Chapter 3 – Purpose for The Day
Written by Koson.
"Another has been birthed" (Feminine voice)
"Though, not within the circle of our dynasty" (Masculine voice)
Waking up within his deep sleep, Nuri could faintly hear voices. They talked amongst themselves but he had no ability to speak out to them.
"Voices?" He thought (Nuri Rona)
His surroundings were dim and all he could see were the gold glistening eyes of two shadowy figures cloaked in the darkness with blue auras behind them over looking him.
"Such a thing hasn't happened for centuries" (Masculine voice)
"Regardless, it will be interesting to see where this one's gifts will take him" (Feminine voice)
"May it be a path to rise" (Feminine voice)
"Or to fall" (Masculine voice)
The shadows then raised their arms over Nuri with strange lights emitting from their palms.
*Fwoom*
From out of nothing, Nuri's entire body was engulfed in flames causing him extreme levels of pain. Seeing the flesh of his hands being burnt, he immediately panics in fear and tries to put it out.
"Aaaaaaaah!" (Nuri Rona)
All he could hear was the screams of his own agony as the shadows watched on with their arms still stretched out over him.
Their voices echoed around as if there were more multiple voices around watching this ritual happening.
"By the fire of awakening, you have been graced with ascendant blood" (Masculine & Feminine voices)
"Become one of our great legends in our ancient order" (Masculine & Feminine voices)
"Let the non-blooded look to you for their answers" (Masculine & Feminine voices)
"Long. Live. Zestoth!" (Masculine & Feminine voices)
"Aaaaaaah!" (Nuri Rona)
*FLASH*
"Aaaah!" He screamed (Nuri Rona)
In an instant everything had stopped. Nuri wasn't burning anymore and neither was he in a deep sleep. He had awoken back into the world of the living finding himself in bed and wrapped up in bandages.
"Nuri!" She cried (Adralla Faebalar)
An agitated Adralla who had been waiting for him to regain consciousness immediately embraced him while breaking down into tears.
"I'm so glad you're okay" (Adralla Faebalar)
"Adralla?" (Nuri Rona)
"W-Where am I?" (Nuri Rona)
"You're back in the slave hut" (Aldis Grandshot)
Aldis who had also been waiting for Nuri to wake up, had been sitting on the edge of the bed.
Looking at him from top to bottom, Nuri instinctively acknowledged from Aldis's armour he was a Khodorian soldier. Similar to the one commander Bardolph wears but they share difference in colour and pattern.
"I've never seen you around before" (Nuri Rona)
"Hehe, I've only just been transferred back recently" (Aldis Grandshot)
"Just in time to save the life of a child from a burning building" (Aldis Grandshot)
"No place like home, right?" (Aldis Grandshot)
Nuri was weary of Aldis showing no reaction towards his friendly demeanour.
"Aldis Grandshot" (Aldis Grandshot)
"Nuri" (Nuri Rona)
"Ah, so you're the hard worker I've been hearing about!" (Aldis Grandshot)
"You have quite the stamina for your age-" (Aldis Grandshot)
"I know you are not here for chit chat you just want to know what happened, don't you?" (Nuri Rona)
"Nuri!" (Adralla Faebalar)
"Hehe, it's fine" (Aldis Grandshot)
"I know us Khodora knights are frown upon" (Aldis Grandshot)
"I was the same all those years ago" (Aldis Grandshot)
"You were a slave?" (Adralla Faebalar)
"An orphan, but I guess there is not much difference between us" (Aldis Grandshot)
"We don't have many who we can rely upon in our darkest days" (Aldis Grandshot)
"We can only look forward to what needs to be done in ourselves" (Aldis Grandshot)
"And you think serving a damned nation will get you anywhere?" (Nuri Rona)
Aldis looks up to the ceiling and smiles to himself as he is reflecting in his mind.
"I still ask myself that question to this day" (Aldis Grandshot)
"Why choose to protect the very people that took away the people I love and my lively hood" (Aldis Grandshot)
Aldis turns to look outside through the hut doorway seeing a couple of slave kids playing tag with a smirk on his face.
"For the future" (Aldis Grandshot)
"Future?" (Adralla Faebalar)
"Someone has to take the first steps for others to follow" (Aldis Grandshot)
"Even if I am not to be that person, then at least I am one of few leading a path for all our people to coexist" (Aldis Grandshot)
"We share the same matter yet we cancel ourselves out because we use them against each other" (Aldis Grandshot)
Aldis turns his head back to Nuri and Adralla seeing he still has their attention.
"So I do what I must, even if it means starting from the beginning" (Aldis Grandshot)
Awkward silence brew after he was done talking. The two didn't say a word and kept staring at Aldis with troubled looks.
"O-Oh, I apologise" (Aldis Grandshot)
"That must've been a bit over the top" (Aldis Grandshot)
"How do you know change will happen?" (Nuri Rona)
"I don't" (Aldis Grandshot)
"I will only know till the day death comes to collect me" He grinned (Aldis Grandshot)
"Well that's dumb" (Nuri Rona)
*Pinch*
"Ow!" (Nuri Rona)
"Just tell him what happened" (Adralla Faebalar)
Nuri holds onto his cheek after being pinched by Adralla. He looks to Aldis with grouchy look and shuffles around a bit to feel more comfortable.
"Sebastian ordered me to help an old man peel potatoes in his shop" (Nuri Rona)
"At first I thought it was stupid and odd" (Nuri Rona)
"But he promised that he would talk to the slave keeper of possibly letting me, my mum and Adralla free of enslavement" (Nuri Rona)
"Captain Sebastian?" (Aldis Grandshot)
"There's only one person in this city with a bald head that shiny" (Nuri Rona)
"Haha, I suppose" (Aldis Grandshot)
"So I accepted the deal and followed the old man to the shop" (Nuri Rona)
"I entered the room I was told to go in and found sacks stuffed with clothing that still had blood on them" (Nuri Rona)
"One of the sacks had some kind of magic crystal that kept me hidden from the old man who turned out to be a beastmen along with his companions" (Nuri Rona)
"Before the effects wore off, I saw a room full of blood and a corpse hanging" (Nuri Rona)
"They were…eating people, both residents and slaves" (Nuri Rona)
"Were there any survivors?" (Aldis Grandshot)
Nuri stares Aldis directly in the eyes with a serious expression.
"If there were, do you really expect me to save them?" (Nuri Rona)
Aldis hesitates a bit after being stared down. Nuri puts his head back down and looks to his hands, shaking in fear as he still had a clear image of everything that had happened in his head to full detail.
"I tried calling for help but the beast people formed some kind of bubble that can erase sound" (Nuri Rona)
"And then they attacked me" (Nuri Rona)
"Nuri…" (Adralla Faebalar)
Adralla grabs Nuri's hand gently to comfort him as he takes a moment to grasp what happened to him was real. She looks to Aldis concerned with Nuri's health.
"Maybe we should stop" (Adralla Faebalar)
"Few more questions" (Aldis Grandshot)
"I promise" (Aldis Grandshot)
Nuri's health was more of a concern to her than this investigation going on however, she dwindles down a bit and let Aldis do his job so this is no longer brought back to them in the near future.
"Hurry" She sighed (Adralla Faebalar)
With her permission, Aldis brings himself closer towards Nuri to make it easier for him speak and hear what he needs to know.
"I know this is hard on you but I just need to make sure everything checks out" (Aldis Grandshot)
Nuri takes a small deep breath and slowly keeps a bit of composure.
"One of my men found a beastmen headless and the weapon they found was used was a hatchet" (Aldis Grandshot)
"Did…you do that?" (Aldis Grandshot)
"…Yes" (Nuri Rona)
Aldis was a bit taken back once he heard that but quickly made sure to not show any sign of worry. Adralla was as surprised as him, thinking to herself if that was even possible.
"I see…and lastly" (Aldis Grandshot)
"There have also have been reports of a massive mana pool that was possibly used to change the weather" (Aldis Grandshot)
"Did the beast people have something or someone that you think could cause such a turn of events?" (Aldis Grandshot)
"I…" (Nuri Rona)
"don't…know" (Nuri Rona)
Nuri began breaking down as he turned himself away from them, hiding his face as a reflex.
"I understand" (Aldis Grandshot)
"Thank you for your cooperation and I'm sorry" (Aldis Grandshot)
"Just…make sure Sebastian pays" He grunted (Nuri Rona)
"Nuri!" (Henrietta Rona)
Henrietta quickly jogged over to Nuri's bedside while carrying a bowl with warm water and a small cloth.
"Adralla use this" (Henrietta Rona)
"Okay!" (Adralla Faebalar)
She hands Adralla the small cloth to use to wipe the sweat off of Nuri's head.
"Did he tell you everything?" (Henrietta Rona)
"Enough for me to confirm somethings with the commander" (Aldis Grandshot)
"I see…" (Henrietta Rona)
"Well, thank you so much for your help Lieutenant" (Henrietta Rona)
"Oh, If only there was a way I could reward a young brave man like you" (Henrietta Rona)
Henrietta placed her finger against her lips, kissing it seductively to signify a deeper meaning to what she was offering to Aldis, making his face burn up red.
"N-No please there is no need, I was just doing my duty" (Aldis Grandshot)
"Hehehehe" She giggled (Henrietta Rona)
"W-Well, I'll best be on my way" (Aldis Grandshot)
Aldis hurriedly makes his way out of the slave hut as he waved goodbye to all of them before no longer being in their sight.
"What a cute boy" (Henrietta Rona)
"Miss Rona, I don't think now is a good time to be flirting with boys" (Adralla Faebalar)
"Hehe, don't worry I was only making sure he stays on his good side" (Henrietta Rona)
"I-It burns" He muttered (Nuri Rona)
They turned their attention to Nuri when they heard his mumbling.
"Okay let's lay you down to rest" (Henrietta Rona)
Henrietta placed her one hand on Nuri's chest and the other on the back of his head as she guided his body down gently onto his backside to rest on the bed.
"Adralla squeeze out the cloth for me" (Henrietta Rona)
"Yes ma'am" (Adralla Faebalar)
As Nuri begun heavily panting and sweating more, Henrietta placed her hand on his forehead checking his temperature. Whilst checking, she noticed a strange burnt scar on the side of his neck.
She giggles to herself and pulls up the blanket hiding his scar away.
"Is something wrong?" (Adralla Faebalar)
"Oh no" (Henrietta Rona)
"it's just the big day is coming soon, you know?" (Henrietta Rona)
"The new year? I didn't think you were that much up for it?" (Adralla Faebalar)
"Considering that our days never really change" (Adralla Faebalar)
"I know but I have a feeling this year will be…different" (Henrietta Rona)
"Everyone needs something to look forward to" (Henrietta Rona)
"Right?" (Henrietta Rona)
She beamed a smile at Adralla as she was given back the warm wet cloth to treat Nuri with.
"R-Right" She muttered (Adralla Faebalar)
THE END
Written by Koson
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