"Hey, wait up!" she shouted behind and rushed up to follow closely behind the mage. "Uhm, I'm Yllana Saber. Thank you for healing me back there. Mind if I join you along the way?" she inquired as she gazed at his back. This guy's a bit taller than her and got broad shoulders but his built doesn't seem to be made for fighting heavy battles. 'Even so, I still need all the help I can get for now.' she sighed after not hearing any reply from the man walking ahead of her.
"Lucien Hellsworth. I don't like noisy little girls just so you know." She stopped for a sec as if analyzing his words. 'Did he mean I can join him as long as I keep quiet?' she smiled and followed hurriedly behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yllana looked back at the disappearing scene of the battlefield behind her. Some of the corpses have blackened due to decay. Nobody was left alive except the two of them and as they walked across the corpses, she noticed that it has been a few days since the battle ended. She was asleep for days. Lucky her that she wasn't alone when she woke up. This raven-haired guy also survived the battle so she didn't give much thought about asking him for help.
Their journey to the nearest village was quiet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Red Lark Village
The entire street was almost an indescribable picture of hunger and poverty. A few long slender arms and legs can be seen scattered about anywhere. Those black spots are remnants of demons who have successfully reached the village during the war.
A few villagers can be seen wandering about the place with vacant and desolate eyes as if life has been taken away from them. " These people have survived yet there's no guarantee they would survive that long with this kind of situation. What has the village chief been doing?" she gritted her teeth knowing she can't do anything about it. She knows she is weak at the moment and the war left a terrifying mark on this village.
"The war just ended and this is expected." he maintained a steady pace ahead of her not even paying any attention the people asking for alms or bread from them. They also don't have anything on them at the moment so they couldn't give anything anyways. Since the village don't have any businesses opened, Lucien decided to set camp on a nearby forest.
Nightfall
The golden glow of the campfire illuminated the red haired girl sitting quietly on a nearby tree. Her face was solemn.
Rustle rustle
After a few moments, Lucien's image came into view from afar. His towering figure carried an ominous aura adding a dangerous glint to his dark eyes.
He moved swiftly as he prepare the rabbit he hunted in the forest. And in just a few minutes, they were roasting rabbit meat over the fire. Yllana Iooked at the lifeless village near them. She sighed as she lowered her eyes. They haven't met the village chief nor was there any officials that could help the villagers. A nagging feeling rose up in her chest as she closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip.
This feeling was foreign to her. She knew before that this was what was going to happen after the war but there was something wrong in her chest. It was tightening to a certain degree everytime she thought of the situation of the villagers.
Lucien looked awkwardly at the girl who kept looking back at the village. "Idiot," he muttered.
She ignored him and looked up at the stars in the sky, "Heavens, if only you could give me an answer, "
"And you think the heavens would answer you back?" he stared at her disdainfully.
"At least I'm trying. Unlike you, I am not a heartless demon who can overlook these kinds of things." she took a stick of meat and started eating it bit by bit while whispering more curses at the man in front of her.
"Tch." he smirked at her and pick up another stick to eat the cooked meat too. He is not much too concerned about the village because if they would really want to escape their dilemma, they should at least find ways to survive. People who do not make means to solve their own problems are considered weak in his eyes. But he did not sound out his opinion because he didn't want to make explanations to strangers like her. They would soon part along the journey anyway. There's no need to make an acquaintance out of her.
"Uhm... l-lady... " a small voice sounded behind a tree not far away. Two teary eyes stared hungrily at the meat roasting over their campfire. The little girl was biting her lips and making big gulps as her stomach grumbled. Yllana stood up to get near the yellow-haired little girl but she felt a hand tugging at her sleeve. She looked quizzically at Lucien.
"It's just a small child. What harm could she pose?" She waved away Lucien's hand and walked towards the girl with a smile on her face.
Lucien eyed the little girl with a grim face. If his hunch is correct, this girl is not a child. The fluctuating energy that he could feel about her is stronger than him. "If you give one villager some food, more will come to bother you."
"It's just a little girl Lucien!" she did not hesitate to hand a stick of meat to the girl and immediately whispered to her. "You won't tell to anyone that I have given you food right?" as the little girl held the stick of meat to her chest, Yllana leaned closer to the little girl's ear, "No matter how many people you hide back there and trouble us, we won't let you off easily even if you disguise yourself as a helpless child." her voice was low with a hint of threat.
A glint flashed in her eyes as she scanned the nearby trees before she went back to Lucien.
The little girl then gave off a smile that not a child could possess. It carried a creepy chill as she smirked. "Not bad for a Low Commoner." And the light in the child's eyes dimmed as countless shadows revealed themselves behind the trees.