Pain.
So...much...pain.
My entire body is in a state of constant and omnipresent smoldering agony. Especially in the back region behind me. And the fact that I am lying on my back right now doesn't help alleviate the pain either.
But I currently can not move, my body hardly respond to the commands I give it. And my strength is nowhere to be found.
Despite that, I muster my effort to embrace my little sister, whose arms are currently embracing me, as well.
I brush my hand across her silky blond hair. It's smooth and healthy just like mine. Seems like she took my advice about taking care of her hair seriously.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." She gently sobs while speaking, her shoulders slightly bop up and down.
"I shouldn't have run away...I should have listened to you...I-I..."
I hug her tighter and pull her head onto my chest.
"It's okay...It's...not your...fault..." I whisper lightly to her ear.
She burst up from my hand and look into my eyes, hers are all red from the crying and tears have wet her face.
"But...But...I...I almost...killed you..." She shouts, tears flow even more from her already teary eyes.
I look at her and smile.
"I am so glad...that you are...safe, Elaa..." Those words are truly from the depths of my heart. With my injuries, even whisper cause intense pain, but I don't care. These emotions of mine can only be truly delivered by words. These pains to me are nothing.
"Evaa..." Tears flow from her eyes even more. Then she snuggles her head against my chest again.
I'm still alive. That is good news. But to me, the most important thing is that Elaa is unhurt. It does not look like she suffered any injuries at all.
While the monster was chasing me. In my heart I was praying with all sincerity and devotion. That she will make it out safely.
The moment those sharp claws tear its way into my flesh, I didn't even feel pain. As my mind and heart was only focusing into praying.
For her.
For my sister.
For Elaa.
She is the only sibling I have got. My brother passed away starcycles ago, fighting to defend our home against the Glerian invaders. My mother failed to deliver twice before Elaa was born, and she is the last child that will ever be born into this family. As from that moment on my mother could not conceive a child anymore.
When I realized I was struck. I became afraid.
Not for my life or my death.
But for Elaa.
The beast caught up with me so quickly that I was utterly surprised. I was sure that something of such size would not be so swift. Yet it ran with the speed of raging tempest gales from a thunderstorm.
I was afraid that I did not bought her enough time to run away.
There was nothing I can do at that moment.
My life was fading away.
My consciousness was leaving me.
Everything was slowly fading to black.
The last thing I saw, was the feet of that beast approaching me, along with the crimson ground surface, dyed red from my blood.
I felt its massive paws picking me up.
And with that, everything blacks out.
Even while my soul was floating within the life and death boundary, I was still thinking of her safety.
Whether she is safe or not, such question bothered me non stop.
But now, here I am.
My adorable little troublemaker, safe and sound. I knew my prayers were answered.
Yet one mystery remains.
I am alive, still.
I was supposed to be dead.
I was fated to die.
Still, I'm not.
Though my mind is hazy, I can still remember what happened during my trip in the boundary of the living and the dead.
I remember meeting a figure that looked similar to my long lost older brother.
I remember his words, talking about something related to my journey.
I remember the warm lights taking me away from the realm of the dead.
I remember that the servant of the Deathlord was about to take my soul away.
But memories of whatever happened afterward is blurry, I can't remember clearly.
I do know for a fact however, that the reason I am still within the world of the living, and probably the reason Elaa is safe, has something to do with these strange black humein like figures.
If I am alive, and Elaa is safe, then it means they must have dealt with the b'ar.
These strange beings mostly bear the resemblance of a humein, but there are great differences and distinctions. The most obvious is of course, these beings are massive in size and height. They tower over Elaa. In fact, she is probably small enough to fit snuggly in their arm like a baby. And their skin, or at least what I think is skin, is as black as freshly made charcoal.
They all speak very strange languages, of which I have never heard before. I learn a fair amount of foreign languages thanks to the occasional travelers, adventurers and traders that visit this village every mooncycles. I know a bit of Glerian, Khalan and even some Elven words. But what these beings speak is beyond my mind's ability to comprehend. They also all sound like men.
And their apparel... The clothes they wear is nothing I've ever seen before. It looks so strange. I can't tell whether they are wearing some sort of armor or not. Even if so, I have never seen any armor that looks like them. They aren't knight armor, nor they are garments that most travelers and adventurers where when they visit my village. Further more, they are clad in darkness all over their body. Only monsters and demons of old wear armors of those colors, back in the day of yore when evil still runs amok on the surface of the world.
Who or what are these mysterious figures?
Are they people? Or are they not?
If so, are they humein? They do look like one.
But they are far too large to be one. Perhaps they are ogre or demonic beings? I have heard of such creatures to be much larger than a normal humein.
Still, I have not the questionably vast knowledge of species, animals and beast like Elaa so I can not tell for sure.
Nevertheless, they are most likely responsible for saving mine and my sister's life.
In the direst of moments, they came.
The deities must have guided them here, in response to my prayers.
It is normal for young maidens to pray for the arrival of a knight in shinning armor to come and rescue them in times of turmoil, not giant mysterious beings cladded in lightfall black armor. But alas, reality and fiction often stray far apart.
But came they did. And they saved both me and Elaa. For that, I am forever in debt to them, and to the heavens above.
I want to express my emotion, my utmost gratitude towards them.
One of them has been sitting beside me the entire time, doing something with a strange object on his hand and hovering it over my body. The object slightly glows with even stranger patterns on it, must be some sort of magical artifact.
He has been silently witnessing my reunion with my sister.
This is also the being that I stare into when I woke up from my death earlier.
The one that treated my wound, the one that brought me back from the grasp of the Death, the one that gave me a second chance to be in the world of the living once again.
I can still remember the eyes behind the smooth surface on his face.
I raise my hand up, trying to reach him.
It seems to have caught his attention.
He turns his head toward me.
And I in return also gaze my eyes upon him.
Thank you for saving Elaa.
Thank you for saving me.
I convey my gratitude from the deepest bottom of my heart and soul toward him.
"Thank...you..."
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Delta -6 special operative taskforce
Taskforce's designation: Taskforce Talon.
Members:
Talon 1 - Chief - Chief of operation sergeant - Master sergeant Terian Ial Joner
Talon 2 - Kai - Offensive assault/weapon specialist sergeant - Sergeant first class Anton Baker
Talon 3 - Mon - Vanguard/weapon specialist sergeant - Staff sergeant Marcel Traver
Talon 4 - Deman - Engineer/physicist specialist sergeant/demolitionist - Staff Sergeant Shirogane Keiki
Talon 5 - Dok - Medical/biologist specialist sergeant - Sergeant first class Johan Rokteur Tiedemann
Talon 6 - Koman - Intelligent/communication specialist sergeant - Staff Sergeant Miller Anderson