บท 56: Echo's Of The Past
The man was more of a boy, as all Demi-Human's were. Still, he looked handsome and suave despite that and anyone could tell that, if he lived long enough, he would be a natural born lady killer.
His hair was the same emerald green as Altair's eyes and his eyes were the same silver as Altair's hair. He had pointed ears and perfect, flawless skin like Altair. He was a rare Demi-Human, just like Altair, who had little to no in-human characteristics after he emerged. His eyes always seemed to be filled with a warm smile when no Human's were around. Even this far into Human territory his eyes still seemed to smile at them despite the fact that he just reprimanded Krinn.
He was also Altair's savior and team leader, Maxwell.
If Altair was controlling her body right now she would have clung to him and cried her heart out. She wasn't, of course, so all she could to was stare at him through her bodies eyes and cry in her heart that ached so hard she wished she could cut it out just to make her sorrow stop.
His words were words that she remembered clearly. The banter between Krinn, Oaras, and Maxwell was stuck in her mind since that day. Even as her gaze grew distant and unfocused while they moved about their little camp in their own activities, Altair could still remember exactly what would happen next and who would say what.
She knew Oaras would slightly overcook their meal that morning. She knew that Krinn would compare the cooking to Altair and make a jab about how Altair might have been able to done better that day. She knew that Oaras would throw the finished thigh she was eating at him in retaliation, which he would catch and grin at her with a laugh. She knew that Maxwell would shake his head wryly at their little scuffle before telling them to finish getting ready for tonight's mission.
She knew that Oaras would then go on to start fletching her arrows and string up her bow for the night while Krinn would go off and do a last check on their escape route. Maxwell would then invite her to take a look at the town before night so that she could get a general idea of the path they would take. She also remembered that she wouldn't really be listening at that time as her focus was more on how she would confess her feelings to Maxwell once the mission was done.
Then night would come and their mission would start in earnest.
However, Altair would never get the chance to confess her feelings to Maxwell.
She watched through the eyes of her body as everything played out exactly as she remembered it. Nothing was different from their words or actions in the afternoon. Everything lined up perfectly with how she remembered it. She didn't even notice any new details or minor discrepancies from what had happened that day. It was exactly like she was reliving it with them, one last time.
If there was anything that was different, she would say it was the food. It didn't taste nostalgic as she thought it would. Instead, it tasted bland and unpalatable. Frankly, the food she had remembered fondly as being delicious and the best tasting she had ever had, just didn't stand a chance in the face of the food she had at the mansion.
But Altair couldn't keep her mind on it for long. Because, when she turned to Maxwell who just complimented Oaras' cooking for the nth time, her only thoughts were of how she would react later when he died in her arms tonight.
She wasn't sure if her heart could take watching him die a second time. It would happen in the exact same way as before, too, as she was powerless to stop it. Despite being far more skilled at Magic and battle than she had been at that time, since she wasn't in control of her body, she would be forced to watch it all happen again. Her inexperience and mistakes had caused it all to happen.
'Why are you showing me this?' She asked to anyone who would hear her. 'What's the point of torturing me?'
Soon enough, Maxwell invited her along to look at the town from the forest's edge and her body followed him. They slinked through the dense trees and came up to the edge of the forest. Then, they climbed up a tree and hid amongst the branches at the top to look down at the town that wasn't far away.
The town itself wasn't very large in the grand scheme of things for the Rebanon Kingdom. However, in terms of border towns and fortress towns it was quite large. It had an estimated population of 1500 people, not including guards or mercenaries. It was a town that didn't have walls despite being a fortress town. Still, the fortress that was part of the town which caused it to be a fortress town loomed over all of the scattered homes and businesses like a mountain, casting its shadow down upon them in the afternoon.
Altair's body only gave her a single glance at the town before it turned its attention to Maxwell beside her. Still, even with just a glance, Altair was able to tell something was wrong. She was far more skilled than she was when she was actually doing the mission that she was watching. With her heightened abilities and skills she could tell that there were too many people walking around in town. Normally, at this time of day, they should have been eating for lunch or doing various tasks related with their work. However, there were dozens of them walking around town during the scant few seconds that Altair could see them. She had even noticed that several of them appeared to be highly alert and looking around with hawk-like eyes.
She felt ashamed that she hadn't noticed that at the time. Instead, her focus was completely on Maxwell. She frowned at her childish and unprofessional attitude that she had had during an infiltration mission in the middle of Human territory.
Maxwell didn't seem to notice her gaze as he stared intently down at the town. He had a frown on his face as his expression turned unusually seriously. He cautiously asked, "Isn't there too many people out there? Something isn't right."
Altair heard herself respond in a cheery tone, "I don't think so. There could be some kind of festival right now for all we know. None of us are from around this area in the kingdom so they might have something going on."
Altair felt like someone stabbed her in the heart as she saw Maxwell nod his head in agreement. That was a stupid excuse that she had given him back then. It also completely undermined their job and put their lives in danger. If she had actually been paying attention back then and wasn't so focused on staring her eyes out at Maxwell then perhaps they could have changed their fate that day.
After Maxwell spent a suitable amount of time pointing out various parts of the town to Altair, he decided it was time to head back to camp. Despite reliving the day as she had done before Altair couldn't actually understand most of what he said. It was like it was being told to her while her head was submerged in water. She couldn't make out any of the words he was saying. It was a surreal experience.
However, her gaze never left Maxwell's face from the side. Altair's heart hurt just seeing him again. He was a reminder of her failure and her lost love. It was like staring at a world of bright possibilities that she knew would crumble soon. After a while, she wanted to desperately turn away from him or to cover her eyes.
She felt like she didn't deserve to even be in his presence.
They returned to their secluded camp and set about taking a short rest before nightfall. Krinn was on watch as he had slept the longest the night before.
Darkness took Altair's vision as her body laid down on the cold and hard ground. She was using her cloak as a bed again. It was extremely uncomfortable compared to what she was now used to. She also knew that she hadn't slept a wink on that day despite acting like she had rested. It was an amateur move. She had eventually grown to sleep whenever possible but she was still too young and inexperienced to do that on that day.
Night fell and Altair rose from her cloak at the same time that Maxwell did. It was a little nostalgic to be able to see in complete darkness without any light source. Everything was tinged with a hint of grey but at least they could move around undetected if they were quiet in the dark. It was a massive advantage for the Demi-Humans and the reason why the Humans were very wary to chase them into the forests after a battle.
Altair watched as her body stared at Maxwell as she strapped on his swordbelt. He had two shortswords, his signature fighting style, on them. He also had six daggers placed in easy to remove pockets on his leather vest.
Altair eventually stole that idea from him. It came in handy for her dozens of times as she could pull a dagger from her vest and act like it was her main weapon, only to smash a Human's face in with a shadow staff or shadow hammer in the next moment while they were distracted. They could also be used as projectiles which wouldn't cost Mana. They were generally an invaluable addition to her arsenal.
Maxwell's gaze caught Altair's stare and he smiled warmly at her, "No need to be nervous. Just treat this as any mission you've taken so far and we'll be fine." He had misunderstood her stare toward him.
Altair smiled in her mind toward this as she knew that her face was probably burning up in the memory. And as she thought that, her face did indeed feel a little hot. However, it felt more like embarrassment than the fondness she felt back then.
Still, it was a warm feeling to Altair. Maxwell was always more caring towards his friends, especially the newer Demi-Human's of the coalition. He was a great teacher and treated everyone fairly. He would push them hard during training and lessons but not too hard. He always made sure that everyone had gotten enough to eat before he would eat. He was just a great person that Altair admired greatly.
And despite all of that, the favors, training, and time he spent fostering and giving other Demi-Humans the best he could to get them ready to survive longer, she had still failed him.
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Harqoua
Harqoua I really hope I have the skill to do this part of the story justice. Otherwise I'll probably look back at myself in the future and fling as many insults as I can imagine at myself.
That said, huh, 100k words and it's this mini-arc about an important part of Altair's life...
I really didn't plan for this it just sorta happened...
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