In the outskirts of the small town they had reached a few hours ago, Raidha sat silently, staring at the horizon. She held the sword that Drayd had crafted for her close to her chest, grabbing it so tightly her hands had gone numb.
"You better come back. If you don't, you won't be the only one breaking a promise, for I will be breaking mine too" she muttered to herself on a faint whisper that was carried away by the wind
Pyro was hovering a few meters above her, probably feeling every bit as anxious as she did. When her whisper reached his ears, he slowly descended and landed gently on her shoulder. Raidha petted it while wearing a nervous smile.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to trouble you."
[He'll be fine.]
"Haha I see you have a lot of faith in him… maybe even more than I do."
[It's not faith, Pyro simply knows it.]
"Really? I wish I knew as well."
Raidha laughed ironically at her own words. She didn't really know what she meant, but she chose to believe in it. Doing so was somehow comforting.
"What troubles me though, is that… thing…"
[That thing?]
"There's something terrifying living inside Drayd's body. He seems to trust this thing, whatever it is, but I can't bring myself to do so. What's more, I feel like this is all somehow my fault."
[Your fault?]
-Indeed. I suspect that this thing wasn't living inside his body before he met me. I unknowingly dragged him into my world… and that's when this thing first appeared. I can't understand what that thing is, or why it can use dark energy… There's something strange about it, something I have never seen before. I've tried many times to understand what it is, but every time I do, I feel this unbearable fear. Whatever it is, it definitely isn't good news.
[Pyro does not know.]
"Of course you don't hehehe."
[But Pyro thinks it can be trusted completely. Aren't they the same being?]
"Don't be silly! They are nothing alike! They only look similar physically, and that's because it uses Drayd's body."
Raidha sighed and shook her head. Pyro knew nothing about this being, and it no doubt couldn't see what she could. After all, only the Silphen could look directly into what was inside someone else's spirit.
"But if that thing is able to protect him… I will at least be thankful for that."
Raidha fell silent again, her eyes still staring into the horizon.
***
Calitia felt no pain. It would seem everything ended so quickly she felt nothing when his sword struck… or maybe it was something else?
'Am I… dead?'
She slowly opened one eye and looked down. She could see the edge of his blade barely a millimetre shy of her neck, but it did not seem to have cut her. She opened her other eye and looked forward, making the boy enter her field of vision. He was staring intently at her, looking conflicted, and his body was shivering. It seemed like he was having some kind of internal struggle.
"What's wrong? Why won't you finish this already?!"
The boy stopped shivering, readied his sword, and struck once again. But just like the previous time, the blade stopped cold just as it was about to sink into her flesh. His face contorted anew into a conflicted expression, and the shivering returned. He seemed to be trying to push his sword, but it refused, as if an invisible barrier was blocking it.
Finally, the boy gave up. He let out a long sigh and moved the sword away from Calitia, who was still staring at him, her brow furrowed, unable to understand what was going on.
"I can't…"
"What do you mean you can't?! Are you mocking me?!" Calitia, enraged, roared
"I'm saying I can't! How dumb can you get? I simply can't. My hand won't move…"
"Didn't you just say that you would kill anyone who dared threaten Raidha or yourself? Do you not consider me a threat? Is that it? Don't screw with me!"
As dumb as it may sound, Calitia felt hurt. She suddenly felt an urge to cry.
'I don't want to die, I really don't. I should feel relieved that he hasn't killed me but… but still… It's frustrating!'
Calitia couldn't help feeling pathetic. Just like what happened on that day… she was again being spared.
'Am I so pathetic, so insignificant that they won't even bother finishing me off?'
She bit her lip and couldn't prevent a tear from escaping her watery eyes.
"Do you think I won't be a threat to you if you spare my life?"
"Shut up you moron! Of course you are a threat, one of the biggest ones I've ever faced. I must kill you. I must cut your head off. But I can't. I don't want to. I don't… I don't understand."
The boy brought his hands to his head, as if he was suffering from an unbearable headache, while his entire body continued shivering. His actions were incoherent. Calitia couldn't understand what was going through the boy's mind; even he himself seemed unable to comprehend it.
"Make up your mind! I'm a Katryde. I'm pure light, and you a being of darkness. We are destined to hate each other simply for existing."
His demeanour suddenly changed again. The savage, blood thirsty beast that would ravage anything on its path seemed to have magically vanished. The maniacal laughter that haunted her every step of their battle was gone. The boy now seemed like a perfectly average person. If not for the fact that they just had a ferocious death match, you'd think he was harmless.
"I… I do not hate light… On the contrary, I admire it. There's nothing else that can light up the sky in such an impressive way."
He raised his head and stared towards the sky. So did Calitia, but she could only see clouds and the endless blue sky. She couldn't understand. He looked melancholic. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes, as if they were looking for something that they couldn't find. His eyes, so similar to those of the Silphen, yet so different.
"I'm done, I will take my leave now. Do whatever you want, but if you come after us again… then I will definitely kill you. I swear!"
The darkness that bound Calitia disappeared. She landed on all fours, and turned to watch the back of the boy who was slowly limping away.
"Don't you dare walk away from me!"
In a last-ditch effort, she mustered all her remaining strength and shot a projectile of light, the size of a basketball.
It took the boy by surprise, but he quickly turned around, in time to grab the projectile with his bare hands. It took everything he had, but he finally managed to deflect it to one side. Even though it was lacking in strength compared to the ones she was firing not so long ago, it still left behind a 5 meter crater when it exploded.
"Impossible…"
Calitia collapsed to the ground again. She was spent. The boy was barely standing, gasping for breath and resting on his knees in order to maintain balance.
"I told you I would kill you if you ever attacked again!"
And with that, he turned around one last time, and slowly walked away.
Calitia wasn't able to come up with any other sentence after that, so she silently watched how the boy slowly and unceremoniously got farther and farther away.
"Does that not count as attacking you?" she finally muttered after the boy was too far away to hear anything.
She finally dropped on her back. She had no strength left to even lift a finger.
"But I must admit that was rather… cool."
Calitia decided to lay there and rest for a while to recover her strength and let her wounds heal.
"Although now that I think about it… I don't have a single wound…" she murmured as she noticed how heavy her eyelids were suddenly feeling. Before long, her eyes were shut.
***
"Why did I do that? I shouldn't have let her live! What's happening to me?"
As I made my way back to the city, I noticed Drayd's body was about to hit its limit. Exhaustion, blood loss and probably an internal wound or two… the issues keep mounting. Considering my own power also consumed his body, the internal damage must be enormous. He was starting to bleed from his nose and ears, and he was coughing a lot of blood.
"I pushed his limit too hard, and I didn't finish what I set out to do…"
I tried very hard not to use up all my energy during the battle, otherwise I wouldn't be able to make it back to the city, as I'd be incapacitated the very moment my energy ran off. Still, looks like I miscalculated, and now I was running on fumes.
"I can't give up, not today, I can't lose consciousness again. I must do whatever it takes not to let that happen, not this time."
The fight wasn't over for me just yet.
"Come on, you idiot, hold on. You can't die here. You can't leave Raidha alone." I muttered, both to myself and to him.
Every second his condition worsened, even if the fight was long over. But I couldn't just dump him here, in the back of beyond. I should have fought better so he didn't end up so battered.
"Who was that Katryde? I'm certain I hadn't met her before. Did I let her live simply because she's a woman? That can't be. I'm not like that. It's all the same to me, I make no distinctions based on sex, race or species. I am a weapon. A weapon that only knows how to destroy anyone in its path."
My thoughts were in disarray. I was overwhelmed by unfamiliar feelings. I was annoyed with myself for allowing this to happen. I couldn't stop thinking about what would become of Raidha if I didn't make it back.
For the first time, I felt afraid. Afraid of dying? No, afraid of my own feelings. Which seemed like an oxymoron, considering how that Katryde had called me the incarnation of fear.
"I'm afraid… of myself… of what I am… of what I could become."
In the midst of my emotional turmoil, there were two things that monopolized my thoughts: getting Drayd back to Raidha, and the golden hair of that Katryde.
"Could it be that she reminded me of Raidha? Truth be told they look quite similar… Besides, that golden hair makes me feel nostalgic… Nostalgic for what exactly? Why is it that I cannot bring myself to stop thinking about her? And… why do I care so much about Drayd? Why is it that seeing them laugh together makes me feel both good and bad at the same time?""
I furiously yanked at my hair, dyeing the pure white with a scarlet color.
"Nonsense, none of this makes any sense whatsoever. My very mind is incoherent, not a single one of my thoughts or actions make logical sense… None of my thoughts or actions make any sense… Who am I? What am I? A moron, that's what!!"
***
Calitia woke up, not even knowing when she'd fallen asleep.
"Looks like I passed out as soon as he left. It's dark already, just how long have I been sleeping?"
Above her was the dark color of the night sky, that sky she hated with a passion every time she traveled across it. Even though she had regained some strength already, Calitia decided to stay where she was for a little longer, staring at the dark cloak that covered everything, while reminiscing about the events that took place a few hours ago.
She still didn't quite understand what happened towards the end, but she did remember the look of melancholy on his eyes when he stared at the sky. What is it that he was looking at exactly? What made him feel so sad?
Calitia focused on the dark sky. The cloak of deep, heinous darkness. No, that wasn't quite right… there were tiny spots of bright light scattered around that dark cloak, forming a picture she wasn't used to seeing.
"Ah, I see, so that's what you meant… that's why you don't hate light. Without it, you wouldn't be able to see such a pretty sight, but that applies to darkness too. What a strange way of thinking."
She burst into laughter at the silly and childish thought. However, staring at the night sky had a somewhat soothing effect on her.
In Calitia's world it wasn't possible to see the stars, and the sight while traveling through space wasn't quite the same as it was here.
"Those stars… When was the last time I stopped for a moment to enjoy such a sight? They really are pretty. I remember that when I was a little kid, the few times I left my planet I used to waste time on such silly things. But since the day my parents died, I became obsessed with military training, and that was the only thing I had time for."
She let out a faint sigh, while a barely noticeable smile formed on her face. She lifted one hand, as if she was trying to grab a star.
"No matter how deep the darkness may be, even the faintest light will shine brightly inside it."
Calitia let a loud but ironic laugh escape her lips. She felt rather ashamed of herself. She had devoted herself to hunting other people, for no reason other than being who they were. In other words, she had turned into the very thing she'd always despised.
"So, even though you look terrifying and act all tough, deep down, you're just a softie and a good person."
She felt like the boy had somehow awakened a part of herself that she had chosen to lock away deep inside her a long time ago.
"… but I can't say I dislike it."
She finally stood up, without ever averting her eyes from the sky.
"Maybe darkness itself is not so bad… Should I give that girl a chance after all? Who knows, she may not be all that bad after all… even though she's his daughter…"
And once again, those eyes that were burnt into her memory, came to the forefront of her thoughts. But the fear they had inflicted on her for so long was starting to fade. She'd in fact started to feel somehow fascinated by them.
"So, Drayd and Raidha huh? But then… who are you? You didn't even tell me your name…"
It seemed Calitia was once again unable to stop thinking about him, this time she was even more obsessed with him.
"Don't you think I'm done with you. After all, I'm not one to give up on her prey so easily."
And just like that, she started to run towards the town where she'd run into them.