2 days of travel without food and only water is my current provision. Lips dry like barren land ready to break.
My stomach keeps on tingling. I climbed the tallest building around me to see the area's state.
"Don't you feel something is wrong?" I asked them both.
"Odd? I don't think so," replied Black Pearl.
"I know you haven't eaten yet!" Lavanya said loudly but wrongly.
"Look at this city! Isn't this too wide for the size of a city?"
"You're right, isn't this impressive?!" said Black Pearl.
As we were engrossed in conversation, my eyes fell on the faint magical soot heading for the puff of smoke in the corner of the city. The looks the Black Pearl gave me were so practical that I didn't even need a lamp or lantern to light my way at night.
I quickly rushed down and got as close as possible to the puff of smoke. When my view was clear enough, a small family was boiling the water.
Neither of them was suspicious. But it made me curious.
"Looks like they're wanderers."
"Too bad," said Lavanya.
Speech that I do not understand the direction and purpose. Waiting for Lavanya to continue, it seemed that one of the children among them knew where I was.
"Who is there?" shouted the child.
Then he took out a bow and cast a spell to light a fire at the tip of his arrow, pointing at me.
I just curled up to cover my body. How could I not? My clothes shattered against the white snake, and it exposed my body. A woman approached me.
"Oh!" Then he ran back and took his mother, holding a cloth.
"Are you okay?" asked the old woman.
When I looked at them in surprise, they were shocked when they looked into my eyes.
"Don't look at me!" I shouted.
It's been a while since I've seen a human, and that's bad. Our conversation was stiff and awkward.
The girl patted my back gently and a smile on her little lips.
"Calm down!" then the two of them gave me clothes made of rough cloth as a substitute for the clothes I was wearing.
Then I was led to their gathering. There was the father who was sitting pretty, enjoying the bonfire.
"Who is this woman?" asked the father as he gave me a seat.
They both just shrugged and gestured by pointing at his two eyes.
"Ah, they might be afraid of my different eyeballs," I thought.
"Miss, can you show me your eyes?"
Without thinking, I immediately opened my eyes again.
The man looked into my eyes intently.
"He's not blind!" he said.
They breathed a sigh of relief.
"Cough! Cough!" a slight cough sounded in their carriage.
"There he is!" Lavanya said.
"What is it?" I asked quietly.
"He has red magic, but his body resists the magic causing him to suffer."
"Can I cure it?"
"Of course, but he will die!" Lavanya's words made me flinch and a little skeptical about what actions I would take in the future.
I'd better gather information first before concluding and acting. I stood up and began approaching the small child lying limp in the carriage.
The magic in his body weakened. His hands were dry like twigs in autumn, only skin and bones I could see from his body.
"Who is this kid?" I asked.
"He is our son. One week ago, he suddenly became paralyzed and didn't want to eat; I'm apprehensive about his condition," replied the mother.
"Hera, you must take the magic shards in his body and the bodies of the other children," Black Pearl asked.
"What happens if I snatch it?"
"They will die," replied Black Pearl.
"Did you guys find a river around here?" I asked them.
Then they pointed north from where they were. I quickly rushed towards the river. When things are safe, I start a dialogue with them.
"Does this have to happen?"
Black Pearl was silent.
"Hera, all this must be done," said Lavanya.
"Aren't you ready for this mission?!" asked Black Pearl.
"But I didn't know that taking their magic would—"
"Calm down, Hera!" said Black Pearl.
My mind was wandering, but strangely I didn't feel any fear or pity when I heard Black Pearl's words; I just thought it was something cruel.
"Brother, who are you talking to?" It turned out that the child of the mother followed downstream.
Frantically I said, "To myself."
He patted my back like someone who understood my situation. Then we came back. The simple, warm treats made my heart melt with their kindness.
But I have to do my job; sooner or later, all this will happen.
Pain!
"Ouch!" I shouted.
"Sorry, I'm sorry!" said the mother loudly.
It was quite a shocking heat. A little hot soup gravy fell on my palm. But I felt something else; namely, itching, begin to fill my forehead precisely around the green crystal attached to my head.
"Hmm, I'll rinse it with water in the river."
"I will come with you!" pleaded the mother guiltily.
"No, I'm fine. I will be right back." I immediately smiled at them so they wouldn't worry about me.
The pounding of my feet continued to pound until I found a cave near the river, exactly across the river.
I climbed the riverbank and went straight inside.
"What happened? Why are my forehead and back so hot?" I shouted to Lavanya.
"Our contract will be forged, and my magic will be yours. My contact will be established if the recipient receives the first wound after our agreement," Lavanya replied.
My eyes began to slit with pain that continued to wrap around my back and forehead. Greenlight radiated strongly from the quartz on my forehead and back like a green flame.
"Haa!" I shouted through my cave walls.
Hawthorn grew from my back and formed a featherless wing skeleton.
"Hold on, Hera!" Lavanya said.
One by one, the beautiful green leaves began to grow, but as the leaves grew along, the pain grew in each leaf.
I've ever felt this feeling when dozens of snakes attacked my head.
"Hera!" call Black Pearl.
A shadow reflected in the moonlight entered the cave then he disappeared.
"Looks like he saw us."
When I finished with the nightmare ritual, I rushed back to them. However, only the bonfire remained with the meat soup the family had left behind.
"We have to go after him," Lavanya ordered.
"How to?"
"Haven't you inherited my wings? Fly!" she asked.
Then I started imagining the wings using pain magic as they appeared inevitable, and the appearance of the wings was faster than the first time they appeared. Somehow I inserted those wings into my body earlier.
"You'll get used to it later," Lavanya said quietly.
"We don't have time, Hera!" said Black Pearl.
Then I ran, but the wings didn't flap, let alone fly; it was cumbersome.
"How am I supposed to fly if these wings are just an accessory?" I shouted.
"The wing is a part of your body. Feel it and try to keep moving it," replied Lavanya.
If these wings were an extra part of my body, they should be able to feel, but I'm still struggling with them, and the pain seems to have clouded the nerves of my wings.
I ran without paying attention to my footing until I fell into a big ditch under the destroyed bridge that bordered the city.
"This is a lie, right?! Aaaah!"
The sound of the wind started screaming in my ears, which was a bad sign.
"Hera!" they both shouted.
"Fly! Fly! Please! I don't want to die now!"