บท 41: Chapter 41: Over
The small army cheered for their victory. Their battle cries danced with the raindrops as their feet stepped on every puddle on the ground. The gray smoke that had been covering the sky was no more, and the sun also agreed to their winning.
"We did it!" One of them yelled as he raised his hand, followed by others. Their smiles were reflecting at the clouds above as their joy was reflecting at those. They couldn't help but celebrate being the winners, and of course, being alive.
Dalary sighed deeply as she stared at the clear sky above, the sunlight hit her face, but it never hurt her. The sapling on top of her head, as well as everyone, was withering due to the unhealthy environment.
They knew that once they will stay too much in the burning town, their body will slowly be broken, but their adrenaline fought off their weakness.
"I'm glad that was done!" Dalary said, sitting on the ground, somehow in a weird and tired way. Her sister noticed this behavior so she continued to stare at her.
"Cause for some reason, I'm…" She added with her unsupportive voice. Her eyes started to get heavy as the ground was pulling her back. She tried to resist, but her whole body gives up. "so… tired…"
At last, she couldn't help but let herself drop. It was like she was a dead body, but was not. Pholly's jaw dropped and her eyes widened, then immediately came rushing towards her.
"Sister!!" She yelled as she raised her upper body with gentle support. Her eyes showed concern over her. Despite their arguments before, she couldn't help but be worried. The others heard the shout and approached them to help.
"It looks like she used too much energy." One said as he stared at the pale face of Dalary. Talking to the elemental spirits was no easy task, especially to a young girl like her and not to mention her lack of experience in using the ability of the race.
"Let's take her to the Elder!" Her sister said and they all agreed, with men carrying her to the evacuation area with care.
No one still had a clue about what was happening to Dalary. Her unexpected actions earlier were still stuck in their minds. Once she will wake up from her sleep, she might not be the same girl they knew.
***
The smirk on his face couldn't be able to remove and the laughter that echoed in the middle of the woods couldn't stop. His heart was pounding too much and his breathing started to become abnormal. He already turned into a psychopath earlier, but he was now on a whole new level.
Then, he squatted in his position, ready to sprint towards his victims like a tiger, but the others weren't standing there unprepared. Their very own weapons, no matter how weak or strong, were raised on defense.
All of a sudden, he disappeared into thin air, couldn't be seen, no more. The two panicked as they turned their heads in every direction until they felt a presence behind their backs, a presence of death and darkness.
"I want to kill you so badly!" A whisper came into Meria's ears, which sent chills down into her spines. She recognized that it was from Kairos, and she wasn't happy to know it at all.
Her eyes widened and her heart started to beat faster. She saw a glimpse of the daminon's eyes, filled with horror and threat, desperate to kill her. Plus, his voice really belonged to death himself.
He raised his rapier in the air, ready to slay her by cutting off her head, a perfect way to execute who's at fault.
During their first meetings, he stayed calm and made a good impression of himself, but when it comes to people that triggered his past, he wouldn't hesitate to awaken his killer side.
As he was about to fulfill his mission, another sword stopped him, blocking the route towards her neck. For the first time in a while, the joy in his eyes disappeared and was now replaced with frustration. In front of him was Cainne, tightening the grasp of his weapon.
"You have to go through me first!" He yelled, his eyes were fierce and courageous, shining like true gold in the middle of the dark forest. This made Kairos more irritated. He already forgot about their mission.
"Shut up, you annoying brat!" He fought back, stepping forward to destroy his opponent's defense. Now that he was in a bad mood, he was more likely to kill anyone without hesitation.
Cainne might be a knight once, but the strength of the man in front of him was not to be underestimated either. No matter how he tried to dig up into his memory, he couldn't be able to remember him in the past.
"Fine! If you wanted to die with her, then die with–"
Kairos' yell was left unfinished as a sudden figure approached their fight at an incredible speed. He immediately lost consciousness as he felt an intense pain coming from his neck as it snapped him into sleep.
Then, Tasan revealed in front of them, still holding his red sheathed katana in his hands. No one needs to see his face since his whole presence gave no expression of his emotions at all. And in his arms was the unconscious daminon that was once crazy.
"That's enough." He said in his deep voice. Although he couldn't be able to fight while both of his hands were used, the two still prepared a defense. "He has too drowned into his killing instincts again."
And yet, he turned his back to them, uninterested about what will be their worth at the moment. With his colleague in the state that no one could be able to control, it would be difficult to execute their plans.
It should be better if they brought a partner with him that wasn't a troublemaker at all.
"We'll be going for now." He added, taking a glance at them. "But next time, we will execute our plans properly."
With those last words, they finally took off and away from the two, their presence completely disappeared in the middle of the dark woods. They couldn't help but be stunned at their position, still didn't know how to keep up with the events.
Everything happened in just a short amount of time, and they knew that their lives wouldn't be that easy in the future.
***
At last, Zentra was no longer a captive of the evil entities and the tendrins came back to their hometown safe and sound.
The once town of fire had now become wet and cool, a perfect combination for the hot sun striking their skin. The tendrins wouldn't mind the heat at all, but Meria had never been immune to it.
But the most damaged done were the buildings and vegetation surrounding them. Some houses toppled down while most were completely burned by the fire, even the interiors. The ponds were no longer habitable due to the debris thrown out.
Even though it ended, that didn't mean they would come back with joy and hope, unusual for their race to do so. Some were mourning for their loss, and others were disappointed with their properties that didn't survive.
They only wished for one thing. They just wanted to release their sorrow and grief, and forget about their roles as the creature of hope.
What happened to them and their town wasn't the thing that to is ignored and went back in being happy. Even at this moment, they were wishing for a moment of sadness.
The news about Dalary being unconscious reached her friend Meria, so of course, she didn't hesitate to walk towards the evacuation area to see her for herself.
It was a wide field of nothing but dust and dirt, surrounded by a wall of large logs with sharp pointy edges tied with each other using ropes. It wasn't that huge unlike the town, but it was enough to fit all of the residents.
They informed her about what happened, thus lowering her head, worried about her condition. She was proud that she, along with the tendrin warriors, could defeat the Cerberus, but it was too risky, and she knew that.
But everything wouldn't have happened if Meria continued to run away. Because of her, still accepting that there's a safe place for her, the others got involved. She couldn't help but blame herself.
She lowered her head and clutched her hands, upset about her selfish actions.
"Elder…" She spoke. The old man turned around to see her, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Huh?!" He complained, in which the latter jumped out of her position. He had never shown a good impression to others, but they knew that inside, he was kind.
"I-I'm sorry… for all I did…" She said, although stuttering. The reason was both the intimidation she felt and her trying to stop her tears. She tightened her fist even more. "Everything was all my fault. If I only knew, then I should've left Zentra earlier…"
"And then, Dalary wouldn't be…" She couldn't be able to finish her sentence, as tears already dropped through her cheeks, remembering her friend with closed eyes.
Come to think of it, she shouldn't be involved with this madness in the first place. She was her friend, indeed, and a neighbor, but those were not the reason for her to come and experience the same miserable things she could.
She should be living her life as a normal vegetable vendor that dreamed to be a rich merchant, and not a monster-slaying, water-bending sleeping beauty. Indeed, everything was all her fault.
"Meria…" Cainne called, also lowering his head and gritting his teeth. He was no place to speak, as he too, did a mistake, a huge mistake. And he was still having trouble with how to fix it.
The whole place was in silence as they stared at the girl lying on the bed in front of them and every time they looked at it, the more they see a reflection of their bad side and their flaws.
"I-I'm sorry too!"
All of a sudden, Kandani released the voice that he had been keeping since then, bowing to the elder as deep as possible. The attention went back to him, as they wouldn't expect a quiet man to take action.
"Tas- I mean, my friend was after me… and I didn't expect him to find me that easily…" He stayed low, as he also clenched his fists. He tried to cry, but there were no eyes to be forming it. It only depends on his gestures.
"And Meria…" He added, turning his head to her. The other looked at him with widened eyes, fresh from tears.
"I'm sorry, too!" He gave a bow to her as well. "Y-You're already having trouble, and I just brought you more. I'm really sorry!"
She couldn't be able to speak as she didn't know how to react. She thought that she would be the only one apologizing. Her response was still unknown as she refused to say anything, but all she gave him was a smile of warmth and sincerity.
"Then, let's fix ourselves, Kandani." She said, which caught the scarnet off guard. His hands were shivering. If only he had a face, he would have shown how happy and thankful he was to meet her.
A fake cough coming from the elder broke the silence surrounding them, in which they turned around to see the source. His eyebrows were furrowed and glaring at the three people that were different from their race.
"You know that you can't fix anything with just words of apologies, right?" He said to them. They immediately lowered their head out of embarrassment. Of course, they shouldn't expect that they would be forgiven that easily.
"Once your friend wakes up, you can leave." He added, putting both of his hands on the back. Then, he stood up and about to head towards the wooden door with the same style as the walls. But he stopped and took a glance at them in his peripheral vision."Meanwhile, see what you can help with the renovation."
They were stunned after hearing this and let him leave them at the evacuation area with the women and the children. Meria couldn't help but for her eyes to sparkle and a wider smile to release, lifting her hopes up.
"T-Thank you for the chance." She said. This is the first time she felt the joy in a while.
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