear glands acting, letting a trickle of tears run down the bridge of her nose until it reached her other eye and continued on its way.
For those who still doubted it, she still had a heart inside this lethargic body, whose spirit was broken.
She just didn't have the strength to express herself like a normal person.
What a relief it would have been for her to be able to leave this terrifying world... even if it was at Lelelitio's hand.
The hunger in the Nether was growing, the corpses were spilling out into the streets, piles of skeletal-looking bodies, whether of notorious alcoholics or entire families, made the place look like a huge open-air graveyard. And the worst abominations were beginning to be perpetrated by all the races inhabiting this extremely impoverished place.
Since Niloran's rejection, four months had passed, four long months in which the Graves were getting thinner by the day and trying to keep Talemilia alive as best they could. Driven by absolute despair and discouragement, Niloran's words came back into Malalalivia's mind.
She finally thought that perhaps this was the only way to save these poor children.
So, going to the gloomiest place in the Nether, where even the artificially magical light of the sky could not escape from the dark darkness, she left a note to her children as a farewell, saying that she had found a job that would allow them to live decently for a few months, but they would have to keep the meat in a very pragmatic way. She demanded that Lelelitio take Talemilia very seriously no matter what and told them one last time that she loved them.
As written in the letter, a few days later, a box of meat came back to the Grave's and it was Lelelitio who received it. He opened it and saw a pile of meat large enough to last for a few more months if they ate sensibly and rationed.
A bit of cheerfulness came over Lelelitio's face even though he had to resign from his job to take full care of Talemilia, he didn't know what she would be capable of - or unable to do - once left alone. Tasting the good meat brought in, they feasted like the wealthy - on a large, small scale - and so as not to attract the curious, Lelelitio had learned a spell to camouflage the sounds, light and smells coming from their home.
Then one day, as the crate was emptying, during a meal, Talemilia bit into something hard, and Lelelitio, who was still feeding her, removed the hard thing from between her teeth. After cleaning it with water and removing the meat around it, he discovered a ring that looked familiar and after a few moments of remembering where this jewel came from, he opened his eyes wide and dropped the object into the sink and collapsed to the floor, screaming his guts out and stuffing his fingers in his mouth to make himself vomit the meat he had ingested.
But he couldn't.
He screamed at the top of his lungs, agitating like a madman, striking everywhere to break his wrists, hands, fingers and by scratching his body, he broke his nails, the disgust he felt for himself became more and more growing.
Talemilia watched him, amorphous, unable to act, not even understanding his panic attack.
And it was at the end of his strength that he found the knife with which he had tried to murder Talemilia. Regret, disgust, despair... his emotions invaded his mind to the point that he lost all instinct for survival.
To have committed such an abomination could not leave him indifferent. Lelelitio had just lost his mother to his own well-being.
This must stop. I can't take it anymore... I'm sorry mother, but I want to end it...
He placed the point of his weapon to his throat and prepared to commit the irreparable.
Talemilia who could only witness the events, her eyes although open were blind, she saw her environment but was unable to interact with it, as if she was only inhabiting her body as if she was a prisoner of it without being able to free herself and find her emotions.
So why was her heart pounding like that?
What was this lump in her stomach that was born in her body? What was it that gave him that strange feeling of unease when he saw Lelelitio holding his knife to his throat?
And before Lelelitio could do the irreparable, she managed to move and prevent him from killing himself in front of her eyes by grabbing the knife handle with one hand and putting her hand across the direction of the knife.
- Talemilia! What are you doing?" said the elf, surprised at his cousin's action.
Since she hadn't spoken in years, she found it difficult to speak words that would be audible to an untrained ear, but she tried her best to make him understand her.
- Stop...te... Leleli... Don't... do... that...
- But I can't take it anymore, Avelilinélia. I want to end this life of misery.
- Leleli... I'll... help you... we... must... help... each other... I... don't... want... to... lose... the... last... member of... my only... family.
- But I almost...
- I... don't care... Please... leave me... alone...
"You... are finally... here... Leleli..." the elf remembered.
He dropped his knife and let his arms fall to his sides, his eyes lifeless.
With that same look, Talemilia withdrew the blade from his hand and wrapped her arms around his body and comforted him just by being present, sharing what little warmth she could synthesize within herself. Lelelitio could feel Talemilia's breath coming from her nostrils and the microscopic spiracles that dotted her body. Feeling her so alive gave him an inappropriate sense of well-being, but he couldn't help but feel it. Having her against him was the only thing he had left.
What a hard life they had.