"Vesha?" Adyr called out, his voice tight, lips twitching slightly.
"Huh?" Vesha flinched, snapping out of her distant thoughts. She looked at him with surprise, then smiled warmly. "You're awake?"
It genuinely caught her off guard to see him up at this hour. Until now, he had only stirred briefly at night and slept through all day.
"Yeah," Adyr replied, his eyes shifting to the pot, where sothing strange bubbled and fud. "What are you cooking?"
The question seed to pull her back to reality. "Ah, this..." She glanced at the concoction, her voice dipping into guilt. "The raven looked weak and hungry, so I wanted to make it sothing to eat."
She hesitated, then added, "I think I overestimated my cooking skills. It turned into... sothing like poison, didn't it?" She looked genuinely troubled.
As a noble girl, she had never cooked before. She had only watched Adyr do it a few tis and occasionally helped, which gave her the false confidence that she could manage it on her own. The result, however, was an absolute disaster.
Girl, it's not sothing like poison. It is poison, Adyr thought, faintly amused.
''I don't think it can eat a cooked al. It only feeds on the life force of fresh at. '' Adyr explained.
"Is that so?" Vesha replied with a pout, though she looked sowhat relieved. But then, as the thought of what the creature might actually need to eat crossed her mind, her expression shifted. The color drained from her face.
"Can it feed on wild animals, by any chance?"
"I don't know," Adyr said, thinking aloud. "But it's possible. They carry life energy too."
Vesha looked visibly relieved, and when Adyr ntioned they could start moving toward her kingdom, her mood shifted instantly. Energy returned to her voice and movents—she hadn't been ho in a long ti, and the thought of returning lit a spark in her.
While Adyr gathered their supplies and found the horses to hitch to the carriage, Vesha helped him. In a short ti, everything was ready, and they prepared to depart.
According to Vesha, the kingdom was about a journey away, of about half a day. Considering Adyr's limited in-ga ti, it would take him two sessions to reach it. He'd need to find a safe spot to camp once they reached the halfway point.
With that in mind, they wasted no ti and set off.
Not too fast, not too slow, the carriage moved steadily along the dirt road. On either side stretched endless forests, dotted with the occasional glimr of small lakes. Birds flew overhead, chirping as if accompanying their journey.
As Adyr watched a pair of squirrel-like creatures nesting in a tree—clearly in the middle of their mating season—he noticed a figure stumbling across the road ahead.
As the figure drew closer, its details sharpened. It was small, even shorter than Vesha. The bloodstains on its torn, ragged clothes grew more visible with each step. The slight point to his ears marked him unmistakably as one of Vesha's kind.
"He's a villager!" Vesha called out as the boy ca into focus. She recognized him as soone from one of the nearby settlents.
She turned to Adyr, panic and concern in her eyes, but she didn't need to say a word. The carriage had already begun to slow. As it ca to a stop, she jumped down and ran toward the boy.
"Hey, are you alright? What happened to you?" She asked urgently, but the boy looked exhausted beyond words. His legs gave out, and he collapsed.
"He's been walking a long ti without water," Adyr said, approaching with a flask in hand.
That's not his blood, he thought as he knelt beside the boy. It belongs to the one who tried to protect him. Gave their last breath so the child could escape.
In Adyr's mind, the scene played out with stark clarity—the panic in the boy's eyes, the terror of being hunted, and the dying figure who had shielded him until the end.
After giving the boy a few sips from his flask, Adyr asked, "Kid, what's your na?"
The water seed to bring him back slightly. "I-I'm Jorvan," the boy said with effort, tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke.
Gripping Vesha's outstretched arm tightly, he pleaded, "Help... please help my father. They will... they will..."
He couldn't finish. The words dissolved into sobs.
"It's okay. Calm down," Vesha said gently, trying to steady him. "Tell properly—where is your father?"
Between choked breaths, the boy managed, "In the village... wolves... a lot of wolves... help my fa...ther."
And with that final strain, overwheld by exhaustion and fear, Jorvan lost consciousness and collapsed.
As Vesha cradled the boy's head in her arms, she looked up at Adyr, eyes heavy with unspoken worry.
"His father is already dead," Adyr said quietly, exhaling.
Vesha's lips trembled at the words. She didn't ask how he knew.
"Still..." she whispered, looking down at the boy. "He said his village was attacked by a wolf pack."
Adyr paused for a mont, then asked, "Is that normal around here?"
Vesha shook her head slowly.
"Could it be the work of another Spark?" He asked, curiosity sharpening in his tone.
They had spent hours talking during quiet monts, and much of what Adyr had learned about this world ca from her, especially about Sparks.
Sparks could appear anywhere, in countless forms. So were harmless curiosities, but others, like the Dawn Raven or the rank 4 Spark that had devastated her kingdom, were extrely dangerous.
That was why Vesha had entered the cave in the first place. She had heard of missing villagers from nearby settlents and suspected a Spark was behind it. Her goal was to find the source before more lives were lost.
Of course, facing a Spark as an ordinary person was suicidal. She had lost six guards and nearly her own life in the attempt. But there had been no other option. The few remaining practitioners in the kingdom were focused on preparing for the rank 4 Spark's next attack and had no choice but to ignore the smaller threats.
Adyr silently lifted the boy's small body into his arms. "Let's go," he said.
Vesha looked at him, eyes filled with hope, about to ask where—but he answered before she could speak.
"But prepare yourself. There may be no one left to save."
Reviews
All reviews (0)