I looked around for a moment to make sure that there was no one that could see me. the I swiftly glided to the ruins where the dwarf and the children resident.
As I drew closer, I could feel the air getting ticker and a sense of unease completely enveloped my being.
Now that I thought about it, I probably wouldn't have come down if the dwarf hadn't asked me to.
Eventually I landed on the soft, cold ground and walked to the entrance of the building where they had taken shelter.
As I did so, I could hear the little boy singing in a soft calming tone. It was almost hypnotising.
"Witte zwanen, zwarte zwanen.
Wie komt er mee naar het Engel-land varen?
Het Engel-land is gesloten.
De sleutel is gebroken.
Is er dan geen smid in het land die de sleutel maken kan?
Laat doorgaan, laat doorgaan.
Wie achter is mag voor gaan."
I put the strange lyrics aside and entered the building.
There I saw the little boy sitting beside the sleeping girl. The dwarf sat on the other side of the room as to keep a little more distance between him and the thing that presented itself as a child.
When the child noticed me, a genuine smile appeared on his face.
"Hello there. It is okay if I call you Rubedo, right? I simply find that name more… fitting."
I glanced at the dwarf who kept his eyes locked on this thing.
But despite not knowing what this thing was, the dwarf did not seem to suffer from the great sense of unease that I was feeling.
"What are you? And why are you here?"
But the child just laughed at my question.
"If I tell you the first one, then it would not be fun. As for the second one. I just wanted to see what my subordinate created. It is not like I am allowed to intervene in the first place".
"Intervene with what?"
The kid's face darkened as if suddenly being reminded of something that he had lost.
"Let's just say with the worlds in general."
The kid looked at the girl that was sleeping against the wall and seemed sad.
"I don't think that two of you would still go unnoticed. It is such a shame that this vessel takes so long to age. I wis I was earlier than this. Then I could have given her a chance."
He leaned against the wall close to the girl. He reached out for her hand, but then hesitated and turned back to me.
"It is such a shame."
At this point I wanted to fly out of this building and get as far away from this kid as possible. It somehow felt like my skin was on fire and it was only getting worse the longer I stayed close to this kid.
"Anyway. I am glad that I could have met you. You must have meant a lot to my subordinate."
The kid slowly stood up. The way he moved made it almost seem like he was floating.
I took a step back to lessen the pain that I was experiencing right now. it helped, but only just a little.
"I think you should go now. I am going to wake Julia and leave with her. It is not a good idea for us to stay in one place for too long. Because I wish to spend as much time with her in this world as possible. And I think that you can't hold it much longer. Still, thank you for asking him to help us, I truly hope that you are somewhere far away from here on the day of the trumpets."
The kid did not have to ask twice. As soon as the last words left his lips I turned away and took off.
Without hesitating for a moment, I flew back to the tower where I had been hiding before the dwarf asked me to come down.
I basically collapsed on the floor as I landed.
With all the strength I could muster, I crawled to the back of the room. There I leaned against the wall. It was almost a miracle that I had not collapsed in front of the kid and that I had found the strength to fly away.
But it just might as well could have been a desperate move of my body to survive.
Because right now wounds all over my body were quickly healing up.