Three hours later, Ether and Hylo made their way to the Eteni pens. Frozen soil crunched beneath their heavily layered attire.
Blueish-grey skies darkened Imbushko, bringing them closer to another two day long night. However, the air was fresh in their lungs.
Molten metals, fresh cooked goods, and the idle chatter of passing faces still clung to Krugi. It was their daily anthem, one that was not repeated but changed ever so slightly.
"So, when are you leaving for Yarno?" Hylo asked.
Ether walked up to some fences, the stiff wood was difficult to move. "On the third day of Pearl's absence. I need to talk to Niro before Demon get's the go-ahead to attack."
He picked his daughter up and dropped her on the other side. Before Hylo could wonder off, Ether jumped over. The ground groaned, trying to resist against the friction on Ether's boots.
Innocent beeping caught Hylo's attention. She knew where they were, but not why they were there. Instead of debating it, she continued to follow her father.
Until they reached a lonely Eteni, it looked up at them with two giant curious eyes. It sniffed the duo, figuring out the scent was familiar.
Before Hylo could smile and play with the animal, Ether brought down a heavy blow directed to the back of the Eteni's neck. It was powerful enough to disable the animal on impact.
She jumped back in utter horror at what she just saw. Her innocence faded quickly after glaring at Ether with teary eyes.
"Wh - why did you do that? It was calm and adorable!!" Hylo frowned. "You're mean!"
"No," Ether muttered. "No, I'm not mean." He corrected. "I am doing what you want to do. Being out in the field is what you want, show me you have the courage to take a life."
Ether handed her a knife made from his fire. The irony of the weapon was the temperature, it was very cold.
"Hold it tight and prepare to kill this thing quickly. You don't want to torture the poor thing," Ether instructed.
Hylo shook her head and dropped the knife. "No! I am not going to kill the Eteni, it is cute and caring."
"All those souls you'll claim in your life would've been cute at one point, and they certainly cared for something. You aren't truly dead until you lost the last thing you cared about," Ether said.
Despite his words, Hylo was fixed on denying the orders. She did not want to kill the Eteni, she cared about it too much to do so.
In an attempt to provoke her, Ether pushed her closer to the downed animal. "Go and kill it. If you cannot kill a worthless creature like this one, you don't deserve the title of a warrior."
"Kill the Eteni and I'll give you what you desire most. Those lush, lifeless fields full of withered but green grass. Decorated by beautiful flowers beneath decaying flesh and lost love," Ether continued.
By now, Hylo looked at her father with a concerned expression. She began feeling afraid, unsure of what to do next. So her brain automatically did it for her.
She dropped to the darkened orange soil, balled up in hopes of protecting herself. But there was no danger, only someone that wanted to test her.
"You don't really want to kill, do you?" Ether lowered himself to her height. "What you want is a reason to live, you're searching for one way too early. Right now, you need to focus on growth."
Hylo silently wept, listening to her father like a voice in the distance. She wanted to escape this torment.
Ether dragged her into his grasp. "But I know you want to seek something better. I can give you that wish. Just tell me, Hylo, what wish is it?"
In response, she mumbled. "W - warrior..."
"Then I will do my part to shape you into one. But you must do your own part to make sure the next time I bring you here, you at least attempt to deliver a killing blow," Ether replied in a tender voice.
"Will I ever kill, Neddy?" Hylo sounded muffled over the knot in her throat.
"There was a time when I asked myself that," Ether answered. "But over time, as I grew older, I understood death is needed. We need to die, but we need to live first."
Silence fell between the two. Ether took it as an opportunity to kill the Eteni for good. He kneeled over it, keeping his sleeves rolled up to stop blood from touching them.
He dug the same knife from earlier into the creature's crown, piercing the brain and killing it instantly. A moment of relief and shame washed over. He wanted to stop himself from showing this to Hylo.
But she watched him kill the beast. How easy he made it look. Just a simple stab and retreat. Nothing more to it, by now it was instinct.
"Will you actually train me like an actual warrior?" Hylo tried to ignore the dead creature.
Ether looked hysteric while keeping his eyes on the kill. "Yeah." He sighed. "I'm going to give you the lessons, no one else. You'll learn from me and take from it. When I order you to kill, you will kill."
Judgment was strong in his voice, Hylo noticed it. She tried to clean the tears away from her cheeks. But it was useless.
These tears meant something to her now, she needed to embrace them. But it was too early for that, she didn't even reach the requirements to learn how to be a warrior.
"Let's go," Ether ordered. "We need to get to your first lesson."
Hylo shot up onto her feet. "What will my first lesson be?"
Ether threw the beast over his shoulder. "You'll need to get comfortable around blood and gore, the path you want to go down through has plenty of this."
"You're going to help me skin this Eteni," Ether continued. "We're going to do it all today. The skinning, organ removal, and the chopping. Like I said earlier, we need the meat."