They were heading toward us quickly.
Some of their feathers fell off from their speed.
The wind from their wings made me feel as if my soul would fly away.
The sound of wings like lightning.
Flit collapsed to the ground in fear.
She knelt like someone awaiting death.
Tears fell slowly.
The slowness… everything was happening before me in slow motion.
Even though I was sure they were fast.
Is this how the final moments of the dead feel… slow?
I felt that all I could do was watch in silence.
And think about my last moments.
This is the end of me.
Grandpa…
I saw my grandpa for a moment.
Is this what they call watching your life flash before your eyes?
I was about to close my eyes, accepting it.
But I remembered her… I remembered the rose.
I remembered the rose, the oasis, the beauty.
I cannot die, not now.
Run… run… just run.
Survive, that's all you have to do.
Voices I hear in my head.
I can move from my spot.
But Flit… doesn't matter.
Your life, survive, you are the one who wants to see beauty.
Right, that's right.
I turned my back and was about to run away.
"Faril, life is beautiful in its own way."
What is that voice? That… that's my grandpa's voice!
"Faril, one's life is beautiful, and all lives are part of a single life, and it is beautiful."
Why am I hearing this now?
I turned my head to see Flit still kneeling.
The voices repeated in my head.
"Leave her and run."
"Life is beautiful."
It kept repeating, and I didn't know whom to listen to.
Suddenly, I heard a third voice.
"Because I don't live for her."
That was Valex's voice.
I remembered these words; they were when we were discussing the plan that night.
While we were discussing, I asked him why he cared about Flit even though she seemed useless.
He looked at her sleeping body, then at me, and said:
"No, she's not useless. She's the most important thing to me."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you remember when I told you life is beautiful?
Well, I was lying. I hated my life; I was a failure in the old world, but now
I have someone who believes in me. She really matters to me because I don't live for her."
After remembering these words, suddenly, I found myself above Flit, lying on the ground.
We had both thrown ourselves to the ground to avoid their attack.
How and when? I don't remember, and it doesn't matter now.
I had already chosen to save this "useless" one.
I brought my mouth close to Flit's ear.
"Don't move," I said quietly.
She looked at me; her gaze was different.
She slowly looked up to see where the birds had gone.
The sounds of wings above us were still there.
They were circling, searching for us.
We were trapped; one move and the birds would pounce on us.
All of this was my fault. Flit was right—the plan was bad.
Damn, I didn't know there would be more than one Kair in the nest.
I tried to control my breathing; it was hard.
I didn't know what to do.
Suddenly, I saw a Valiz creature heading toward us.
Damn, it will reveal our location.
I had to find a solution quickly.
And before I could think…
One of the birds suddenly attacked the Valiz.
We didn't get hit, but we were thrown away by the force of the collision with the ground.
I think we moved about two meters away from the tree.
Flit was about 3 meters away.
The impact was strong; I got dizzy.
But a single plan came to mind.
I got up from the ground and looked at Flit, who was lying on the ground as I had told her before, and shouted:
"Stay like this and don't move!!"
And I started running at full speed.
Heading toward the path Valex had taken.
Running while hearing the sounds of the birds flying toward me.
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Next chapter: Monster Fight.