On the next day, the sky had been covered in dark and thick rain clouds. A storm was pouring down as the daylight whittled away, leaving the entire isle of New Havens shrouded in darkness. The downpour created puddles everywhere and Elizabeth hurriedly ran across the muddy fields into the house. She was drenched from head to toe, all the way to her underwear. The cold water made her shiver and she sneezed vehemently as soon as she got under the doorway. One second, the sky was sunny and in the next, a flood was showering down. She really wanted to curse the heavens for her bad luck.
She grabbed a nearby cloth and started to wipe herself down. Her father and brother had gone into town to deal with a few things, while her mother and sister were tending to the outsider. Yesterday, she managed to bring a physician to tend to the boy but, the news of an outsider brought celebrations to an end. Elizabeth feared the towns people might openly attack her next time she visited. According to the physician, he suffered from fractured ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a concussion, and several broken fingers. In time, he would make a full recovery. In the end, it was decided that her family would house the outsider and he was currently resting in her brother's room. What would happen afterwards was uncertain.
"Elizabeth is that you?" her mother called from upstairs.
"Yes, it is. Did you need something, mother?"
"The boy's starting to wake up. Bring up some food and water for him, will you?"
A few minutes later, Elizabeth brought everything into the room. True enough, the boy was sat on the bed. His head, chest, and arms were covered in bloodied bandages and her mother and sister were meticulously changing them. His face was very pale and with a slight nod, he started eating the food given. When he was finally finished, he started to speak.
"Where am I?"
"You're on New Havens," Elizabeth said.
"New Havens?" the boy repeated as his head pains erupted. "I'm sorry, but I've never heard of it. Perhaps my memory is just poor. Are we in the Dimorin Plains?" His gaze drifted carefully around the room as if to look for something.
"Nope, I've never heard of that. Is that somewhere on the world below?"
This time, the boy raised an eyebrow and with a confused tone, "World below? Did I die in that crash?"
"We're on New Havens, a flying island in the sky," Victoria answered.
The boy was speechless. "Are you affiliated with the Alzar Kingdom or the Xingyuu Empire?"
"First time I've heard of these names," Elizabeth said with curiosity burning in her eyes. "Is that something on the world below?"
"You could say that…" the boy pleased. "Are there any other survivors like me?"
"We didn't find anyone else…"
"I see," the boy said with an eerily tranquil expression. "Now then, you've helped me enough." He pulled himself up and off the bed with great force. "I am forever grateful to you all and if I may ask a selfish request, could you lend me a horse and a map? I need to report to my commander."
Elizabeth frowned. "We don't have either of those things." Why would they? New Havens was a small place, so a horse was unnecessary. There were probably less than five horses on the entire island and none of them belonged to their family. A map was even more unlikely. "Why would we lend them to you?" she asked innocently. From here to the forest was not a big distance.
"Is that so?" the boy replied sharply. He seemed to misunderstand something. "In that case, may I ask what you have planned for me then?"
"Planned? What are you talking about? Is your head still okay after that crash?" The boy was once more speechless. The conversation did not seem to go in either of their ways… They might as well have been speaking different languages. "Enough talking. You're still injured so get your butt back into bed," the girl declared as she shoved him toward the bed.
The boy blinked his eyes in disbelief as his mouth opened automatically in a meek voice, "Sorry, Isabella."
"Huh? Who's Isabella? My name is Elizabeth Silvera! You must have really hit your head hard."
On the side, her mother's shoulders dropped, and the tension drained from her face. Hearing their conversation, she could tell that the boy understood their good intentions. If there was a chance, even a one in a thousand chance that he knew something about Elizabeth that he should not, then… But something about the whole situation kept her on edge. Something felt very wrong. Meanwhile, Aisa was quietly watching the rain pour from the window side when a bolt of lightning streaked through the pitch-black sky. For a moment, the entire world was illuminated in bright white light, so much so that Aisa could vaguely see dozens of birds in the sky. Aisa tilted her head, a bit befuddled. They looked bigger than any birds she could remember.
"Right, why did you crash onto the island?" Elizabeth asked.
"I… I was doing a standard reconnaissance run with my squadron through Elwin Path when we stumbled upon another Xingyuu reconnaissance party. We were outnumbered and tried to flee but they chased us. Somehow, I ended up here."
Victoria's heart stopped. What did he say just now? She struggled to look at the boy as fear mounted in her eyes. Her mouth opened as soon as the door downstairs busted wide open. Footsteps raced up the stairs and into the room. Roan and Edward were still drenched from head to toe and they kept their muddy boots on. Normally, Victoria would chastise them for ruining the floor but now she could not care less. All she hoped for was that her fears would not come true. Roan and Edward were out of breath and they needed a moment before Roan spoke those terrible words.
"We're under attack. New Havens is under attack!" he shouted.
When he said those words, he looked as if he aged another twenty years. Victoria had prepared herself but even she felt loose in her legs. Her worst nightmare was coming true. Elizabeth and Edward were in a daze while Aisa was the only calm one as she did not understand. The room descended into a deathly silence. Roan was the fastest to snap out of it as he came to an epiphany. He shot a death glare at the boy as all his rage was focused. He rushed over to the bedside, grabbed the boy's neck, and started strangling him. The boy thrashed about, kicking and struggling, but he was weak from the crash. There was no competition.
"Father!" Elizabeth was thoroughly horrified. This was the first time she saw her father enraged to such a degree. Things were developing far too fast for her.
"He's the one who started this! He's the reason why our lives are endangered! If I don't kill him now, I won't get a peace of mind!" The boy's eyes began to roll backwards as his windpipe was being smashed in. "Five hundred years of peace! Five hundred years all ruined by this bastard boy! His death will serve as a good present to the deceased!" The boy started to grow limp.
"Roan, stop it right now!" The sharp and serious tone of Victoria rang clear, one that she rarely used. Even Roan could not help but snap out of his stupor and loosen his grip. "Right now, we need him more than anything. He's the only one who knows how to get off the island."
"Victoria, do you plan for us to escape to the world below? You should know that…"
She shook her head in a somber way. "At the very least, Elizabeth needs to go." The woman turned to look at the boy. "You're from the Alzar Kingdom, right? Can I trust you?" One would think the circumstances were a bit twisted… The boy was just about to be strangled to death and they ask him if he could be trusted. What were they expecting? But the way Victoria was looking at him, she was earnestly asking from the bottom of her heart. There was no threat, only desperation in her voice. And no matter what, the boy did feel guilty. Roan's words hit him very hard.
"Yes, you can. On my honor as a Knight of the Realm and a Grand Lord, I swear that I will at least protect your family and deliver them to safety," he declared.
Victoria stared deeply into his eyes and expression, searching for any falsehood but after a while, she simply said, "Thank you, knight." Once Roan released his grip around the boy, the woman swallowed her breath and added, "Take a look at my daughter, Elizabeth, and see what she has around her neck. I believe the Alzar Kingdom calls it the Holy Reingolian Medallion. You should know what that means."
The boy followed her gaze and fell upon Elizabeth's golden lion medallion around her neck. If he was in shock and disbelief before, now there was no comparison. He felt as if the sky and the earth flipped upside down. What was happening? He really had to question his own sanity. The sheer gravity behind the appearance of the Holy Reingolian Medallion far out shadowed anything and everything. All his hesitations disappeared in an instant.
"Please bring her to King Harth. He should know the rest."
"Yes, of course. I, Sir Benedict Hawken, will protect her even if it costs my life!" the boy stated. "If we make it to where the landing force arrived, we should be able to find a few Aero Gliders. If this really is a flying island, then that's our only option of escaping!"
Roan silently agreed with his wife's plans and ordered, "Edward, get all the weapons in the house you can find. Axes, shovels, sickles, anything! We need to protect ourselves! I'm going to fetch some supplies for us. You three stay here and you…" He glared at the knight. "If you do anything fishy, I'll come back for that neck of yours. Don't do anything stupid, okay?" Benedict felt around his sore neck and sweat dripped down his forehead. He brushed with death a lot recently.
The men bolted into action, scrambling around the house and barn to get everything useful. Less than twenty minutes later, they returned with a large haul. The women also changed into warm clothes and raincoats. The downpour was only getting worse and worse with occasional lightning streaking down. With the amount of rain slamming down, this might the worst storm Elizabeth had ever experienced. The girl brandished her white winged bow and strapped on her quiver. Feeling this bow in her hands, this killing weapon, she felt a sense of dread building up inside. She felt so stifled that she was barely breathing. This isn't really happening. This is a dream. Please let me wake up from this nightmare!