... A ray of light fell on Ili's face, waking her up. She slowly opened her eyes, gazing ahead. The fire was still lit, and the snowstorm had stopped. The sun rays were falling on the snow, leaving a warm, yellow light on it. It took a while... Ili's mind was all over the place, as her body was numb... but she soon regained her senses. Stretching her legs, Ili got on her feet, shaking the snow off herself. Looking to her left, she finally saw the person more clearly. The body was that of a boy, not much older than her. His skin was pale, and his body cold. He was still unconscious, but his breathing seemed to have returned to normal. The boy was dressed in thin, broken clothes made of wool. He was unarmed, a few frozen wounds present on his body.
Ili got closer to him and got on her knees, ready to tend to his wounds, but felt a sharp scratch on her forehead. Touching the wound with her fingers, she saw faint traces of blood. Ili raised her head to see what caused the scratch, but her heart almost skipped a beat as she did so.
A detail she somehow didn't notice earlier...
"A kalzraak... (1)" Ili uttered, stopping in place due to the shock.
From the top of the boy's head, a sharp, demon-like horn was present. There were two, actually, but it seemed that the left one was severed, leaving only the stump to be seen. The horn was a palm's length, slender, with a sharp curve in the middle, leaning the last half a bit towards the center. It seemed to be made out of bone, having a dark grey to black color and a sharp texture.
Ili stood a few seconds in place, looking at the boy and trying to process the whole situation. She had no idea what to do...
Ili took a few deep breaths and calmed herself. Thinking more clearly, she decided to tie the boy to the tree. Careful not to hurt him, but also to keep him in place, she rolled the rope around him and the tree a few times before making a knot on the opposite side of the tree. With him now in place, Ili went back to the boy. She was still keeping her guard up, but the fact that he was now tied up made her a bit calmer. She got on her knees again, this time careful not to get hurt on his horn again, and she began healing his wounds.
Thankfully, the wounds weren't too severe, and they soon closed completely thanks to Ili's healing magic. Once she was done, Ili took a small blanket from her pouch and put it over his body, to keep him warm. At last, she touched his forehead, to check for a cold.
"Any second now..." Ili said, looking at him with hopeful eyes.
After standing and staring at him for a few minutes, the situation started to feel a bit awkward. Letting herself be beaten by the circumstances, Ili let her head fall down in the snow, letting out a deep sigh.
"Hey, you good?" Ili asked, raising her head back at the boy but getting no response. "Should have figured," she sighed, accepting that he wasn't going to wake up for a while.
The girl got back up on her feet, tired of standing aimlessly. Looking around, she saw the dead wolves. Their bodies were covered in snow, but the blood was still somewhat fresh, meaning that she wasn't passed out for too long. Taking a few branches from the ground, she arranged them around the fire, making it a little better suited for cooking the rabbit she had caught before, skinning it and putting it on the fire. As she moved it around with a stick to get it to cook better, Ili looked aimlessly into the fire with a dreamy expression.
"Hmm, I wonder what Kaeldor's doing..." she thought out loud, wondering whether he was still waiting or if he started searching for her.
She had no idea how long she had been passed out, and the snowstorm had covered all her footprints, making it nearly impossible for Kaeldor to find her soon, even if he was searching for her. Ili turned her head to the left, looking at the ravine and then back to the boy. The width of the ravine was already beyond jump length, but even so, the other side was almost a tree higher than the place they were standing now, making climbing back with the kalzraak boy an unachievable task. Ili sighed.
"I guess I'll have to find another way then, Ili said, disappointed. Well, I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it..."
Ili looked back at the boy, with a slight chuckle.
"If you try to eat me after all of this, we're going to have a big problem!" she said, more to cheer herself up, knowing that he couldn't hear a word she was saying.
She turned her head around, checking the rabbit again. But as she turned back around, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Who are you?" the boy asked in a whisper, slightly opening his eyes. Ili quickly turned her head back around, looking at him. The boy was looking towards the ground, not even trying to free himself.
"Are you going to kill me?" the boy asked calmly, glancing at the snow.
Ili looked at her right hand, realizing that she had instinctively grabbed the handle of her sword. She quickly took her hands away from the sword, raising them in front of her.
"No, of course not! I saved you! Why would I try to kill you now?" She took her sword out of its sheath and placed it in the snow, out of her immediate reach. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm only trying to help!" she said in a soothing tone, trying not to sound threatening.
"Why?" the boy asked, in the same calm and expressionless tone.
Ili had no idea how to respond to that question.
"No! It wouldn't be right to kill you. You did nothing wrong..." she responded in a calm tone, trying to convince herself too.
"Is that so..." the boy spoke, his tone unchanged. "I am sure that you saw..."
"No!" Ili quickly said, not letting him finish his sentence. "That is no reason to kill somebody! Just because you're a kalzraak, it doesn't mean that..."
"Then why did you tie me up?!" the boy asked, a little irritated, interrupting Ili this time.
The girl's face dropped, knowing that he had a point.
"Well, you're still a kalzraak..." she said, with an apologetic smile on her face.
"Right..." The boy stood silent, before finally looking at her for the first time. Ili was back at the fire, turning the rabbit to the other side with the stick, not looking at him anymore.
"So, what's your name?" the boy finally asked, breaking the silence.
"I'm Ililith, but most people call me Ili, because it's shorter and easier to say!" she responded without turning around, but in a somewhat happier tone. "You?"
"I don't really have a name," the boy responded in a quiet tone, as he turned his eyes back to the ground.
"Oh, so you're just like my master then!" Ili said in a casual tone, one that the boy didn't expect to hear. "Well, he goes by whatever everyone calls him, but that won't really work out for you. In that case... I guess I'll just have to find a name to call you!" she finished in a joyful and excited tone, then turned her head to look at him.
"Huh? You think that you can give me a name, just like that? You think I'm some kind of pet or what?" the boy asked, his tone getting a bit aggressive.
"Well, it would be awkward for me to call you 'kalzraak boy', wouldn't it?" Ili smiled. "Hmm... Let's see..."
"Oi! I didn't give you permission to name me! I'm not some kind of..!"
"Hmm... How about Unukoru?" Ili asked, looking towards the sky with a questioning expression. "Since you only have one horn and..."
"No!" the boy directly opposed. "That sounds stupid!"
"Then... How about Horen?"
"Definitely not!"
"Ohoru?"
"Just stop making up words!" the boy yelled, losing his patience.
"I'm not good at making names, alright?!" Ili yelled back, trying to defend herself.
"If anybody is going to give me a name, that's going to be me!" the boy looked at her, trying to put on a prideful expression. "Azarith!" he said, confidently.
Ili looked at him for a bit, before starting to laugh.
"And you're calling my names stupid?"
"Shut up!" the boy yelled, embarrassed. "It's not like your names were any better!"
Ili finally stopped laughing, wiping away a few tears of laughter from her eyes. "Fair enough..."
She smiled warmly, calming down and stopping her teasing. "Hmm... Hey, what about Zephyr (2)?"
"I told you to stop making up stupid..! The boy's expression changed, raising a brow in thought. "You know what? That actually doesn't sound that bad!"
Ili's face brightened.
"Alright, then Zephyr it is!" she said with a smile. "Woo, new name! So... how did you get here, Zephyr?"
"You're quite nosy, aren't you?"
"Well, what can I say? I guess I am," Ili looked at his expression, which made it clear that he didn't want to speak about it. "But I won't force you to talk about it if you don't want to..."
"Alright, thanks."
The boy stood silent for a few moments, before looking back up at her.
"So, those wolves... You killed them?"
"Well, yeah... But barely..."
Ili instinctively put her hand on her back, touching her wounds, which stung her a bit.
"Why don't you heal them?" Zephyr asked after a bit of time. "I know you can use healing magic, because you've used it on me too. So, why not just heal your own wounds too?"
"Well, I suppose they didn't bother me too much until now. But I guess I could..." Ili looked at a few of her wounds, a somewhat unwilling expression on her face.
She hesitated a bit, but in the end, she let out a sigh and put her hand on her back, beginning to heal the three bigger slashes she suffered, her hand emanating a slight dark-green glow. She clenched her teeth a bit in pain and discomfort, but she soon finished.
Although the healing magic is usually harmless, it still hurts the patient when it's used, as it forces the wounds to close way quicker than they should, causing a feeling comparable to being pricked with a needle and slightly burned at the same time. It doesn't hurt the patient if it's unconscious, of course, but if it isn't, then the bigger the wound, the more it hurts.
After a few moments of silence, the boy talked again.
"Sooo... We're good now, right? Why don't you untie me?"
Ili smiled sweetly as she took the cooked rabbit from the fire and looked at him.
"Nope, not gonna happen!" she said in a friendly tone. "You might seem all nice now, but who knows what you'll do when I untie you?"
"Eh, come on!" Zephyr complained. "I'm clearly in no shape to fight you! Just unt..."
Ili stuck a piece of rabbit meat in his mouth.
"No, I won't untie you! At least, not yet. Just enjoy the food now, alright?" she smiled sweetly.
"Twagh whu!"
"Right, sorry about that! Ili said with a slight chuckle, taking the piece of meat from Zephyr's mouth.
"I said 'thank you'..." the boy responded, looking back down at the snow. "Can you at least untie one of my hands to be able to at least hold the food?"
"Fine..." Ili sighed. "Are you left-handed or right-handed?"
"Oh, I'm left-handed." the boy responded, not knowing the purpose of the question.
Ili smiled, looking in his eyes as she freed his right arm. Before he could complain, she gave him the piece of meat, holding it by the bone. Zephyr hesitated for a bit, but in the end, he took the meat in his hand and took a bite out of it.
"Thanks... It's good..." the boy said, gazing at the piece of meat, almost surprised that someone would give him food.
It was starting to get dark outside, as the glow of the fire was becoming more visible with each passing second. The sky was clear, but the temperature was lowering greatly. Zephyr was still tied up to the tree, but Ili had covered him in the blanket to keep him warm during the night. She was standing a bit closer to the fire in the snow, meditating with her eyes closed, breathing in a specific pattern.
"What are you doing?" Zephyr asked, intrigued by her behavior.
"Nothing much." Ili was keeping her eyes closed and breathing in the same way, calmly. "My master taught me how to raise my body's temperature through a specific breathing pattern, even if just slightly. I'm not that good at it though, but it's at least better than nothing, I guess..."
"I see, Zephyr said and chuckled slightly. By the way, who is your master? I've heard you mention him before, but you never told me who he is."
"Oh, he is known as the Dark Angel." Ili responded casually.
Zephyr laughed a bit.
"For real now. Who is your master?" he asked again. But he started to doubt himself, as he saw Ili looking confused at him, seeming perfectly serious. "You have to be joking..."
Zephyr's face dropped, as he looked at Ili with a more worried look. His tone became more stuttered as he talked.
"And... Where is he now? He isn't here, right?" he started looking around, seeming to panic a bit.
"No, he's not. My master is away... somewhere..." Ili looked at him, a little confused by his behaviour. "What's wrong? Why are you so tense?"
"N... Nothing..." the boy replied, letting out a sigh of relief. "Just how did those wolves even hurt you? I would have thought that the Dark Angel's pupil wouldn't have a problem against a small pack of wolves!"
Ili was visibly annoyed by his comment.
"You said something?" she asked, clenching her fist in a somewhat threatening way. "And don't forget, if it weren't for me, you would be dead. I thought you kalzraaks were supposed to be strong!" she grinned, teasingly.
"Heh, I suppose that's true. But, in my defence, you haven't seen me fight yet, so don't assume things!"
"Same goes for you!" Ili replied, keeping a playful smile.
The night came, as the cold wind was heard blowing through the leaves. The boreal lights were painting the atmosphere in a light green and yellow color, through which the stars were shining brightly. Peace lay down upon the snow, as the two of them fell asleep, Zephyr still tied to the tree, and Ili in the same meditating position, right next to the fire.
The air remained as cold as before, but didn't get any colder...
Footnotes:
1 - Pronounced "kal-zrak", they are a species of humans with horns. There are two types of kalzraak, one called "axialus", with horns resembling those of animals, and "dexus", with horns resembling those of demons. The second ones are known and feared by the humans, a common belief being that they kill and feast on human prey. As many other species, they are all referred to as "demons that speak" or "demons in the shape of humans".
2 - A combination between the old-ephreemian words "zephos" and "ehyr", where "zephos" refers to a mythical creature in the shape of a giant wolf, and "ephyr" refers to a creature which usually has horns. The boy didn't know old ephreemian, so that wasn't really something he noticed. Ili knew that he had no clue, but still wanted to make a name which somewhat resembled the person she gave it to, and still sounded somewhat good.