"W-what happened?!", Livina finally dared to ask after we had run for a few minutes.
In between the sun had set which made seeing anything, especially in combination with the rain, hard.
I knew she had an idea. Afterall she couldn't have not seen the fire.
"The human church attacked our village. They are all dead.", I grunted through my teeth, trying not to cry. I needed to be strong. For her.
"What the hell are you talking about?!", she squealed. Deep down she knew this probably all along but only when I said it, it seemed to have become reality for her.
"They are dead. We are alive. We need to run if we want to survive."
At first she didn't say anything. Then she just started to sob. I also wanted to cry but I didn't allow myself. At least one of us needed to stay rational. We ran and we ran but we didn't speak another word until we arrived at my goal.
"W-where are we?", Livinia asked confusedly.
"At the treehouse."
"The t-treehouse we have m-made a year ago? Isn't that too c-close? Too d-dangerous?! What i-if they are patrolling the a-area or something Joshua?!", Livina voiced her honest and realistic concern.
"We need to return to the village.", I gave her my reason.
"W-what?! W-Why?!"
Messaging my temples I answered: "Look at us. There isn't a single place we could live together for god knows how long. We are demon and human.
However, in the mayor's hut there's an artifact that can disguise us. He always used it when he was trading with different villages.
You decide: Either we get that artifact or we need to spilt."
Angrily Livina clenched her fists. In her rage she punched a tree so hard her knuckles stared to bleed.
"Stop it!", I screamed, holding her back.
"W-Why is this happening to u-us?! W-Why?!", she shouted out in the empty forest.
"Haha!", I chuckled melancholic, "That's something I would like to know as well."
For us, that grew up with humans and demons acting hand and hand, the war between the human and demon empire seemed simply idiotic.
It made no sense.
Grabbing her shoulder I softly whispered:
"Come. Let us sleep."
<========~*~========>
Nightmares filled my dreams. Again and again the scene where my entire family got cut down in nothing but a single sword draw replayed in front of my mind. It felt like it was burnt straight onto my soul.
I knew. I would never forget this scene. Never.
Looking into the eyes of Lavinia I realised that she slept as little as I did. Dark circles have formed under her eyes.
Softly I kissed her forehead and gently mumbled:
"We've got this."
Then I pressed her against me. Out of the blue she started to sob again. She seemed to feel the same way I did. Forgetting was impossible.
A few minutes we stayed like this before Livinia gathered herself and said:
"We need to go."
One after another we climbed down the treehouse and started to walk.
"Maybe I should scout first before you come after me. They could have set up a guard."
Agreeing Livina uttered: "Good idea. They probably wouldn't kill a human without hesitation."
We spoke a lot about our future plans. Both of us new that we would lose our lives to carelessness.
At the edge of the town border I asked Livinia to wait. To be true aside from myself thinking it was safer I also didn't want her to see our burnt homes and the corpses. I didn't want her to lose her smile.
Passing the border I spotted flys and insects that had gathered around corpses. Slowly they were degraded until they'd no longer be.
Staring at the gruesome stimulated my memories.
"Argh!", I puked into a bush.
I just wanted to get away from here as fast as possible but I couldn't leave untiI I got the artifact.
Quickly, I rushed over to the house I assumed was the old mayor's. In an instant my hands were soot black but I needed to dig through the burnt wood if I wanted to find the artict.
After a minute or two I finally found a silver amulet.
Once it shone brightly but now it just looked dirty.
"Let's get away.", I muttered to myself when I suddenly heard a scream.
'Livinia.'
In this moment just one thought rushed through my mind.
'Please, not again!'
Gathering all my strength I started to run.
'I shouldn't have left her alone! You idiot!'
Leafs cut my arms as I rushed through bushes without caring about any wounds I would inflict on myself.
There I saw her.
Livinia had her back pressed against a tree as golden rops constrained her movement. I could see the fear in her eyes.
In front of her stood a young brown haired man in the white coat of the church, 20 at most, with a broadsword in his hands that hovered only inches/centimeters above Livinia's head.
Looking around I searched for any opportunity, for any way to defend Livinia. Spotting a strong looking stick that seemed to have broken off in the storm yesterday, I knew this was the best I could get. This was the only chance I had.
Moving closer from behind I tried to stay as silent as possible before I gathered any power I had left to strike him down.
'I got him.', I thought to myself as the stick was only inches/ centimeters above his head when my attack was seemingly stopped by an invisible barrier. My stick broke down without having done any damage.
Panicking the soldier turned around making me see his face full of fear.
Suddenly I didn't know what to do anymore.