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A dime falls, don't pick it up.
Nothing matters, ignore the cleanup
If you do it, you better think twice.
Don't even stop to shake the lice
If you do it, you better think thrice.
Stop eating your rice,
noon is almost upon us,
The Beast of Helecken comes.
{Nursery rhyme of unknown origin.}
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(POV: Aerin)
Mister Bertrand left me near the end of town, where there's a road that leads to the cabin. I trotted down the road, while being greeted by all kinds of people. . .except there was one that I didn't know.
"Hey child, would you come for a moment" A pretty lady with silver hair and elven ears that wore some kind of fancy clothes was sitting in a chair in front of a wall in the town.
She called me over.
"I'm sorry but I don't know you. Daddy says to stay away from people I don't know"
The white haired woman chuckled, as if I said something funny "But I know you dear. Aerin Aster Grimbea." The lady said my name slowly, like if she was tasting something delicious. " Say dear. What would you say if I could tell you your future?"
I kept staring at the pretty lady, not saying nothing. She extended her arm inviting me to come closer. There was something special about this lady, like if I've seen her many times before. A tug in my heart compelled me to approach her.
She took a cigarrette from inside her fancy clothes, drew the glyph for fire that Mister Bertrand showed me, on the tip and puffed on it.
"Gimme your hand"
"What for?"
Her face twitched for a moment and she continued "Child, when have you heard of someone telling the future without taking a hand." I did as she complied.
She never did anything with my hand, but she continued staring at my eyes while she was smoking at the same time.
She whispered things as if she was sure it would happen.
"Aerin, You will be known by many names, most of them infamous: Aerin the Gauncher, Aerin of the Ash, The devil's flower, The beast. . . you will come to hate the world, cause it will take all from you. And even what was left, the one person you will put your trust in and call your brother, your soul partner, will die by your hand.
And you, yourself will experience loneliness encassed in a timeless casket for a long time, until someone you don't know will liberate you from it. And you will whisper and beg in his ear: 'Bring me death. Or get thee gone' "
As soon as she finished, I noticed, sweat was trickling down my palms and my breathing was becoming ragged. Every feeling the lady was describing cramped down my throat and made a knot in my stomach in a torrent that threatened to rip my insides. Hatred, loneliness, violence. . .nothingness.
I snatched my hand away from the silver-haired lady's embrace and started running as much as my legs allowed me.
I don't know why I looked behind at that moment, but when I did, there was nobody in front of that old wall.
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(POV: Albert)
"Someone blew up the Tower of Clouds, Albert, we need you back."
He smelled like bloodlust
He smelled like spellpowder
He smelled like years of ungrateful work.
He smelled like a patriot.
So many were the thoughts that provoked that peculiar smell that Emile Usarriaga always wore with him. . .it could also be the smell of cheap cologne, but my nose hasn't been as sharp, lately.
"They blew where we partake in holy communion. The nobles are stepping down our throats for us to find a culprit."
Emile leaned back on the couch he was sitting, and continued "We are already short-handed as it is, keeping the border with the demons in the North, the Rakuni in the West and the Youkai south. Sperlant needs you again, Albert. They need Albert, The Wolf, Who expelled every barbarian invasion and made our country a safe place."
Hesitation filled me as I caressed my beard, ocasionally twitching my cheek as Emile repeated how much they needed me.
"I left that life behind, Emile. I have a daughter now."
His face contorted for a moment "Bullshit. She is just some stranger that you found lying there in your yard."
The skin on my nose started folding onto itself, and my eyebrows were nearly touching themselves.
I do not when my neck started thightening and my hands started clenching into the chair, splintering the wood.
He smelled like fear. ". . .the Wolf. . ."
"She is my daughter." My muscles started reacting on their own, fueled by the cold rage consuming me. "Even if whe don't share the same blood, I would give MY blood and bones anyday for her!" My throat trembled with each word that resonated within the cabin.
He smelled like regret "Ok Wolf, I'm sorry. C-calm down."